Monday, January 5th arrived quickly after the holiday break, and just like that, we were back in motion. The quiet rhythm of the holidays gave way to full calendars and early mornings.
For me, it meant heading back to Sacramento, returning to the Capitol as the new year’s work began in earnest, with budgets to review, conversations to start, and the pace of 2026 already well underway.
Flight starting the descent into the Sacramento Valley.
One more –
Good morning California. It is January 10, 2026. A good day to be a Community College Champion
From California Community Colleges. Our Time is Now!
San Joaquin Delta College Group Earns Prestigious ‘Freedom Fighter’ Award From NAACP Branch
In a powerful recognition of its work to support underrepresented students, Delta College’s Black Alliance for Student Empowerment (BASE) was presented with the 2025 Freedom Fighter award on Saturday by the Stockton branch of the NAACP. BASE, formerly known as the Black Faculty Task Force, received the award for its work bringing the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Caravan to Delta.
Modesto Junior College Receives $400,000 National Science Foundation Grant
Modesto Junior College has been awarded $400,000 from the National Science Foundation Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation grant program. The NSF EPIIC program is designed to strengthen the ability of two-year colleges, minority-serving institutions, and emerging research institutions to participate in the national innovation ecosystem. MJC’s award is part of a multi-institutional collaborative proposal titled A-SPARK: Agriculture and Science Practice and Access for Research-Driven Knowledge.
Monterey Peninsula College Launches Adult Learner Bridge Programs with Monterey Adult School
Monterey Peninsula College has formalized a Memorandum of Understanding with Monterey Adult School to develop and implement bridge courses and programs that support the successful transition of adult learners from the adult school to college. This proactive partnership brings college coursework directly into the community, serving adult learners in the Seaside area where they are.
Copper Mountain College Stories: Notes from the fire line
Note from Cody Almanza, graduate of Copper Mountain College Wildland Fire Academy:
After earning my S-130, S-190, L-180, and ICS-100/200 certifications, I was deployed to the Sunset Fire in Idaho, where I spent several days digging nearly three miles of handline with my crew. Much of our work took place at night, cutting hot line and staying constantly vigilant for snags—dead, burned-out trees that threatened to fall without warning.
After years of volatility, Newsom previews a stable budget year for California schools
Governor Newsom’s proposed budget is $42.5 billion more than was forecast, a “windfall” that does not include nearly $3 billion from December projections. The budget projects $248.3 billion in total revenue for the general fund. Proposition 98, a constitutional amendment four decades ago, guarantees that about 40% of that total must go to TK-12 schools and community colleges.
As job market tightens, more Californians are heading back to college
If you want to gauge the health of California’s economy, start with its community colleges.
“When the economy is doing well, our enrollments are down, and when the economy is in a tough stretch or in a recession, we see our enrollments go up,” said Chris Ferguson, an executive vice chancellor with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, which oversees all of the state’s 116 community colleges.
Ferguson said the state has yet to release authoritative data on fall enrollment, but early data shows upward trends. In interviews with CalMatters, some college presidents said they’re seeing over 10% more students compared to last fall. But they say the state hasn’t provided enough funding to keep up with their growth.
CRAFT Apprenticeship recently hosted a Student Skills Showcase featuring Shasta College’s Heavy Equipment Logging Operations Fall 2025 students. This event builds opportunities by giving industry partners a direct look at student skills through live equipment demonstrations and resume-based evaluation, in collaboration with Sierra Pacific Industries.
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From MiraCosta College:
We have a feeling these grads are going to have the best bedside manner. Celebrating the 29th graduating class of Registered Nurses. Thirty-three students graduated this past December 2025 after completing either one or two years of nursing coursework through the program.
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From Gavilan College:
Huge congratulations to our EMT graduates. These graduates are prepared to respond in critical moments and make a real difference in our communities. We cannot wait to see the impact they will have.
