Remembering Charter Faculty Kaleta Brown
Dr. Kaleta Brown, as photographed in 2002.
Cypress College is remembering charter faculty member and former dean Kaleta Brown, who passed away on Thursday, September 27, 2024.
Dr. Brown was a member of the original faculty at Cypress College when the campus opened in 1966. She served as the first Theater Department coordinator and directed the first plays held at the college. She worked in what was then the Fine Arts Division (Now Visual and Performing Arts) from 1966-1998 before retiring.
A la Michael Jordan and Mario Lemieux, Brown un-retired to return to Cypress College in 2002 as the Fine Arts dean. She remained in that role until the end of 2004 when she retired once again — though she subsequently taught as a member of the adjunct faculty.
According to the college’s official history “A Tree Grows in Cypress,” authored by retiree Pat Ganer, Dr. Brown was recognized in 1986 as part of Cypress College’s 20th Anniversary celebration. The book notes that she was one of 10 people “who had been identified as having made significant contributions to Cypress.”
In her first stint at Cypress, she was an Academic Senate president, Curriculum Committee chair, and was involved with state and national theater organizations. She also helped found the Americana Awards in 1976 as part of a call from then-U.S. President Gerald Ford as the national Bicentennial celebration.
During the 1976-77 academic year, Dr. Brown also helped launch the Faculty Forum series — a prominent lecture series open to both students and staff members, according to “A Tree Grows in Cypress.”
While serving the college as Fine Arts dean, she worked with the Cypress College Foundation to host a grand re-opening of the Theater. In 2002, she became the first dean to oversee online education as that program began to grow. The following academic year, the program was chosen by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office as one of only eight community colleges to participate in a case study for online education.
In October 2002, Dr. Brown was honored by the California Educational Theatre Association with their Medallion Award — the group’s highest honor. The CETA Medallion is presented to the member of the association whose continued service has been distinguished by leadership, loyalty, contribution, and support.
“While at Cypress, Kaleta was known for her ambitious leadership, which led to us becoming the home of the California Thespian Conference from 1986-1989,” wrote Donny Jackson, current chair of the Technical Theatre Department. “She directed large-scale musical productions, such as Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Assassins’ and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar.’ She also served as Regional Chair of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival from 1988-1992.”
She is survived by her son Jeff and husband Lau.
A 1976 publicity photograph of Dr. Kaleta Brown, including the typewritten caption, promoting the first production in the then-new Cypress College Theater.