Fall is Free in 2023 and the semester kicked off on August 21, 2023. Welcome Week at the Peralta Colleges marks the beginning of a fresh adventure for both new and returning students.  Each College was bustling with events tailored to welcome incoming students into our tight-knit community. From Ice Cream Socials at Merritt to Pancakes with the President at COA, and from the Campus Resource Fair at BCC to a Block Party at Laney,  it is safe to say that Welcome Week was a great success!

Photo credit: Michael Moya

The Peralta Association of African American Affairs (PAAAA) hosted a lovely event in honor of seven outstanding students on May 4th, 2023, at the Peralta Community College District headquarters in Oakland.  Dr. Lawrence VanHook (PAAAA President) led attendees through the program that included Libations by Dr. Marlon Hall (Laney College Vice President of Student Services) and a thrilling performance of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by Laney College student Alison Fletcher. 

Yumeus Taylor is an Oakland native, but everyone calls her Missy. She has been fascinated with fixing cars since she was a little girl watching her uncle and dad work on their vehicles.   After graduating high school in Oakland, she enrolled in Laney College for general studies courses and then started taking automotive classes at the College of Alameda.   Missy is a single mom with two sons, and when she isn't working part-time as a technician at San Leandro Hyundai/Kia, she is joining her mom and sister to give back to the Oakland community by volunteering at the Bay Area Mega Center in Oakland.  

On Thursday, March 23, the College community was warmed with the news that student Nicholas Rothman was one of the select 75 honorees in the state to receive a Phi Theta Kappa California Community College award.

Congratulations to Richard Nguyen, who was awarded the Ozzie Day Scholarship for Fall 2022 at an award ceremony on December 7^th, 2022. Richard grew up in East Oakland and his dad, Duc Nguyen, took classes from the College of Alameda Automotive Technology (ATECH) program when Duc first immigrated to the USA thirty years ago. Richard decided to follow in his dad's footsteps after graduating from high school in Oakland. Ever since his first ATECH class, he's been a straight-A student in the COA ATECH program. He expects to graduate from the Auto program next June and get a job as a technician at a local dealership.

The Merritt College Natural History and Sustainability (NHS) Program is an interdisciplinary program that offers career, transfer-driven coursework and three Certificates of Achievement in Natural History and Resources, Conservation and Resource Management, and Urban Agroecology. 

Capping off a successful Spring 2022 semester, Laney College held its 2022 graduation in both in-person and virtual formats.

Merritt College honored its recent graduates with a hybrid ceremony with both an in-person celebration and an online event.