Thursday, May 28, 2020
Greetings Peralta Community! Welcome to issue #16 of Peralta Gems. Congratulations everyone for making it through the Spring 2020 semester...a term like no other. Congratulations especially to all who graduated. Nothing, not even a pandemic, can stop you from achieving your dreams! #PeraltaStrong. --Mark Johnson
Congratulations College Graduates
The Class of 2020 has shown unbelievable resilience and persistence. Because of the shelter-in-place directive in Alameda County, each of the Peralta Colleges celebrated graduations with a virtual celebration. Not even a pandemic can stop us from celebrating (with appropriate social distancing of course).
You can watch the virtual online graduation ceremonies here:
Be sure to check out the inspiring speeches from Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Board of Trustees President Julina Bonilla, and Chancellor Regina Stanback Stroud.
Peralta Colleges Partner with Eat.Learn.Play and World Central Kitchen to Provide Free Meals
Photo courtesy of World Central Kitchen
In response to dramatically increased food insecurity stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Peralta Colleges forged partnerships with two nonprofits – Oakland’s Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation and the World Central Kitchen – to provide thousands of meals to students at three of its four campus locations. The Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation underwrites the cost of the meals, while the World Central Kitchen helps provide food delivery and distribution logistics. Special thanks to Peralta Colleges Foundation Executive Director LaNiece Jones for helping make this new venture possible.
- Laney College Lunch & Produce is available on Mondays and Wednesdays from Noon to 2pm with drive thru pickup available at 900 Fallon Street.
- College of Alameda "Grab-N-Go Free Lunch" is available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11:30am to 1:30pm with drive thru pickup available at 555 Ralph Appezzato Memorial Parkway.
- Merritt College begins "Grab & Go Free Lunch" on Thursday, May 28 from Noon to 2pm. The pickup is located off-campus at the David E. Glover Education and Technology Center located at 6948 Foothill Blvd, Oakland.
- The Berkeley City College service with World Food Kitchen and Eat. Learn. Play. is being finalized and will begin soon.
Read the press release here and download the complete report about the programs and distribution at each college as presented to the Board of Trustees on May 26, 2020 here.
Congratulations On New Appointments
Dr. David M. Johnson is now officially the President of Merritt College. Dr. Johnson had been serving as Acting President since December 2019, following Dr. Marie-Elaine Burns. Dr. Johnson assumed the permanent role on May 18, 2020 and was ratified by the Board of Trustees on May 26, 2020. At the Board of Trustees meeting, Chancellor Stanback Stroud stated, "He has extensive experience in the classroom and as an administrator. His appreciation for consultative and collegial decision-making coupled with deep personal ties to the community has been invaluable in supporting and leading Merritt College...Please do join me in extending a warm Peralta welcome to Dr. David Johnson as the President of Merritt College."
|
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Leigh Sata for being ratified by the Board of Trustees as the permanent Vice Chancellor of General Services. Since starting his role as interim Vice Chancellor in March of 2019, he has earned his Global Executive Ed. D. from the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Business. He brings more than three decades of experience in architecture and education to the Peralta Community College District, most recently as the director of capital projects at Santa Rosa Junior College and bond manager for Solano Community College. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley; serves on the Board of Directors for the French American International School; and is an advisory board member for Nihonmachi Little Friends Pre-School.
|
 |
Welcome Aaron Harbour, appointed as District Web Content Developer on May 5, 2020. Aaron has served as Interim Web Content Developer for the District twice (in 2017 and again in early 2020) prior to his ratification in the permanent role by the Board of Trustees on May 26. Aaron was instrumental in launching Safe Peralta to help with communication about the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future emergency situations. As District Web Content Developer, Aaron is available to provide WordPress support for the District website at web.peralta.edu. To request website help, you can reach out to Aaron at aharbour@peralta.edu. |
COA & Laney FabLabs Are Helping Save Lives with Free PPE
Check out this video! In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Danny Beesley with help from former staff members and student technicians from the Laney and COA FabLabs has coordinated an ever-growing team around the Bay Area who are producing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for essential workers for free.
With a production factory in Alameda and a network of about a hundred volunteer sewers, a delivery and logistics system has evolved to safely and effectively move fabric to get sewn and recollected for sanitization and distribution out to those who need it most, including: nurses, homeless shelters, hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
"This entire crisis is a massive wake up call here in the United States about how we don't have local production capacity. It's really important that we have local product capacity for everything we consume, not just the life-saving PPE that we're doing today," says Beesley. "I'm super grateful to the Peralta Community Colleges for really understanding that FabLabs really provide value...We are training people who are prepared to save your life in a moment of crisis."
The video was produced by Angel Hunter from the District Marketing, Communications & Public Relations (MCPR) department and has nearly 1000 views in just over a week. This story is going viral with a mention in Inside Higher Ed and forthcoming coverage by Bay Area CBS and NBC stations as well as Sacramento PBS. Stay tuned for more!
Board of Trustees Meeting May 26, 2020
Due to the continuing Alameda County shelter-in-place order, the May 26, 2020 Board of Trustees meeting was conducted online via Zoom. A video recording of the full 5 hour and 26 minute meeting is available here. An excerpt featuring the Chancellor's Report (55 minutes) is available here.
The Chancellor's Report included resolutions thanking student Trustees Romina Contraras and Dowell Stanley for their year of dedicated service. Thank you Romina and Dowell and the very best wishes in all your future endeavors!
Summer and Fall 2020 Enrollment Now Open
Summer and Fall 2020 Schedules of Classes are posted here. When you are ready to enroll, visit Passport at https://passport.peralta.edu/.
