Berkeley City College Celebrates Black History Month

Berkeley City College celebrated Black History Month with a series of events throughout February and the first week of March honoring Black culture, history, and achievement.

The celebration began on February 11 with an Opening Ceremony in the Atrium. President Richardson welcomed the community and shared opening remarks recognizing the importance of honoring Black history and contributions throughout the year. Andrea Williams briefly highlighted additional Black History Month programs taking place throughout February.

The ceremony also included a recorded performance of the Black National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing, presented by Vice President of Student Services Dr. Ajani Byrd. Dr. Carolyn Martin delivered inspirational remarks reflecting on the significance of Black history, resilience, and community. The event concluded with Dean Mozell Person inviting the audience to learn and join in a line dance performance.

On February 18, BCC held a Music and Libations ceremony hosted by retired BCC EOPS Coordinator Ramona Butler, her family, and the Kuumba Dance Studio. The libation ceremony provided an opportunity for the campus community to honor ancestors, family, and friends who are no longer with us. Kuumba Dance leader Tiye Garrett led an interactive exhibition of traditional West African dance and drum rhythms.

On February 25, the Black Career Panel was held in conjunction with the college’s Career Day. Moderated by Dr. Byrd, the panel brought together professionals who shared insights into their career paths, challenges, and successes. We thank the panelists Christyn Richardson Mays, Jamon Douglas, and Brittany Jacob for providing insights on their careers in law, software engineering, and broadcasting.

The Black History Month programming concluded with Umoja Day on Tuesday, March 3. Students from BCC’s Umoja learning community gathered in the Atrium to share presentations about core Umoja practices: awareness and connectedness to the African diaspora, manifesting, studying in the Village, and porchtalk discussions. The event also featured musical performances from Umoja students and lunch.

Thanks to all who were involved in organizing these events, especially President Richardson, VPSS Byrd, Dean Raniyah Johnson, and Umoja Counselor Shannon Penn.

Career Fair Offers Networking and Professional Development to BCC Students

Berkeley City College welcomed more than 50 employers to campus on February 25 for its annual Career Fair, held in the BCC Atrium. The event provided students with the opportunity to explore job openings, internships, and potential career pathways with local employers from industries including public safety, youth sports coaching, and social services.

Students were also able to get feedback on their resumes, take part in mock interviews, and receive other career coaching at BCC’s Career Corner. A professional photo station was also available, giving students the chance to update their headshots for résumés, LinkedIn profiles, and other professional materials.

Thank you to the employers who met with our students, and Andrea Williams and Zaira Sanchez for their work organizing the event.

BCC Students Share Internship Experiences in Panel Discussion

On Thursday, February 19, Berkeley City College hosted an Internships Information Panel offering students looking for internships an opportunity to hear from peers about their experiences.

The panel started with an informational overview of Handshake, a free job search platform available to all Peralta students. Zaira Sanchez led the presentation showing students how to activate their account and use features that enable them to search for jobs by interest, explore professional roles, and message employers directly.

Ilona McGriff then led a panel discussion featuring 5 current and alumni BCC students from a variety of different internships, including biotech with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and Bayer, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the City of Berkeley, California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM, and UC Berkeley Engineering. Thank you to Emiliano, Lily, Shelsea, Trey, and Ahyan for participating in the discussion and inspiring students to explore internship opportunities.

Kicking Off the Year of the Horse at BCC

BCC’s AAPI LEAD club organized a series of events celebrating the Year of the Horse. The celebration opened on Thursday, February 19, with a Lunar Game day, inviting students to take part in fun traditional Lunar New Year games with prizes and snacks for all. On Friday, February 20, students celebrated Losar (Tibetan New Year), inviting students to join in a Tibetan dance circle, create art, and eat delicious momo. On Thursday, March 5, the Cal VSA lion dancers visited the college atrium to showcase a blend of martial arts, acrobatics, and dance using hand-crafted lion costumes and drums. The lion dance troupe includes BCC student Nam-An Pham and alumnus Hsiao Ho, who were excited to share their talents with their fellow BCC students!

