After 40 years of serving Dallas College, most recently as President of North Lake Campus, Dr. Christa Slejko is set to retire at the end of November.

To celebrate all that she has done for the college and all the connections she has made, a retirement party was held in her honor on Nov. 21.

The party, hosted in Student Life offices of the North Lake Campus, was packed with old friends, new friends, colleagues, students and family members in attendance.

The party served as a sweet trip down memory lane for the president, North Lake Campus and Dallas College as a whole.

“In her first couple of years, she walked to the campus, she talked to students,” said Dr. Sherry R. Boyd, “Students knew who she was, because she was out and about, and she gave us birthday calls.”

As faculty members reminisced about Slejko’s time as president and gush about their gratitude for her, they sent well wishes to the soon-to-be former president as well.

“I am very sad that she is leaving, but I am happy for her,” said Boyd, “She has given this institution 40 years of her life.”

Talking about what going forward looks like from here, Chancellor Justin Lonon said,

“It’s a big loss for Dallas College. Christa has been such an integral part of this campus, of this community, and of the college for 40 years.”

To date, Dallas College has not announced who will be filling the position.

“She’s someone that is, you know, passionate about serving students,” Lonon said, “She leaves some big shoes to fill.”

For the former president however, stepping away from the role of president means starting a new, exciting, chapter in her life, this time without a job that demands most of her time.

“I’ve told myself that I was going to enjoy not being on a schedule,” Slejko said, “Just not, like, having an alarm clock, or like having to be somewhere, so I’m gonna kinda chill.”

Slejko is looking forward to spending more time with her family as she heads into retirement.

“We do have a fun trip after Christmas. Our whole family, we’re going to go on a family ski trip to Colorado, so I’m excited about that,” she said.

She is also looking forward to using her newfound free time on things that she was not able to dedicate time to while she was working full time.

“I have a lot of causes, nonprofits, groups that I have loved supporting over the years, but there is never time to volunteer when you work full time, so I would love to be a professional volunteer,” Slejko said.

Sending her well wishes to the North Lake Campus and Dallas College community, she left with a bit of advice.

“Today, the celebration was just a reminder of how important our, you know, our work families are and if you’re lucky enough to be in a place where that is embraced, you know I always wish for people that they have work friends, and that you get to work in a place where you can have a work family.”

With a busy work or school schedule, it can often be hard to do more than focus on whatever is directly in front of you, however, in her farewell remarks, Slejko emphasized the importance of taking care of each other and looking after one another.

“We got to remember to take care of each other, at work it’s like we’re here to take care of business, take care of our students, serve the community, but we need to help each other too,” she said.

After 40 years, Slejko is finally ready to say goodbye, but she knows she is leaving the college in good hands.

“I hope they continue all of those wonderful things. I know they will.”