Riverside Community College District Board of Trustees officially confirmed Eric Bishop as RCC’s interim President on Aug19.
The decision comes one month after the removal of RCC’s previous President, Claire Oliveros, who was removed after two years in the position following the Board’s unanimous vote of no confidence against her as President.
This left the role temporarily occupied by Lynn Wright as acting president for the second half of June, up until today’s announcement that Bishop would be filling the role as interim president, effective Aug 20. This will end his tenure as interim vice chancellor of educational services and strategic planning, which he has held since July 2024.
These are just some of the most recent developments in the history of the RCC presidency over the past several years, starting with Gregory Anderson’s ousting from the position in May 2022 for similar reasons. A vote of no confidence from the Board of Trustees resulting from mismanagement and negligence put the position in a freefall, passed between several individuals in the time since.
First, the position was given to Rajen Vurdien as interim president in July 2022, though his tenure was short-lived, and he was soon succeeded by FeRita Carter, who remained the interim president until Oliveros was selected as the official president in June 2023. At the time, public opinion of Oliveros was high, with RCCD educators and admins alike having great expectations for the newly-appointed president.
However, the Board of Trustees’ opinion of her has soured since then, leading to her dismissal this July. An official statement still has yet to be released regarding the Board’s specific reasoning for Oliveros’ dismissal, other than the fact that she was removed by a vote of no confidence like her predecessor.
No additional information regarding the selection process or reasoning for Bishop as interim president was given at the meeting. Viewpoints attempted to reach out to members of the Board of Trustees for comment but did not receive any responses.
