At the end of September, Merritt College had the honor of hosting the Native American Health Center’s Golden Anniversary Powwow. Founded in San Francisco’s Mission District in 1972, and now located in East Oakland, NAHC’s mission is to “provide comprehensive services to improve the health and wellbeing of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and residents of the surrounding communities with respect to cultural and linguistic differences.”

In honor of Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month, the Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month Planning Committee, CoA Ethnic Studies, and the Office of the President have invited students and colleagues to enjoy the activities and celebrations of the culture, achievements, traditions, contributions, and struggles of Latinx/Hispanic people in the U.S. and beyond. The theme this year is De Corazón a Corazón (From Heart to Heart).

In October 2019, CoA received a United States Department of Education Title V Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) Grant becoming PCCD’s first HSI college. In Fall Semester 2021, College of Alameda’s MESA Connect Project received additional grant funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve academic outcomes for LatinX students enrolled at HSIs.

On September 28, representatives from Upward Scholars delivered a cart full of laptops to be given to 53 BCC students in the adult education program.

It is with great sadness we share that Loretta Newsom passed away Friday, September 23rd in Oakland at the age of 91.

Berkeley City College English instructor Sharon Coleman was awarded the Maverick Award for poetry by the Ruth Weiss Foundation. Coleman has taught poetry, creative writing, and composition at BCC since 2022. Coleman’s submission, titled “was it for this,” is a section of a longer manuscript she’s been working on for four years titled “hand-me-down.”

A delegation of Berkeley City College students joined other representatives of the Peralta Community College District in traveling to Washington, D.C. for the Congressional Black Caucus 51st Annual Legislative Conference. The event spanned Wednesday, September 28th through Sunday, October 2nd. PCCD’s involvement has been ongoing for the past 18 years with support from Trustee Linda Handy and Representative Barbara Lee.

Leesa Hogan, a Merritt College graduate and continuing student who serves as a Student Trustee on the Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees as well as President of the Associated Students of Merritt College was recently chosen to be a part of the Advisory Committee on Educational Services for the Community College League of California (CCLC). Student Trustee Hogan sat with Mark Johnson, Executive Director of Marketing, Communication, and Public Relations on September 16, 2022 to talk about this prestigious appointment and her experiences as a student leader at Merritt College and the Peralta Community College District.

The Peralta Community College District is proud to support Undocumented Student Action Week (USAW), an initiative led by the state chancellor's office.  As the higher education system that enrolls the largest population of undocumented students, the California Community Colleges are instrumental in ensuring every student, regardless of their citizenship status, can pursue their career and professional goals free from institutional barriers and discrimination. Our annual Undocumented Student Action Week was born out of this premise: to build greater awareness of and support for policies that lead to undocumented student success.