Bio

With 26 years of experience working for the California community college system, Fresno native Eric Mendoza joined De Anza College as Dean of Physical Education & Athletics in March of 2019.

Since his arrival to De Anza, Mendoza has helped the athletic department with establishing a Student-Athlete Advisory Council, developing a Presto Sports website, partnering with BSN/Nike, introducing an OKR system for division-related goal-setting, creating new full-time positions for football (Head Football Coach/FAST Coordinator) and management (Director, Athletics & Student-Athlete Success), and launching a Beach Volleyball program (with a future on-campus complex).

At De Anza, Mendoza serves on the Resource Allocation & Program Planning (RAPP) Committee; Accreditation; Budget Advisory Committee (BAC); Campus Facilities Committee; Facilities Master Plan Taskforce; Shared Governance Taskforce; Division Deans & Managers; Harm Evaluation Assessment & Reduction Team (HEART); and the De Anza Latinx Association (DALA) as Professional Development Chair. He also supports the Student Development Office as a Judicial Affairs Officer and Student Discipline Hearing Chair.

In 2023, Mendoza was honored with this college's Equity Champion Award (administrator category) by the Equity Action Council. Mendoza was recognized for making significant contributions to inclusion at De Anza College and to advancing the college’s vision of equity, social justice and multicultural education.

Prior to joining De Anza, Mendoza was the first Associate Dean of Athletics/Athletic Director at West Hills College Coalinga (WHCC), serving there from 2016-2019.

He served as chair of the WHCC Professional Development Committee; a member of the Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation Council; President's Executive Cabinet; Falcon Administrators; College Planning Council; District Leadership Retreat Group; Educational Master Plan Committee; Achieving the Dream Data Team; Strategic Enrollment Management Committee; Athletics Hall of Fame (chair); and founder/advisor for the Student-Athlete Advisory Council. Mendoza led the redesign of westhillsfalcons.com - including the addition of social media platforms and live broadcasting.

Among his administrative duties at the college, Mendoza was responsible for oversight of the Fitness Center and academic learning areas covering Kinesiology, Nutrition, Health, Athletics, and Social Sciences. He was also an adjunct instructor for football and baseball courses.

Mendoza was a lead administrative faculty evaluator for instructors teaching subjects in Kinesiology, Math, Nursing, Spanish, and Communications, among others. 

For the 2017-18 school year, the WHCC athletic department was home of the CCCAA and NATYCAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as football All-American Apefai Taifane was honored at the state and national level.

He served as Central Valley Conference president (twice) and athletic director's sports representative for football (teams hosted in the Northern California Football Conference). He was also the CVC chair of the Public Relations & Sports Information committee, leading the CVC logo redesign and Presto website launcn. In 2018, Mendoza was elected to the National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA) executive committee as an at-large representative.

From 2014-2016, Mendoza was the Director of Student Development & Athletics at Compton College in Los Angeles, under CEO/President Dr. Keith Curry.

During his two years at Compton, Mendoza guided the athletic department through the installation of a synthetic football field and track renovation project – and the addition of a women's volleyball program. He developed the school's first Presto website. Beyond his oversight of intercollegiate sports, Mendoza was in charge of the Campus Life Office – coordinating commencement, college activities, student government, clubs/organizations, and the student conduct and discipline process.

Mendoza was a member of the South Coast Conference board (vice president and president) and the Southern California Football Association's Metro League. He served two seasons as the SCC athletic director's representative for women's soccer under commissioner Rich Kollen.

In June of 2016, Mendoza was honored with Compton College’s "Commander-In-Chief" Award, presented by the student body as the year's top campus administrator.

From 2008-2014, Mendoza was Director of Student Programs & Athletics at Porterville College. He served as Central Valley Conference president (first of two terms), Planning Board chair, and was elected second vice president of the California Community College Athletic Directors Association (CCCADA). As a member of the CCCADA executive board, he served as secretary in 2014.

