Janet Rivera still remembers the campaign she never thought she would win. In 1994, a teachers union colleague urged her to run for Delta College Board of Trustees. She found herself on the ballot against two well-endorsed men, Rivera said, one decades older and the other decades younger.

She said she leaned on community ties and her political instincts, and won with 76 percent of the vote. Thirty years later, Rivera has become the longest-serving trustee in Delta’s history. Now, she says her current term will be her last.

“I’m 74 years old. We need the new blood,” Rivera said with a laugh, her tone equal parts proud and relieved. “I have to tell you how proud I am of our board that we have now…To have that is a blessing for us.”

For more than 30 years, Rivera has been a fixture at Delta College: the longest-serving trustee in the school’s history and one of the region’s most visible Latina leaders. First elected in 1994, she has overseen bond measures that expanded Delta into Mountain House and Lodi, pushed for programs like Passport to College that promised tuition to local fifth graders, and championed the college’s designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution. 

Beyond the campus, she has been a steadfast advocate for equity, safety and student success, often reminding colleagues that trustees must put students first.

A political awakening

Rivera’s journey into public service began long before she imagined holding office. At 8 years old, she shook John F. Kennedy’s hand, wrote him a letter about migrant families, and to her astonishment, he wrote back

That early taste of civic engagement stayed with her. Decades later, while attending a teachers’ union conference, a colleague encouraged her to run for Delta’s board. She hesitated but entered the race, ultimately capturing more than three-quarters of the vote.

“I knew I had the Latino vote, the Black vote, the Asian vote, the female vote,” she remembered. “I used my political sense, and I won.”

A hand in Delta’s growth

Rivera’s fingerprints can be found on nearly every major project Delta has undertaken in the last three decades. She supported Measure L in 2004, which funded expansions to Mountain House and Lodi. More recently, she backed Measure K, the $598 million bond voters approved in 2024 to modernize classrooms, labs and career training facilities.

She is equally proud of programs such as Passport to College, launched in the mid-2000s, which invited thousands of fifth graders from local schools to sign a pledge to stay in school and, in return, guaranteed them two years of free tuition at Delta once they graduated. The program reached more than 10,000 children in its first cohort and was recognized statewide as a model for access before being phased out a decade later.

Rivera also points to Delta’s designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, achieved in 2004 when Hispanic enrollment surpassed one-quarter of the student body. Today, more than half of Delta’s students identify as Hispanic or Latino. 

That status not only affirmed the college’s identity but also opened the door to grants and resources designed to support student success, according to Delta College documents. 

“Anywhere I go, I brag about Delta College,” Rivera said. “Bring your family, bring your kids. We’re doing important work here.”

Confronting challenges head-on

Rivera’s long tenure also meant weathering storms. She recalls campus safety concerns that led to more blue emergency phones across campus in spots she deemed “unsafe”. But the episode that still stings most was the hiring of Dr. Jeff Marsee, who became Delta’s superintendent/president in 2011.

Faculty swiftly rebelled against his leadership, with 96 percent voting no confidence. Within months, the board placed him on paid administrative leave and eventually approved a costly buyout of his contract, according to Collegian archives.

“Hiring the wrong president was one of my biggest challenges,” Rivera said. “I had a sense he wasn’t going to be a good fit, and unfortunately it came to fruition.”

The turbulence tested her resolve. There were moments when she considered stepping away, but faith and stubbornness, she said, kept her in the chair.

A Latina warrior

Rivera often frames her career through the lens of identity. She has seen labels shift: Mexican American, Chicana, Latina, Hispanic. Through it all, she has never wavered in who she is.

“I’m honored, humbled,” she said. “I always call myself a Latina warrior. And there were warriors before me who were never recognized.”

Rivera pointed to two honors that define her career. “I think my proudest moment was when I received the Mexican American Hall of Fame Award in 2002,” she said, recalling how meaningful it felt near the end of her first term as trustee.

Years before, the Associated Student Body came before the board with a challenge: if trustees wanted to understand students, they should try living a student’s reality. The request was simple but telling: register for a class, go through the process, feel the wait times and paperwork firsthand. Rivera was the only trustee who accepted.

“I went through the whole process to see what it was like,” she said. “Jesus, it was hard. But you know what? That put me in their shoes. You have to feel it.”

The students later honored her with a recognition of their own back in 1999. 

“It’s the only student body award they’ve ever given a trustee, and I have it at home,” Rivera said. “That’s the one I keep, the shining star, yeah, because that’s from the students. And that says a lot.”

Her influence reaches beyond the boardroom. “Trustee Rivera is someone who shows up for all students,” said Dr. Sarah Seekatz, history professor and member of the Chicanx/Latinx Faculty and Staff Association. “She’s there at cultural celebrations, student graduations, veterans events, always cheering students on.” 

Seekatz added that seeing Rivera in leadership has been “a direct source of inspiration” for faculty and students alike.

Looking ahead

Delta College President Dr. Lisa Aguilera Lawrenson called Rivera’s departure the end of a defining chapter. “Janet Rivera has provided dedicated, stable leadership and mentorship on the Board for decades,” she said. “She has brought with her the passion she has for our service area, the students we serve, and the mission we uphold.”

But even as she prepares to leave, Rivera talks like a trustee with more work to do. She envisions Delta preparing students for careers in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, robotics and agriculture technology. She worries about keeping pace with other colleges.

“I don’t want to be behind the game. I want to be ahead of the game,” she said.

Her advice for the next generation is equally forward-looking: volunteer, defend others, and never shy away from fear. “God gave you that mouth not just to eat, but to use it,” she said. “Feel the fear. Do it anyway.”

Rivera has attended countless graduations, ribbon-cuttings and student celebrations. She has become a familiar face across campus. Stepping down will be an adjustment for the community that has long seen her as Delta’s constant.

Yet she insists this is the right time to hand over the gavel.

“I’ve had a good run,” Rivera said. “Now it’s time for someone else.”