> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Saying good-bye to 51 years at SMC - URL: https://www.smdp.com/saying-good-bye-to-51-years-at-smc/ - Published: 2006-11-22T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T23:08:48.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import *New board members bring a fresh outlook* SMC — It was like saying good-bye to a family member. Standing before a collage of three retiring Santa Monica College trustees — Carole Currey, Dorothy Ehrhart-Morrison and Herb Roney — former student trustee and SMC graduate Ailia Coley-McKinney recalled how her mentors changed her life, making her feel like they were a part of a family. On graduation day in 1998, Coley-McKinney was concluding her student career at SMC as the ceremony’s speaker and was feeling butterflies in her stomach. Seeking reassurance, she glanced out at the audience to find her family. When she couldn’t find them, Coley- McKinney began to panic. “Dorothy pulled me to the side and said, ‘You pull yourself together. Don’t worry about who’s not here,’” Coley-McKinney reminisced on Monday. “That was the first time I recognized what I failed to realize before — the Board of Trustees is my family.” Her actual family eventually did arrive at the graduation ceremony, but Coley- McKinney never forgot the experience. “These three in particular were the most effective trustees I ever met,” she said. The former student was among the SMC faithful who came out to wish the three trustees well in their retirements during a reception on Monday, held immediately before the board’s regular meeting — the final meeting for Currey, Ehrhart-Morrison and Roney before the new board members are sworn in Dec. 11. With a spread of cheese and crackers laid out before them, the guests in attendance, including friends, family and colleagues, took a trip back in time to the trustees’ tenure on the board, staring at photo collages and listening to stories about the trio. “I met Carol early on in my political life and asked her how to get elected to the school board,” said Mayor Bob Holbrook during a speech.“She said she doesn’t know.” It was a bittersweet good-bye for Roney, Ehrhart-Morrison and Currey, who with their retirement, put the finishing touches on a combined 51 years of service on the board. “This is the greatest community college in the state (because it cares about its students),” Roney said. First elected in 1994, Roney graduated from SMC and later served as a teacher and administrator at the college. Elected in the same year was Ehrhart-Morrison, a 30-year Santa Monica resident and former business manager and educator whose desire to contribute to the community fueled her decision to run for office. With a little more than 27 years — the most experience on the board — was Currey, who first ran for office on the Santa Monica Unified School District (before Malibu was added) to advocate for K-12 education, not knowing that the board also included the college board. When the two boards separated in the early 1980s, Currey, who had taken an interest in SMC, decided to stick with the college board. “Let’s face it. Twenty-seven-plus years? That’s enough.” said Currey, an adult education teacher in Culver City. The trustees say their legacy is something to be proud of, with achievements such as establishing SMC as the leading transfer school to four year public universities in California, moving forward with the Bundy Campus expansion plan and diversifying a campus that just a few decades ago, had very few women and minority students. But most importantly, they believe their greatest accomplishment was providing support and quality education to the students. With 12 years or more of service on their resumes, the trustees say it was the right time to retire. “This is such a wonderful rewarding service. I felt others would like to experience what I had done — to make a contribution to the community and to the college,” said Coley-McKinney. Roney believes he reached the point in his career where he accomplished everything he could have with the college board. It’s time to bring new life into the board, Roney said, adding that the time was right for new ideas and new blood. “I’m just beginning the episodes of life,” said Roney, who hopes to start traveling again with his wife. With three new faces joining the board — Louise Jaffe, a teacher and founding member of Community for Excellent Public Schools; David Finkel, a retired judge; and Andrew Walzer, an LA Community College teacher — the three retirees say they have no doubt the new trustees will fit right in. That’s what Board Chairwoman Nancy Greenstein hopes, who was reelected recently along with the three new members. “They have a wealth of experience,” Greenstein said of the retirees. “As a new board member, it was very helpful to have those types of members.” “A couple of the new board members have been adjunct faculty,” Greenstein added. “There’s a learning curve. Hopefully, they’ll be fast learners.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 22, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/112206.pdf?ref=smdp.com)