Among his many highlights at Porterville College, Mendoza instituted priority registration for student-athletes, created the first Presto website in the CVC, developed the school's new athletics logo, and helped build a perennial state-ranked women's volleyball program with then-head coach Dale Henderson.

In 2013, the Porterville College student body honored Mendoza with the "Exceptional Staff Member of the Year" Award.

His involvement in the local community included seats on the Porterville Boys & Girls Club Board of Directors and City of Porterville Parks & Leisure Commission. For several years, he was a volunteer team leader (recruiting student-athletes and student clubs) during Porterville's annual Relay For Life event. Mendoza and Henderson established the first youth volleyball program and league in the City of Porterville.

From 2005-2014, Mendoza was also the CVC sports publicist. In 2014, Mendoza led the CVC as coordinator for the all-school Compliance Summit at Reedley College. He served as CVC representative for men's and women's basketball.  

Since 2014, he has been the CCCADA project manager for Coaches vs. Cancer – working with the California Community College Men's and Women's Basketball Coaches Associations with annual fundraising campaigns for the American Cancer Society reaching the $250,000 mark.

Mendoza worked as the Sports Information & Marketing Director at Fullerton College from 2000-2005 under Hall of Fame athletic directors Dr. Susan Beers and Gene Murphy (former football coaching legend). While at Fullerton, Mendoza served as president of the California Community College Sports Information Association (CCCSIA) and represented the organization on the Commission On Athletics (now CCCAA) Management Council.

In addition to handling media relations, fundraising and game management for the 20 sports programs, Mendoza was the school's first Hall of Fame chair and founder of the department's Neighborhood Partnership Program.

He was the Mission Conference football sports information director from 2001-2005. From 1998-2007, Mendoza served as California Community College Fastpitch Coaches Association state championship publicist.

At Fullerton, Porterville, Compton, West Hills, and De Anza, Mendoza established Student-Athlete Advisory Councils to improve service, programming, campus life, and the overall experience for student-athletes and athletic teams. Mendoza also created annual Academic & Athletic Achievement Award banquets to celebrate student success, and launched Midnight Madness events prior to each basketball season.

Over the years, Mendoza has been active in statewide affiliate groups and CCCAA related projects – serving as CCCAA state championship site coordinator, event manager, media relations director, statistician, and broadcast/producer.

In 2003, Mendoza produced the first CCCAA internet broadcast at the state championship level, as the CCCSIA called every game at the men's and women's basketball tournament in San Diego. He has also produced and presented play-by-play broadcasting for several CCCAA championships in football, softball, baseball, and water polo.

Mendoza's state committee memberships include: State Championship Festival, Affiliate Organizations, Values, State Championship Site Selection, Title IX/Gender Equity, Statewide Statistics, and Cal-PASS Student-Athlete Scorecard. He is also part of a taskforce proposing the first California Community College Athletic Association Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (CCCAA-SAAC). Mendoza is the only individual to serve on both executive committees for the CCCADA and CCCSIA.

In 2011, Mendoza founded the state's Diversity & Inclusion Committee. The committee, now named Equity & Inclusion, became an official CCCAA Management Council affiliate in 2016. He currently serves as the Coast Conference representative.

Mendoza was appointed Management Council (2017-2020) member for CCCAA Men's Golf and chair for the Equity & Inclusion Committee. He successfully wrote new state legislation for the Equity & Inclusion Committee and Men's Golf state championship handbook.

From 1998-2000, Mendoza worked at his alma mater Fresno City College. As a news writer/reporter in the school's public information office, Mendoza worked under CCCAA Hall of Famer Woody Wilk – the Rams' longtime sports publicist. He also assisted then-athletic director Susan Yates (recent CVC commissioner) with events, marketing and fundraising projects.

During this time, he was also employed by the Fresno Grizzlies (the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants) under manager Ron Roenicke. As a front office promotions and media relations assistant, Mendoza led intern projects with in-game promotions, statistics, website maintenance, and post-game team interviews. He also assisted with ticket sales, hospitality, clubhouse, and broadcast duties.

