Laney College Awarded $1.4 million MESA Program Grant

Laney is honored to be selected to offer a Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) program. With the funds received from the state totaling more than a million dollars, we will be able to provide tutoring and counseling services to many students in underrepresented communities, as well as others in these fields. Students will receive a strong foundation on which to build successful futures. We are proud to launch this initiative, which will be a collaboration with Merritt College under the terms of the grant. Special thanks to Dean of Math & Sciences Angel Fuentes Figueroa for his leadership in the successful application!

January 23, 2023

Dear Peralta Community,

Welcome to the Spring 2023 semester. Today should be a day of celebration for students returning to our colleges’ to continue their educational goals and to avail themselves of our outstanding instruction and support services. Today should also be an opportunity for us to celebrate the Lunar New Year – the Year of the Rabbit. And we do celebrate these events!

But this week, we also fly our flags at half-staff at the campuses in solidarity with US President Joe Biden and our federal government, in memory of the lives lost and people injured at the tragic shooting yesterday at Monterey Park in southern California.

Laney Puente, Latinx Students/Colleagues Celebrate with Dia de Gracias, End of Semester Events

Tuesday, November 22 was a great day at Laney College, as the Puente Program gathered to have its own Dia de Gracias as an advance celebration of the coming holiday. The event was attended by around 30 students, alumni, family members, and Laney colleagues, giving it the richness of true Puente events. Special thanks to Counseling Faculty Member Laura Gomez-Contreras and Professor Maya Chinchilla, under the leadership of Associate Dean Gary Albury, for a great event and energizing this critical program. Thanks to their efforts, what was once a cohort with barely 5 students a few years ago is now becoming a program full of students.

Dear Peralta Community,

Per our policy to follow Alameda County Public Health Department guidelines, and based on discussions with union leaders, it is agreed that in January 2023 masks will become optional on Peralta Community College District (PCCD) property and will no longer be required. People may choose to mask at any time.

Hello Peralta Colleagues,

I don't know about you, but I am very much looking forward to the Thanksgiving break on November 24-25, 2022. Working at Peralta Community College District can often feel like stepping on a treadmill that’s already going 10 miles per hour. There’s always so much going on. We all need this break to recharge and reflect.

On November 1, Laney College honored our late colleague Rene Rivas with a ceremony that officially named the 6th floor Classified Employee Lounge after him. Family, friends, and colleagues gathered for a reception, lunch, and ceremony, first in the Tower lobby and culminating on the 6th floor with a ribbon cutting and sharing of mementos that will remain in a space that henceforth will carry his name.

The Laney Theater Arts Department put on four performances of “Art is Useless When Being Mauled by a Bear” in November. The play was directed by Laney Professor Michael Torres and written by Alisa Tangredi, who was present for all the productions and praised all involved at Laney. Also, following the performance, cast member and first-semester student Jackson Nguyen was subsequently cast in another production off campus.

Biology faculty member Emily Quach represented the College in grand fashion with her presentation at the recent National Science Foundation Advanced Technical Education (NSF-ATE) conference in Washington DC.