Berkeley City College Class of 2024 Celebrates Ambition at Commencement

On Wednesday, May 22, Berkeley City College celebrated the Class of 2024 at its Commencement Ceremony at Zellerbach Hall on UC Berkeley’s Campus. Berkeley City College conferred 1,109 awards including AA’s, AS’s, AD-T, and Certificates of Achievement, Competency, Completion, and Proficiency to 612 graduates. Through hard work and great support from faculty, classified professionals, and administration, BCC’s number of graduates increased by 13% from the previous year with 544 graduates. The diversity of the Class of 2024 graduates includes 30% Latinx, 20% White, 19% Asian, 19% Black/African American, 9% Two or More, 3% Unknown, and .5% Pacific Islander students.

“Berkeley City College’s 2024 Graduation was immensely inspiring! To see so many of our graduates and their families glowing with pride and joy was a heartwarming reminder of how profoundly meaningful our work is,” said President Richardson. “This year the theme our graduates chose was ambition. I am so proud that our students have used their ambition to advance themselves and our community as we continue our pursuit of academic excellence and social justice.”

This year’s theme was AMBITION, selected by the ASBCC. Thank you to all the speakers, especially Valedictorian Derek Carver and Salutatorian Jennifer Fong, who offered inspiring words of their journey through adversity and perseverance to achieve their academic goals. This year’s President’s Medallion and Chancellor’s Trophy Winner is Student Trustee Natasha Masand, and the Inspiration Award winner is Oluwatunmise Akanle. Big thanks to Berkeley City College’s Commencement Committee, chaired by John Nguyen, and members Michael Alvillar, Luis Chavez, Amy Lee, Gail Pendleton, Vanessa Phillip, Thomas Rizza, Stacey Shears, Jasmine Sumandal, and Susan Truong.

RAICES Graduation

This year’s RAICES graduation, honoring Latina/o/x students, their heritage, and culture, was held in the beautiful Huey Newton Student Lounge at Merritt College. This year’s theme, ¡Si Se Pudo y Mas Se Puede! recognized the long roads many of our scholars traveled to get their certificates, degrees, and to transfer. BCC was represented by 13 students, including Bryan Morroquín, one of the student speakers who encouraged his peers to push through the obstacles. We hope that it served as an inspiration for our scholars to continue to pursue their educational dreams.

Lavender Celebration Hosted by PCCD

On Wednesday, May 15 Berkeley City College hosted the Peralta Lavender Celebration, an event for the PCCD LGBTQIA+ graduating community to celebrate their successes. It was a time for the community to come together and celebrate their successes and share their plans for graduation. This was followed by an amazing karaoke session filled with laughter and fun. The LGBTQIA+ Club also shared future plans and initiatives inspired by the success of the Lavender Celebration to continue advocacy work and community building. Thank you to all of the PCCD administrators, faculty, and classified professionals who showed up to offer their support of the graduates.

BCC EOPS Student Graduation and Transfer Celebration

On Tuesday, May 14, Berkeley City College’s EOPS program recognized and celebrated program participants that are graduating and transferring. EOPS honors their hard work, perseverance, and resilience. The EOPS students in the photo are UC and CSU bound, with majors in Biology, Sociology, Art, and Middle East/South Asia Studies. EOPS applauds their accomplishments and wishes them success in their future endeavors.

President’s Message: Bidding Farewell to Valued Colleagues

As we near the end of our school year, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for your inspiring dedication and commitment to our students and our campus community. Because of you, 612 of our students will graduate this year. This is something that we can all be proud of, and I hope that you all will join us to celebrate our students at graduation. As we say so long to our graduates, we also have other members of our community who will be moving on to the next phase of their personal and professional journeys.

Professor Pieter de Haan, Ph.D.

Pieter de Haan, born in Amsterdam, is a biologist and geologist whose academic journey spans diverse fields and continents. He pursued his undergraduate studies in Biology and Geology at the University of Amsterdam. For his master’s thesis, he studied the structural geology of the Triassic area near Alicante, Spain.

After completing his master’s, Pieter continued his studies in Israel, working at the Geological Survey in Jerusalem. Here, his focus shifted to palynological research on the Early Cretaceous of the Israeli coastal plain, contributing valuable insights into the region’s geological history.

To deepen his understanding of plant evolution, Pieter pursued a Ph.D. at UC Davis, focusing on the evolution of flowering plants in the coastal plain of Israel. This research was completed in January 1997.

Transitioning to academia, Pieter began his teaching career in 2001, imparting his knowledge and passion for biology at UCD, American River College, Solano Community College, Sonoma State, City College of San Francisco, and Vista College. His dedication to teaching was evident from the start, as he taught one of the first BIOL-1B classes with just six students in the Science annex of Vista College in Fall 2001.

