Fall Semester Kicks Off With Welcome Week at BCC
Berkeley City College opened the Fall semester with Welcome Week festivities, offering food, fun, and information to get students off to a successful start. On the first day of class, BCC provided free pastries and hot drinks for students on the way to their morning classes. On Tuesday, students were served burritos from Chiquis Food Truck during college hours in the Atrium. On Wednesday, students had an opportunity to become acquainted with BCC’s special programs and services while they sipped on boba tea from Happy Lemon. Representatives from the Basic Needs Center, Career and Transfer Center, Wellness Center, Undocumented Community Resource Center, Library, and more tabled the event. We also thank the PCCD Marketing team for joining the welcome activities by giving away free BCC t-shirts and sweatshirts to students. On Thursday, the Basic Needs Center opened its Food Pantry, allowing students to get free fresh produce and groceries. Each day of the week, BCC’s counselors and outreach team held Express Registration workshops, helped students fill out their class schedules, offered financial aid support, and provided information on valuable resources at BCC.
BCC Meets Community Members at Front Row Music & Arts Festival
On Saturday, August 24, President Denise Richardson, VPSS Stacey Shears, Enrollment Services Coordinator Gail Pendleton, and PIO Tom Rizza tabled the Front Row Music & Arts Festival hosted by the Downtown Berkeley Association. Shattuck Avenue, between Center and Kitterage Streets, was shut down and filled with local artists, food, and a big stage for musical acts that performed all throughout the day. The BCC team met with community members to offer enrollment and program information and hand out BCC swag. We thank the Berkeley Downtown Association for their partnership in holding this event.
BCC Buddies Closet Accepting Clothing Donations
BCC’s Basic Needs Center is now accepting clothing donations from BCC and PCCD employees. The clothes will be made available to students at the BCC Buddies Closet and the Buddies Closet Flea Market taking place later this semester. Last year, over 400 students received clothes from the Buddies Closet, and 95 pieces of clothing have been given away already this semester.
If you would like to donate your new or gently used clothing, please drop them off at Room 125 at Basic Needs Coordinator Izzie Villanueva’s office.
English Instructor Pitches BCC to Students in Wenzhou, China by Adan Olmedo
While on a family vacation this summer, Berkeley City College English instructor Adan Olmedo had the opportunity to give a presentation about BCC, English 1A+, and advice for taking college classes in the US to over 50 high school students in Wenzhou, China. The principal, vice principal, and several teachers gave him a tour of the high school the day before his presentation. They shared tea, exchanged ideas, and asked one another questions about the similarities and differences in the education systems in the US and China.
“The high school looked like a college campus. I learned their schools require a certain percentage of greenery to be present on each campus,” said Adan. “We got to talking there during our casual visit, and someone asked if I could return and give a presentation, and of course I couldn’t resist.”
The students were happy to learn about the opportunities for international learners at BCC. An observer noted that she could see their minds being blown because there are so few opportunities for the high school students to meet non-Chinese people in Wenzhou and the presentation opened their minds to a totally new, exciting path. The presentation was timed well because the students had just taken their college entrance exams, offering them a great option at BCC if they didn’t get into their school of choice.
“They were so thankful. I plan to return next time I’m in Wenzhou, possibly next summer, to give them the same presentation followed by a couple of English workshops,” said Adan.
BCC Faculty Part of Major Australian Research Council Grant by Laura Ruberto
Laura Ruberto (Humanities, BCC) is a principal investigator on a three-year study, Mapping Creativity in Captivity during WWII, funded by the Australian Research Council. The digital humanities project was awarded one of Australia’s most prestigious and competitive research grants after a yearslong review process. The project, led by Giorgia Alù of the University of Sydney, also includes principal investigators Elena Bellina (New York University), Flavia Marcello (Swinburne University), Rebecca Suter (University of Oslo), and Anthony White (University of Melbourne). Dr. Ruberto was invited to collaborate given her past research on Italian POWs, including work performed during her appointment as a Mellon/ACLS Community College Faculty Fellow in 2020.
The project focuses on Australia and the Pacific but has a global reach. It will map the little-known art, material culture, and architecture created by Italian prisoners of war incarcerated by Allied forces from 1940 to 1947. Over one million Italian men were held in British and American camps across the globe, including in Australia, Scotland, India, South Africa, and the United States.
Dr. Ruberto’s involvement includes co-curating an exhibit on Italian POWs and art, slated to open in New York City in April 2025, and assisting with the grant’s main project, an OER digital map and atlas of creativity in captivity. Various future public programming events, as well as the extensive OER resource, under development at the University of Sydney, will bring the documents of this history to a wider audience, including students and the general public. Public outreach and digital resources will fill an important gap in the historical narrative and inform education, arts programs, community action, and policy initiatives. The project will provide a different understanding of how individuals and groups interact in conditions of confinement, especially during wartime, and the key role of creative action in promoting solidarity and kinship.
Local Artist Visit Literature Class by Katherine Koelle
What was an artist’s son and jazz expert doing in an English class? Alistair Monroe, the son of Oakland-based artist Arthur Monroe, visited a summer literature class at BCC to talk about his father’s paintings on exhibit at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art and their connection to a rich culture.
The class looked at the work of beat poets, like Kerouac and Ginsberg, and learned about their influence on American literature. Arthur Monroe was influenced by jazz and the beat poets as he created abstract expressionist paintings. Alistair shared stories of his father and his father’s circle of African American Beat-era artists and musicians, including Charlie Parker. He pointed out aspects of Arthur’s paintings that signified freedom of expression and diverging viewpoints, concepts that the Beats embraced.
The students were able to see how the arts -- literature, music, and painting -- are all connected in times of change and social movements. Alistair and a few remaining artists reside at the Cannery in Oakland, a live-work space for artists that Arthur Monroe founded and where they are now fighting for their right to remain. Arthur recently passed away, but his son is ensuring that his legacy lives on.
This article is taken from the President’s Report, written by Dr. Denise Richardson, Berkeley City College President, that was presented to the PCCD Board of Trustees during their regular meeting on Tuesday, September 10, 2024. To view it as a PDF, click here.