Basic Needs Awareness Week

The Berkeley City College Basic Needs Awareness Week ran from April 15 through April 18. BCC’s Basic Needs Center hosted a series of events providing information and basic needs resources available to all Berkeley City College students.

The week of action kicked off with the Basic Needs Buddies Closet Free Clothing Flea Market. Over the past two semesters, the Buddies Closet collected hundreds of new and lightly used clothing items donated by students and BCC Employees. The Buddies Closet turned the BCC Atrium into a mini thrift shop, allowing students to browse and collect sweaters, pants, jeans, shoes, accessories, and other items.

On Tuesday, a representative from the Berkeley Student Cooperative hosted a Student Housing Workshop. Students were able to learn about the BSC’s model with housing options that offer a student living community that are below market prices.

On Wednesday, the Basic Needs Center partnered with the Peer-to-Peer Mental Health Ambassadors for a Mental Health Art Day. Students were able to paint and create with their peers and decompress from the stresses of looming finals and project deadlines. P2P ambassadors were on hand to talk or vent stresses in school and life. It was also free lunch day, where students were able to grab a banh mi from MintLeaf.

The week ended with a California Native Plant Workshop. Students were able to learn about the native plants of CA and the vital role they play in maintaining our unique ecosystem and sustainability. Students were given seeds and were able to plant in pots to take home or plant in the wild.

Thank you to the BCC community (faculty, staff, students, and more) for donating clothes, Berkeley Student Housing Cooperative (BSC) for the informative workshop on Tuesday, Mint Leaf for the delicious lunches on Wednesday, Peer 2 Peer (P2P) Mental Health Ambassador Team and Coordinator Tyler Bennett collaboration on Wednesday, and the facilities team (especially Yangxi Lin and Michael Alvillar!) for their support with set up and clean up every day.

And of course, the most MASSIVE shoutout to every student leader on the Basic Needs team (Ashley, Darius, Howie, Karime, Wei, Ana, Azi, Kei, Alexis, Sam & Alondra) for taking the initiative to plan, organize, create, publicize, and host this crucial week of building community and resource awareness. The BCC Basic Needs Center and all our events would not be nearly as successful without their visionary leadership.

ASBCC Election Results

The Associated Students of Berkeley City College election results were certified on April 15. BCC is excited to announce the new student government leadership that will begin their administration in the Fall:

• President Himali KC
• Vice President of Administration Kenneth Rice
• Vice President of Programs Siew Ping Lee (Lorna)
• Vice President of Public Relations Benjamin Makaena Niihau-Ashby
• Vice President of Finance Tenzin Jungney
• Senators Gianmarco Mazzella, Kimiya Farzam, and Cheng Yeh (Yale) Tsai

We are also proud to report that both PCCD Student Trustees are BCC students: Natasha Masand and Sophia Parmigiani.

ASBCC in Action at SSCCC in Santa Clara

15 student members of the Associated Students of Berkeley City College (ASBCC) visited the Student Senate of California Community Colleges (SSCCC) from April 4 through 7 at the Santa Clara Marriott Hotel.

The students networked with other student government officers from California community college campuses. They attended workshops hosted by student governments focused on student engagement, marketing, planning, and budgeting strategies. Workshops also discussed AI and strategies to communicate with district leadership.

ASBCC officers sat in on sessions where they voted on resolutions such as providing more need-based financial aid for international students. They also lent their voices and perspectives on issues at BCC during debates on those resolutions.

“The SSCCC is the absolute best way for anyone interested in student government to get involved in the affairs of students, community college districts, and the statewide community college system,” said ASBCC President Kristiyan Klichev. “It was also a great bonding experience for all student government members. It was cool to get to know each other. It was cool to see all the Peralta College’s student governments unite.”

Solidarity in Mental Health Summit - Safe Spaces for Queer Faces

The 5th annual Solidarity in Mental Health Summit was successfully hosted on the 12th of April, 2024. This year’s theme was “Safe Spaces for Queer Faces.” The Peer-to-Peer Mental Health Ambassadors (P2P) collaborated with BCC Wellness Center to bring the summit to life.

The purpose we had hoped to share through the summit was to educate the larger community on how the concepts and realities of queer safety and safe spaces have changed across generations, as well as provide a platform for understanding through queer voices how to nurture a safe environment for the LGBTQIA+ community. The summit was designed in line with P2P and the Wellness Center’s mission to show solidarity in mental health and call on our community to join us in waking up, standing up, and lifting the needs of our most marginalized groups.

