Laney College Sees One-Year Increases of 33% and 21% in Numbers of African American, Latinx Students Served

Spring 2023 is continuing the year of change at Laney College, with 1512 more students enrolling than the year before, an 18% increase from Spring 2022. The growth at Laney is reaching the diverse communities it serves, with 507 (33%) more African American students enrolling than a year ago, as well as 494 (21%) more Latinx students.

Laney College extends its warmest congratulations to Journalism Professor and Journalism Department Chair Eleni Economides Gastis for her appointment to Berkeley Journalism's new Advisory Board for California Local News Fellowship Program! Professor Gastis was the only California Community College faculty member selected, which is truly an honor.

Last week the Laney College Women's Track & Field Team opened the season at the Jim Linthicum Invite in Cupertino. With a new group of Freshman competitors, this was the first collegiate meet for many of the team, starting a new era at Laney College.

Laney College: Reaching Out Across the Bay

In 2023, Laney continues to act on the realization that it needs to go out into the community so that the community will attend Laney. Over the past few months, Dr. Lawrence Vanhook has taken on a community outreach role that has had the College present in various parts of Oakland, while the efforts of countless others have Laney telling its story and promoting opportunities that come with a college education in new places.

Those visiting 900 Fallon Street over the past couple months have seen a campus that is open and promoting opportunities for both school and career. Whether it is hosting a visit with a community partner or putting on open-house style events, not even inclement weather can stop the true Eagle Spirit that has driven the College through its transformational 2022-23 school year.

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.