Clovis Community College welcomes its new president to kick off the new semester

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- Clovis Community College is kicking off the Spring semester with a new member on their staff.

Dr. Kim E. Armstrong was named the school's president unanimously by the board last year.

Monday was her first day on campus.

She is the First African American Woman to hold the role at the college since it opened in 2015.

"I am an African American woman in STEM. I was told that women and blacks can't do physics. The problem is no one told me I couldn't. So I will, at all points in time, point to my background and all students, regardless of their background, to let them know that yes you can." explains Dr. Armstrong.

Equal access to education is personal to Dr. Armstrong.

Her great great great grandfather raised five sons in Alabama -- and went against anti-literacy laws at the time to give them each an education.

Dr. Armstrong says,"Systematic and creating barriers have been something we have been dealing with for centuries and decades. My parents had to leave the south to get a terminal degree."

Her mother holds a doctorate in math, her mothers aunt held a medical degree, they were some of the first African American women to do so.

"It's because someone dared to go against what culture said you should do to provide an education for me and my family that I am a fourth generation college graduate, that my children are fifth generation college graduates," mentions Dr. Armstrong.

Her grandfather's 1924 diploma from Morris Brown College in Atlanta is a prized piece that now sits in her office.

It is a reminder to herself and all students that anyone can get an education, despite societal and cultural norms.

"I carry on my shoulders a responsibility and an obligation that I take so proudly and humbly. I stand on so many shoulders myself, and to have that opportunity when someone gave it to me to carry it on means the world to me." expresses Dr. Armstrong.

Dr. Armstrong plans to bring her experience with diversity, equity and inclusion programs to Clovis community college.

She says she hopes to continue building upon the foundation that has already been started.