This summit would not have been possible without the unwavering support of the Vice President of Student Services, Dr. Stacey Shears. We would also like to thank the President, Dr. Denise Richardson, for attending our event.

Our keynote speakers, DeAngela Cooks and Kena Hazelwood, brought an amazing energy to our participants in their keynotes. Our first keynote speaker, DeAngela Cooks, delved into the themes of telltale signs of a “safe space” and the excluded communities from these spaces, which all illuminated the intricate dynamics of identity, safety, and belonging within the queer experience.

Kena Hazlewood was our second keynote speaker who provided accessible tools for LGBTQ+ identified youth, their caregivers, and the educational professionals in their lives to advocate for the schools and policies necessary for queer youth to thrive. Our colleague, Lola Allen, was the Master of Ceremony, and her stage presence was engaging and energizing. We also had a panel discussion involving two of our BCC students, Kei Napoli Dorantes and Ivy Russell, who are members of the LGBTQIA+ Association Club at Berkeley City College. Chinue Igwe from the Wellness Center and keynote speaker DeAngela Cooks also joined us for a very engaging panel discussion, which was phenomenally moderated by Cassie Benton, a member of the Peer-to-Peer Mental Health Ambassadors.

We are grateful to the organizing team for making this summit a success. We would also like to express our gratitude to Janine Greer and Tyler Bennett for their mentorship and guidance during the summit’s planning. Lastly, we would like to extend our appreciation to all our enthusiastic participants who spent their Friday with us. We hope you took away something special from the summit. We promise to continue bringing programs and services that would better our community and, ultimately, our society at large.

“This event was one of the most relevant and personally affirming I’ve gone to in my professional life,” said Executive Assistant to the VPI Angel Kim.

Berkeley City College Outreach to Berkeley High School Students

Enrollment workshop to support our partnership with Berkeley High School students. We had approximately 35 students for this informational session about all our learning communities (UMOJA, Puente, Society of Scholars (SOS), AAPI Leads, MESA). Students met one-on-one with SOS counselors to discuss and select their Summer and Fall enrollment pathways at BCC.

Umoja Scholars Alumni Gathering

The Umoja Scholars Learning Community hosted its annual BCC Umoja alumni event on April 17, 2024. The alumni attended our traditional “Porch Talk” event where we gather monthly to dialogue about Black student success and build community with lunch. The alum shared how they transitioned from community college to 4-year campuses; how they advocate for themselves in and outside of the classroom, tips for handling encounters with racism and microaggressions, tips for finding money for college, and Omoremi Adeleke noted the additional level of support she receives at FAMU (HBCU) compared to her Mills College experience.

Umoja Alumni speakers list: Eneni Frank, UCB Haas School of Business; Syrak Micael UCB Economics major and newly elected ASUC transfer representative; Dana McMillan, UCB Geography major; Olina Scott, SFSU undeclared; Starrlisah Stewart, CSUEB Psychology; Samantha Barrow, BA degree, UCD Sociology c/o 2021; Omoremi Adeleke, BS degree, Mills College c/o 2020 and currently enrolled in a Master’s program for Computer Science at FAMU. Samantha and Omoremi are considered BCC Umoja legacy scholars because they have earned their 4-year degrees.

Student Shout Out: MMART Student Joins Pixar Internship Program

Ninette Tan is a returning career changer – started off her work life as a registered nurse – after deciding to change direction she took some online classes and found herself drawn to the technical arts, taking rigging and coding classes online before joining the Berkeley City College family and signing up for Animation and Virtual Production certificates.

Ninette says “I found BCC because I was looking for good local and remote 3D animation programs that focused on film and game development certification. I was actually really impressed with the catalog of classes and how comprehensive it is.” She has been proactive in building her new pathway: getting involved with Women in Animation as a mentee in the Mentorship Circle and exploring careers in writing code for movies. She’s also Interned at the Houdini School and took part in a mentorship last Summer at the Academy Software Foundation.

Now she gets to add another feather to her cap and was accepted as an intern this summer at Pixar as an animation technician. She is one of those people who cares about her peers and is passionate about her work.

Ninette’s story is a great example of how continuous learning, networking, and perseverance can lead to exciting opportunities in a new career field. It’s clear that she has a bright future ahead of her, and I’m sure she will continue to excel and achieve even more in her chosen field.