Dr. Justin Lonon
Media Contact: Emily Mercer;
EMercer@DallasCollege.edu
For immediate release — Oct. 22, 2024
(DALLAS) — Dallas College Chancellor Justin Lonon has been appointed to the 2024-2026 Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities’ (CUMU) board of directors.
CUMU was founded by college leaders in 1989 to use the power of education to enhance their communities. Since then, they’ve remained a pillar in strengthening higher education’s role in urban settings, collaborating across institutions to prioritize information exchange and research regarding metropolitan colleges and communities.
“I am deeply humbled to join the CUMU board of directors,” Dr. Lonon said. “This role represents a unique opportunity to further champion the urban mission that is so vital to the communities of North Texas.”
CUMU’s stated mission is to “ensure sustained attention to the exchange of information and ideas among member institutions about higher education’s role in urban and metropolitan settings, engender a unified approach to the resolution of common challenges, and develop a clearer understanding within the higher education community and among public policy makers and the public about the distinctive roles played by urban and metropolitan institutions.”
Nominated CUMU board members are elected to two-year terms by peers from other institutions that are a part of CUMU. Each elected board member demonstrates a commitment to the mission of CUMU through their everyday work with their respective institution.
“At Dallas College, we recognize the pivotal role we play in driving economic growth, fostering innovation and preparing a strong workforce of the future,” Lonon said. “Through CUMU, we have a powerful platform to amplify this work by collaborating with like-minded institutions to reimagine the higher education model and break down the longstanding barriers that stand in the way of a brighter tomorrow.”
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About Dallas College
Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2025, Dallas College consists of seven campuses — Brookhaven, Cedar Valley, Eastfield, El Centro, Mountain View, North Lake and Richland — plus a dozen centers located throughout Dallas County. As one of the largest community colleges in the U.S., Dallas College offers online and in-person learning, serving more than 127,000 credit, workforce and continuing education students annually. Students benefit from partnerships with local school districts, four-year universities, industry and community leaders. Dallas College offers associate degrees and career/technical certificate programs in more than 100 areas of study, as well as bachelor’s degrees in education and nursing. As the largest provider of dual credit in Texas, Dallas College serves 30,000 high school students through 63 dual credit programs.