The family of Dr. Kim Armstrong, Clovis Community College's newest president, has always stressed the importance of education going back at least five generations. Photo by Ben Hensley.

Clovis Community College welcomed new leadership to campus this month, officially introducing Dr. Kim Armstrong as the college’s third president, filling the role left by recently retired Dr. Lori Bennett, who had served in the position since 2016.

Armstrong is a graduate of Howard University where she earned her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in physiological neuropsychology. She also has postdoctoral training from Northwestern Medical School in electrophysiology and developmental biology from University of Illinois-Champaign through the Beckman Institute — where the university houses one of only three Beckman locations in the country.

Prior to her accepting the role as president of Clovis Community College, Armstrong served as vice chancellor for student equity and community affairs at Arkansas State University Three Rivers.

Armstrong said she was drawn to the Valley by the mission of the college.

“The mission creating opportunities one student at a time resonated with who I am as a professional, as a person who believes in education being the vehicle for all people to be successful,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong said that education has been in her family for generations. A fourth-generation college graduate and third-generation graduate into a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) field, Armstrong proudly displays her grandfather’s college diploma — received in 1924 from Morris Brown College in Atlanta.

“He’s the one that always instilled into us the importance of education,” she said. “It wasn’t a matter of getting into it [education]; it was naturally there.”

 

 

Armstrong’s great aunt trained at Columbia College, and she added that as far as five generations ago, her family was brought up to respect the value of education.

“My great, great, great, great grandfather bore five mulatto sons in Alabama — he educated every last one of his sons,” she said. “I was born into a family that understood the importance of education.”

She said her attraction to the community college system is largely due to its ability to make changes faster than other institutions, moving with community and business partners efficiently.

She describes her style as unique, viewing conflict as part of the process of growth.

“When someone is not going along with what someone’s saying — not being status quo — there is that gem that we would have missed if we hadn’t had those deep conversations,” she said. “I’m going to push because pushing is part of the process of getting towards the continual process of improvement.”

In the short term, Armstrong hopes to continue the projects that were originally started by her predecessor, Dr. Bennett., as well as continue to facilitate growth and connections between the college and the local community and business owners.

Lastly, Armstrong aims to continue the effort to remove the stigma associated with community colleges as a “last resort.”

“That stigma has been there across the country,” she said. “This is something I’m very, very proud to see that the district has put a premium on making sure that stigma does not continue.”

Armstrong added that being viewed as a premiere school for continuing education is at the forefront; the college has awarded more associate degrees for transfer than any other state community college, as well as having equity champion recognition for Black and LatinX students.

“We’re already kicking butt here,” she said. “That is no longer a stigma.”

During her first week on campus, Armstrong has already noticed that the stigma of a welcoming educational environment as opposed to a “last resort” has been personified in the faculty and staff, welcoming students on an early Monday morning to the first day of the semester — despite the severe winter weather.

“As cheeky as it may sound, they crushed it,” Armstrong said.