Vice President of Administrative Services John Parker, left, embraces ASG President Diego Bethea, right, after receiving the Golden Pillar Award during the Fall 2023 Convocation at City College, August 17, 2023. The award recognizes outstanding administrators at City College. Photo courtesy of City Communications

Diego Bethea reflects on his time as City College ASG President

The business major takes pride in building community, forging relationships

Bailey Kohnen, Multimedia Journalist

April 16, 2024

ASG President Diego Bethea speaks at the San Diego City College Spring Convocation, April 14, 2024. Photo credit: SDCity Communications

Diego Bethea will be completing his final term as the President of San Diego City College’s Associated Student Government at the end of the Spring 2024 semester.

A business major, Bethea plans to spend one more semester at City College before transferring to either UC Riverside or CSU Los Angeles.

ASG elections will be held the Spring 2024 semester for ASG Executive, Officer and Senator positions. Candidates interested in running for ASG must submit an election packet by April 19. The election will be held on April 29 through May 4.

Bethea sat down with City Times to reflect on his experience as City College ASG president.

This interview has been edited and condensed for brevity and clarity.

ASG President Diego Bethea speaks at the San Diego City College Spring Convocation, April 14, 2024. Photo credit: SDCity Communications

San Diego City College ASG President Diego Bethea waits to greet student visitors at City College’s Open House event on Thursday, April 20, 2023. Photo by Daniel Lasker/City Times Media

Q: Looking back, what are you most proud of from your time as ASG President?

DB: I would say the relationships we built as ASG and then also the personal growth we were able to do on individual levels. Many of us didn’t have any experience or know what to do in our positions … Our advisor Lori Oldham, she was able to do a lot of mentoring for me as well as encouragement. Same with the Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Adan Sanchez guiding us through different processes and just giving us advice on how to go about different things.

San Diego City College ASG President Diego Bethea waits to greet student visitors at City College’s Open House event on Thursday, April 20, 2023. Photo by Daniel Lasker/City Times Media

Diego Bethea, ASG president and a business administration major, helps students Kiele Sageth, left, and Rosie Cov, middle, as they arrive

On his accomplishments:

One of the things we’re working on is removing permission codes for whenever a student is enrolling into a class late. So maybe they just need one more class and they’re going through the class schedule and they’re like, “Oh, this class fits perfect for my schedule.” They’re late so they need a permission code from the professor. So they would contact the professor, the professor would give them back the permission code and they would input it into their My Report.

It’s another layer of just making it difficult if you’re taking an online class. The only way to reach out to that professor would be through email. You can’t go to class and just say, “Hey, I need a permission code to be officially enrolled in your class.” We have professors who are teaching multiple classes on campus as well as other campuses as well as their personal life, so sometimes an email can just get lost in the many emails that they get. So that’s something we’re really excited about.

Diego Bethea, ASG president and a business administration major, helps students Kiele Sageth, left, and Rosie Cov, middle, as they arrive to get supplies to decorate their graduation caps May 16, 2023. Photo by Nathaly Alvizures/City Times Media (Nathaly Alvizures )

Q: What lessons would you like to pass on to the next generation of ASG leaders?

DB: Understanding that everyone’s on a different timeline. Even though different clubs, different committees, different governance groups are able to move sometimes faster sometimes slower, being able to send out an email or put something into action needs to happen as soon as possible. Because we’re working with a diverse group of people, faculty members, they often have their schedules booked weeks in advance, same with administrators. Understanding that time is really not on your side.

As well as balancing life. You’re always going to have your school, your work, your family and sometimes they’re going to spill over into another. Understanding that sometimes you may have to give up on something for just the time being so you can really focus on your school work or your personal life or whatever it may be.

Diego Bethea, Phoebe Truong, Allen Kuo and Julia Kogan receive their awards by board member Maria Nieto Senou on May 11, 2023. Photo by Shamere Grimes/City Times Media

San Diego City College at night. Photo by Bailey Kohnen/City Times Media

Q: Do you have any regrets from your time at ASG, or something you wish you could have done?

DB: I don’t believe I have any regrets. I would say there’s some embarrassment. I definitely let the title of being president get to my head. At one point it was like, “Oh my god, I’m president,” even though I wasn’t doing as much as I would like … I would say that the biggest one is me letting my ego get to me and preventing me from experiencing different things, having conversations and just getting things done.

San Diego City College at night. Photo by Bailey Kohnen/City Times Media (Bailey Kohnen)

Student Affairs Coordinator and ASG Advisor Lori Oldham meeting with newly elected City College student ASG members in A-322, the College Presidents Conference Room on Thursday, May 11, 2023.
Pictured from the far right to the other side of the table on the left is is
Kalde Hassan-ASG Public Relations Officer, Katelyn Metry- ASG Scholarship Officer, Muski Abli-ASG Senate President, Kai Cachupe-ASG Webmaster, Diego Bethea-ASG President, Reese O’Driscoll-ASG Vice President, and Dr. Adan Sanchez- Dean of Student Affairs
photo by Daniel Lasker City Times Multimedia Journalist

Q: What is your best memory from your time as president?

DB: It would be memories of seeing students active on campus, contributing to different events, seeking grant revenue to put some money towards the basketball or sport events that are here on campus. So putting a few thousand dollars so students can have some free food that they can enjoy … really seeing the community and seeing how you can mesh together.

Student Affairs Coordinator and ASG Advisor Lori Oldham meeting with newly elected City College student ASG members in A-322, the College Presidents Conference Room on Thursday, May 11, 2023. Pictured from the far right to the other side of the table on the left is is Kalde Hassan-ASG Public Relations Officer, Katelyn Metry- ASG Scholarship Officer, Muski Abli-ASG Senate President, Kai Cachupe-ASG Webmaster, Diego Bethea-ASG President, Reese O’Driscoll-ASG Vice President, and Dr. Adan Sanchez- Dean of Student Affairs photo by Daniel Lasker City Times Multimedia Journalist

San Diego City College ASG president Diego Bethea stands behind a table and hands out items to three students standing in front of the table.

Q: What would you hope your legacy is at City College?

DB: I would hope the relationships between our different communities would be long-lasting … Everyone’s open to having good conversation, but building that relationship of “Oh, yeah, I know this person. I’ll just reach out and see what’s going on.” (Academic) Senate president Maria-Jose Zeledon-Perez is really good at that. Making sure that we met an hour before College Council with the Academic Senate, Classified Senate and ASG, having conversations with each other and just filling in each other on what we’re doing, what we need help with, what we need support with. So continuing on those relationships across all the boards would be a legacy that I hope to pass on.

San Diego City College ASG President Diego Bethea speaks with visiting students at City College’s Open House event on Thursday, April 20, 2023. Photo by Daniel Lasker/City Times Media

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