Since January, Interim Fresno City College President Marlon Hall has led the nearly 20,000 student campus until a permanent president is selected. 

Hall replaced former FCC President Carole Goldsmith after she became the new chancellor of the State Center Community College District. 

While originally from Chicago, Illinois, Hall has a long history in California. After high school he decided to head west for school after looking at colleges across the country. 

“The California sunshine and the beautiful campuses that I saw as I investigated different college catalogs. I like what I saw, and I had to get it,” Hall said.  

He holds degrees in journalism, athletics and education from West Hills College-Coalinga, West Coast Christian College, California State University-Fresno, Fresno Pacific University, and the Fielding Graduate University.  

Hall, who was in retirement for two years, was excited to hear about the possibility of stepping in as the college’s president from Goldsmith.

“You know, I got to a point in retirement where I wasn’t doing very much, and then I thought this would be an interesting opportunity,” Hall said. “When she [Goldsmith] called me, I was very fired up and ready to go to work.”

Before going into retirement, he spent many years teaching and guiding students at different high school and college campuses.

In 2019 Hall retired as Lassen Community College’s Superintendent where he served for seven and a half years.

Prior to the superintendent position, Hall was Interim Associate Dean of Educational Services for West Hills College, Lemoore and he was involved with nursing, culinary arts and computer technology. 

Hall also served as a vice president of student services at West Hills College-Coalinga. In that role he oversaw with categorical programs, counseling and advising, admissions and records, and financial aid.

“There’s a lot of experiences I’ve had over the years and instruction and student services which I can bring to the table,” he said.  

He plans to keep things moving smoothly at the college.

Among other initiatives, Hall is interested in men of color’s success, and the overall decline in male enrollment and is focusing on ways to keep them on campus to achieve their career and educational goals.

“Right now, I think our men are not staying, they’re leaving, so we’ve got to figure out ways to keep them here,” Hall said. 

He anticipates his biggest challenge in this role will be the overall enrollment of the campus. 

Hall would like to address ways to recruit more students to prevent further enrollment declines.

“We all have to put our heads together to increase our enrollment, get us back to where we were and we can’t control covid, but we can manage it,” he said. 

FCC is working on closer relationships with local high schools to reach more students by visiting campuses in the rural areas, smaller districts and Fresno Unified.

“It’s a good thing for them to see me also, because that makes a difference,“ Hall said.

He would like the campus community to know that he is “approachable and student centered.” 

“It’s an opportunity to take some of your experiences and bring them to a large college like Fresno City College,” Hall said.

He has not yet decided if he will be applying for the permanent position.