• Ventura County Community College District Chancellor Rick MacLennan announced the president's departure in a Sept. 15 staff email reviewed by the Star.
• Her last day in the role will be Oct. 10.

Claudia Lourido-Habib is leaving her post as president of Ventura College after holding the role just over a year.

Ventura County Community College District Chancellor Rick MacLennan announced the president's departure in a Sept. 15 staff email reviewed by the Star.

Her last day in the role will be Oct. 10. MacLennan's email did not give a reason for the move, but said the president informed the district of her decision late last week.

Lisa Putnam, an executive director in MacLennan's office, said in an email that Lourido-Habib voluntarily resigned.

Lourido-Habib did not immediately return a request for comment.

Luca Lewis, the college's vice president of student affairs, will take over immediately as acting president while the community college begins a search for an interim, according to the email.

Lourido-Habib arrived at Ventura College in the summer of 2024, selected by district trustees from a pool of candidates to replace retiring president Kim Hoffmans.

Lourido-Habib came to the college from a decade of community college administrative around California and was a 2023-24 Aspen Presidents Fellow, part of a national cohort tapped by the nonprofit Aspen Institute as some of the "nation's most promising community college leaders."

This story may be updated.

Isaiah Murtaugh covers Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Camarillo for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at isaiah.murtaugh@vcstar.com or on Signal at 951-966-0914.