Tanika Byrd, who was the adviser for the Center for Leadership and Development, left American River College for Cosumnes River College on September 19.
She had worked at ARC since the fall 2011 semester.
Byrd said she did not have time for an in-person interview with the Current before she left ARC.
“Unfortunately, my time on campus is very limited,” Byrd said in an e-mail to the Current.
“As much as I’d like to grant you an interview, I must reserve free moments to meeting with student leaders and shoring up loose ends before my departure.”
Manuel Perez, dean of student development, said that Byrd brought “synergy” to the table.
“It was a very amazing experience (to work with Tanika Byrd) I think, and a lot of that has to do with synergy,” Perez said.
“Being a manager, you get an opportunity to work with different learning styles, different management styles, different personalities. I think it’s a very rare instance when you can create a dynamic in which your teammates, your colleagues, all tend to not think the same but at least understand each other,” he added.
Frankie Johnson, the student personnel assistant at the CLD, spoke fondly of her former colleague. They had worked together for over two years.
“It was always a learning experience,” she said. “It was nice to come in and see her enthusiasm, which rubbed off on all the rest of us. It was nice to come and see her ready to go, ready to tackle the day.”
“We worked on everything together. Planning events was one of the things I enjoyed working with her on. Every day was just a new adventure,” she added.
Perez said that Byrd took her job seriously, but nevertheless had a playful side.
“I think that a few people got to see Tanika’s playful and creative side,” Perez said. “My best example is that we had a club day – I want to say it was in the fall of last year – where they had a heroes theme at club day and everybody kind of dressed up in their own superheroes attire. And she made a deal with the clubs and events board that if they achieved a certain milestone she would fully dress up in full costume from head to toe as a superhero.”
“She came dressed as Superwoman. She went out and rented the whole costume. She went the whole nine yards,” he added.
Perez is performing the responsibilities of adviser for the Center for Leadership and Development in Byrd’s absence. He said that the application period for a new adviser ended Friday, Sept. 26.