At Berkeley City College, we transform lives. It is devastating when one of those lives is tragically lost. This past weekend we learned that BCC student Demetrius Roosevelt Fleming-Davis was struck and killed by a stray gunshot in West Oakland on April 10, 2021. He was 18 years old. He would have turned 19 last Thursday. I am heartbroken by this tragedy and another senseless killing in our community. Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.
Exciting things are always happening at the Peralta Colleges. For the past year, most of these exciting things have been "virtual" but that is starting to change. On March 31, 2021, the women of the Laney College Water Polo team hosted a scrimmage against Las Positas College. This scrimmage was the first Peralta Sports Event since the Alameda County sheltering in place order began to protect us from the spread of COVID-19.
On Thursday, March 25, 2021, the Peralta Colleges Foundation held a virtual event and auction March Madness: Race Toward Building Careers. The incredibly successful event raised $30,000 to be used for student scholarships.
Congratulations to the hardworking journalists at The Peralta Citizen. Their efforts to keep our community informed from a student perspective have not gone unnoticed. The Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) recognized The Citizen during their statewide conference on Saturday, March 20, 2021. Among their many recognitions, The Citizen staff took home two meritorious awards in the Enterprise News Story/Series category, two honorable mentions for Profile Feature Story and placed fourth in the Video Journalism category.
Berkeley, CA – NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) selected Nadine Ordaz of Berkeley, California to attend the NCAS Virtual Experience, March 1-11, 2021.
When Laney College’s football was featured on the Netflix Series ‘Last Chance U’, it was a great opportunity to share with the world Coach John Beam's impressive program and the care the Laney coaches, faculty and staff have for students. It was the players that were the stars of the show: there were a number individual stories that couldn’t help but stand out.
Jasminh Au is a current senior student for the Gateway to College Program at Laney College and has been announced as the program’s 2021 DREAM Scholar. She is an aspiring Oceanography major and is planning to directly transfer from Gateway to the Hawaii Pacific University at Honolulu. She is a resilient, confident and great student leader in the program.
William Ochoa, Director of Gateway to College says, “to my understanding she is breaking down barriers as to what a dually enrolled student can obtain through her tenure here at our program.” Each DREAM Scholar received a Phi Theta Kappa scholarship in recognition of their success.
Back on the afternoon of August 18th, 2020, the Berkeley City College Society of Scholars (SoS) team welcomed over 100 in-coming students, through an engaging and entertaining Virtual Orientation. The SoS Orientation was designed and led by the BCC SoS Student Staff team, and supported by SoS Counselors and campus Administrators. The Virtual Orientation included a warm, enthusiastic and thoughtful “Welcome” by BCC President, Dr. Angelica Garcia, followed by inspirational words from Vice President of Student Services, Dr. Stacey Shears, and a positive and upbeat message from Associate Dean of Educational Success, Martin de Mucha Flores.