Pieter’s academic journey continued to flourish as he became a full-time faculty member at Vista College in August 2002. Over the years, he played a pivotal role in shaping the Science department, which eventually moved to Aquatic Park and later to the new building at 2050 Center Street in 2006.

Throughout his tenure at Vista and Berkeley City College, Pieter taught a range of courses, including Biology-1A, 1B, and Biology-10, enriching the academic experience of countless students. His commitment to academia extended beyond the classroom, as he served as Academic Senate President (2009-2013), Assessment Coordinator (Fall 2018- Spring 2021), Science Assessment Liaison (from the beginning to Spring 2023), and Co-Chair for the Science Department (Fall 2018-Spring 2023), leaving a lasting impact on the institutions he served.

Over the course of his career, Pieter’s work was crucial in building the prestigious Science and Biotechnology program at Berkeley City College. He has endeared himself to students and the campus community as one of BCC’s most popular instructors and colleagues. Professor de Haan’s excellence in instruction is borne out of his commitment to student success, as well as his own professional development.

Vice President of Instruction Kuni Hay

During her tenure at BCC, VPI Kuni Hay’s steadyhanded leadership has played a critical role in moving BCC forward, most notably in her skillful execution of transitioning the college to online instruction at the onset of the pandemic. She also played a critical leadership role in the implementation of the Student-Centered Funding Formula (SCFF), and Guided Pathways (GP), strengthening the partnership and expansion of the Dual Enrollment opportunities, providing strong support for the expansion of the Career Education programs and the Distance Education programs. In her role as the College Accreditation Liaison Officer, Kuni shepherded the College through several accreditation reports, including the 2020 Institutional Self-Evaluation Report (ISER) that resulted in BCC successfully earning a reaffirmation of accreditation. Ever the proactive leader, VPI Hay recently invited representatives from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) to provide District-wide training on the four new standards of accreditation so that we would be better prepared to write our upcoming midterm report.

Kuni’s strong organizational skills and attention to detail have resulted in huge gains for the College community, particularly as she helped guide the development of the Educational Master Plan, the Integrated Strategic Enrollment Management Plan, and the Strategic Plan. Kuni is a firm believer in the participatory governance process and has created the framework for the “Governance Road Show” at BCC, which facilitated the broad sharing of important information and updates with key governance committees.

After six years of serving with distinction and a laser focus on ensuring the integrity of processes in the Office of Instruction, VPI Hay is retiring at the end of June 2024. She states that this will allow her and her family to focus on taking care of their elder mother who lives in Tokyo, Japan. Kuni expresses enormous appreciation for the opportunities she has had working at BCC.

Vice President of Administrative Services Sean Brooks

VPAS Sean Brooks has been part of the BCC community for the last three years. During this time, he has become a very visible and supportive force for his fellow administrators, faculty, classified professionals, and especially students. His extensive background in facilities management has enabled us to cross the finish line with the start of construction of our new building at 2118 Milvia Street, and the upcoming renovations for our existing campus.

When the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic required the College to quickly adapt to new protocols, Sean led the return to campus efforts, including the massive ordering of PPE, managing 3rd party vendors, and working with the District and State agencies to ensure that the BCC campus met the District’s health and safety protocols. Sean was an engaged member 

of participatory governance at BCC, serving on several key committees as the administrative lead - District Facilities Committee; Facilities, Health, & Safety, Facilities Committee; Holistic, Safety, & Wellness Advisory Committee, Professional Development Committee. He also forged important relationships with our community partners, such as the Downtown Berkeley Association and the Berkeley City Council. His advocacy and demonstration of goodwill in these spaces have significantly enhanced our presence and impact within the Berkeley community. One of Sean’s most appreciated qualities is his commitment to transparency. He is always well-prepared to provide clear budget updates during Integrated Planning for Allocation Resources (IPAR) meetings, Flex Day presentations and in other participatory governance spaces. Most recently, VPAS Brooks did an excellent job as the principal planner of our highly successful 50th Anniversary Block Party Celebration and groundbreaking ceremony. VPAS Brooks will be leaving the BCC community and the Peralta District at the end of June 2024, to take on the position of Vice President of Administrative Services at Los Positas College.

I would also like to express appreciation for Acting Dean Lilia Celhay who has been with us for the last ten months, standing in the gap in the Division of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Dean Celhay has generously brought her wealth of administrative experience and unique brand of joy to every space she has occupied at BCC, and we are grateful for the invaluable support that she has provided to the Office of Instruction. Dean Celhay will be leaving us at the end of the week and returning to College of Alameda in the summer. We wish her all the best as she makes this transition.

We wish these cherished members of the BCC community all the best as they begin their new chapters.

Warm regards,

Denise Richardson, Ed.D.

President