Early last month, Chancellor Tammeil Gilkerson wrote an article for The Oakland Post endorsing Senate Bill 1348, which would establish the Designation of California Black-Serving Institutions to recognize campuses that excel at providing academic resources to Black and African American students. On September 26th, Governor Gavin Newsom signed this bill into California law. Hooray!

To qualify for Black-Serving Institution status, at least 10% of the college or university’s enrolled student population must identify as Black or African American, or there must be at least 1500 Black or African American students enrolled.

Applicants are also required to develop a strategic plan on how the campus intends to meet academic equity goals for its Black and African American students, provide an outline of the planned allocation of resources toward ensuring the strategic plan is implemented, and explain how the campus will use current resources to provide culturally relevant professional development to faculty and staff.

Collectively, 19.1% of students at the Peralta Colleges identify as Black, with each of the four colleges surpassing the 10% enrollment threshold required by SB 1348. This statistic is not just a number; it reflects our ongoing need for creating and sustaining educational environments where Black students can excel.

As for strategic plans for student success, with BSI status, we’ll be looking to provide additional student support via existing programs like Umoja-UBAKA and Sankofa, excellent programs designed to promote academic success for African American community college students through classes, tutoring, workshops, community-building, study spaces and mentoring.

The bill designated the California State University Statewide Central Office for the Advancement of Black Excellence as the managing entity, so the next steps are for them to develop the application and awards process. We are very excited about the opportunity for more funding and more resources to support Black student success.