While attending Fresno State, Mendoza was the sports editor for The Collegian student newspaper; a writer for the football team's Quarterback Club newsletter under head coach Pat Hill; and a prep writer for The Fresno Bee – covering local high school sports.

Mendoza was the unit director for the West Fresno Boys & Girls Club from 2005-2008, while returning to graduate school. He served as the organization's sports council chair, coordinating the county's athletic scheduling, leagues, and officiating.

He was the head coach for various AAU programs and youth sports, including basketball, baseball, football, and volleyball. Over the years, he has coached and mentored the likes of Valley products Showron Glover (Professional Basketball/Czech Republic), Deontay Greenberry (Football/University of Houston), Greg Smith (NBA/Timberwolves), Ray Hightower (Central High School athletic director), Meranda Watkins (Hoover High School girls varsity volleyball head coach), and the late Deondre Howard (West Hills/Fresno City College).

Mendoza also coached Spencer Dinwiddie (NBA/Lakers) to a youth league championship at the Westchester Recreation Center in Los Angeles, and again on the all-star team.

Also between 2005-2008, Mendoza returned to work with Fresno City College athletic director Susan Yates on a major media relations project. Mendoza developed the school's first sports radio contract with Sporting News Radio to broadcast games and weekly coaches' shows.

Mendoza teamed with Tony D'addato (ESPN Radio), Marcas Grant (NFL Network), Nick Papagni (ESPN/FOX), and producer Anthony Sondergaard to air live programming for Fresno City College, College of the Sequoias, Porterville College and local high schools, including Friday Night Football.

He has also worked on special projects with the California Interscholastic Federation in the Central and Southern Sections. In addition to broadcasting high school events and shows over the years, Mendoza was the media coordinator at the 2015-2016 CIF Southern Section Basketball Championships in Santa Ana.

His memberships with state and national organizations include: Association of California Community College Administrators (ACCCA), California Community College Physical Educators (CCCPE), California Community College Physical Education, Kinesiology & Dance (CCCPEKD), American Student Government Association (ASGA), National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He is also a member of ATIXA - the Association of Title IX Administrators; and earned a Civil Rights Investigator Level One Certification.

From 2000-2005, Mendoza was awarded a record 18 "Best In the Nation" honors by CoSIDA for his Fullerton College sports media guides. He has presented at statewide conventions on the topics of sports marketing and public relations, and appeared as a sports analyst on cable television.

In 2017, Mendoza was honored by the California Community College Sports Information Association with the BRASS TOP Award for service in the profession. The award was presented at the Annual CCCAA Spring Convention.

The product of Clovis High School enjoyed a stellar career on the golf team. As a senior, Mendoza won the Clovis Invitational, and earned All-North Yosemite League and All-Area honors. He became the first golfer in school history honored with the coveted Sassano Blanket Award, presented to the Cougars' top senior.

Mendoza played golf at Reedley College before transferring to Fresno City College. He earned his A.A. degree in Liberal Studies at FCC; a B.A. degree in Mass Communication & Journalism at Fresno State; and a master's in Physical Education & Kinesiology at Fresno Pacific University.

Mendoza earned a Doctorate in Community College Leadership at Ferris State University. He received the university's Robert Ewigleben scholarship.

Four current basketball coaches in the CVC (Fresno City College's Rob Haynes; Reedley College's T.J. Jennings; West Hills Coalinga College's Adedokun Olanrewaju; and Merced College's Aniya Baker) landed their first college head coaching jobs under Mendoza.

His interest in athletic administration began as a Fresno City College student in a recreation leadership class, taught by CCCADA and NATYCAA Hall of Famer John Volek (then FCC head football coach) – former athletic director at Sacramento State. Over the years, Mendoza has been part of numerous regional and state championship winning programs at Fresno City College, Fullerton College, West Hills College, and De Anza College.