Thank you to AAPI Lead and Susan Truong for their help in ringing in the Year of the Horse at BCC!

Longfellow Middle School Visits Berkeley City College

Over 40 Longfellow Middle School scholars visited BCC on Thursday, February 19, for a full morning of activities, student presentations, BCC applications, guest speakers, delicious lunch, and, of course, fun cultural activities and games - in celebration of Lunar New Year. This exciting event was facilitated by BCC’s own AAPI LEAD student leaders. This semester marks the 2nd year of BCC’s Dual Enrollment partnership with LMS. Students will complete COUN 200B, Orientation to College (.5) units. This DE initiative serves as a connection point with BCC, where many scholars will continue to complete DE courses this summer and throughout high school. Some scholars from BCC and LMS’s first cohort are now enrolled in their 3rd or 4th class with BCC this spring, as 9th graders in high school!

Thank you to our Society of Scholars leaders Skyler Barton, Susan Truong, and Dri Regalado for their ongoing work to grow BCC’s dual enrollment partnerships in the East Bay!

BCC Basic Needs Center Presents at CHEBNA Conference

On February 10th and February 11th, the BCC Basic Needs Center traveled to Sacramento for the bi-annual California Higher Education Basic Needs Alliance Summit. PCCD Chancellor Tammeil Gilkerson provided the keynote address for this summit.

BCC’s BNC team showed up and showed out, attending sessions to learn new strategies to bring back to the BCC community, and forming connections with other institutions, opening networks for more collaboration and visibility across community colleges and 4-year universities.

BCC Basic Needs Center Project Manager Izzie Villanueva and Student Assistant Kei hosted a session titled “Going Viral: Leveraging Social Media for Basic Needs,” where they shared the BNC’s history, tactics, and tips for connecting with the community via familiar social media platforms.

“Thank you to CHEBNA for hosting the amazing event, and we can’t wait for the next one! Thank you to all the dedicated members of the community who continue to be innovators and leaders in this time!” - BCC Basic Needs team

Active Assailant Safety Training at BCC

On Tuesday, March 3, Berkeley City College hosted its second “Surviving an Active Assailant” safety training module. This interactive training session gave BCC employees a chance to practice hands-on strategies to help them respond during a critical incident on campus.

This was part of a series of safety training sessions facilitated by Peralta’s Department of Community Safety. The week prior, on Tuesday, February 24, the Peralta Board of Trustees held a study session at Berkeley City College. There, Executive Director of Public Safety Abdul Pridgen presented our District’s proposed Community Safety Plan, which includes provisions for employee training, including these active assailant modules. BCC’s dual enrollment partnerships in the East Bay!

BCC Advocates for Strong Workforce Program Funding at CCAOE

BCC Director of Workforce Development Ilona McGriff attended the California Community College Association for Occupational Education (CCCAOE) Policy Summit on March 4 and 5 in Sacramento. The summit offers career education leaders an opportunity to learn about the state’s legislative process, hear from experts on current trends in career technical education and workforce development, and engage directly with policymakers. McGriff joined 14 teams of workforce development directors and deans from across the state to lobby for the restoration of $60 million Strong Workforce Program funds to the local control of individual colleges. This reallocation would increase support for programs, apprenticeships, and internships relevant to BCC.

“Advocacy to ensure the creation of regionally aligned and locally directed workforce opportunities is central to our ability to develop meaningful career pathways for our students. These activities are critical to create and retain both employers and a robust, well-prepared workforce to ensure that families have the option and means to remain in the Bay Area. I appreciate this great opportunity provided by the CCCAOE,” said Director McGriff.

Downtown Berkeley Association CEO Visits BCC Spotlight

On February 12, President Denise Richardson interviewed Downtown Berkeley Association CEO John Caner for our 7th episode of BCC Spotlight. The interview explored Mr. Caner’s tenure at the DBA, accomplishments, some Berkeley history, and what’s next for the DBA as they search for a successor to the soon-to-retire Caner. The episode will be posted on KGPC 96.9’s website.