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And check out this video from Citrus College:
ICYMI: Night Shift, our acclaimed group of student musicians, performed on New Year’s Day at Floatfest, a showcase of Rose Parade floats following their appearance along the parade route. Way to go, Night Shift!
And From the Home of the Renegades
Industrial Automation Students Showcase Senior Projects
Each year, the Industrial Automation Department at Bakersfield College hosts their Senior Projects Open House which allows students in the program to present the innovative projects they have been working on throughout the year. The event is open to the public, and attendees have the opportunity to preview the students’ automation creations and interact with the people who developed them. This year’s open house took place during the first week of December and was hosted in the Robotics Lab of the Science & Engineering Building.
There were a variety of projects that covered multiple industrial practices including agriculture, human-machine interface, industrial processes, and more. One of the participating projects was titled ‘Aerophonics with Weather Machine’ and was conceived and created by a student team. RJames Viloria, Juan Manriquez, and Amy Huerta have been working together on the agriculture-based project for nearly two semesters. The ambitious endeavor focuses on optimizing a controlled environmental system for more efficient farming.
Made a quick trip to Hawaii this past week. The first thing to do when I get to Hawaii….POG (Passion-Orange-Guava).
75 degrees and beautiful
From my room.
Hibiscus, one of my faves:
Then there is Kai Coffee –
Check out this 11-second video. The traditional Diamond Head hike:
And the 16-second early morning before sunrise, still dark beach walk:
Check out this 9-sec sunset video captured from a boat.
Good morning California. It is January 3, 2026. A good day to be a Community College Champion
Every year I post a few of the books I read. Here is the 2025 list….
2025 Books
The Greatest Sentence Ever Written By: Walter Isaacson
To celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, Walter Isaacson takes readers on a fascinating deep dive into the creation of one of history’s most powerful sentences: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson and edited by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, this line lays the foundation for the American Dream and defines the common ground we share as a nation.
Isaacson unpacks its genius, word by word, illuminating the then-radical concepts behind it. Readers will gain a fresh appreciation for how it was drafted to inspire unity, equality, and the enduring promise of America. With clarity and insight, he reveals not just the power of these words but describes how, in these polarized times, we can use them to restore an appreciation for our common values.
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Mother Mary Comes to Me By: Arundhati Roy
Mother Mary Comes to Me, Arundhati Roy’s first work of memoir, is a soaring account, both intimate and inspirational, of how the author became the person and the writer she is, shaped by circumstance, but above all by her complex relationship to the extraordinary, singular mother she describes as “my shelter and my storm.”
“Heart-smashed” by her mother Mary’s death in September 2022 yet puzzled and “more than a little ashamed” by the intensity of her response, Roy began to write, to make sense of her feelings about the mother she ran from at age eighteen, “not because I didn’t love her, but in order to be able to continue to love her.” And so begins this astonishing, sometimes disturbing, and surprisingly funny memoir of the author’s journey from her childhood in Kerala, India, where her single mother founded a school, to the writing of her prizewinning novels and essays, through today.
*****
Looking at Women Looking at War By: Victoria Amelina
When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Victoria Amelina was busy writing a novel, taking part in the country’s literary scene, and parenting her son. Now she became someone new: a war crimes researcher and the chronicler of extraordinary women like herself who joined the resistance. These heroines include Evgenia, a prominent lawyer turned soldier, Oleksandra, who documented tens of thousands of war crimes and won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, and Yulia, a librarian who helped uncover the abduction and murder of a children’s book author.
Everyone in Ukraine knew that Amelina was documenting the war. She photographed the ruins of schools and cultural centers; she recorded the testimonies of survivors and eyewitnesses to atrocities. And she slowly turned back into a storyteller, writing what would become this book.
On the evening of June 27th, 2023, Amelina and three international writers stopped for dinner in the embattled Donetsk region. When a Russian cruise missile hit the restaurant, Amelina suffered grievous head injuries, and lost consciousness. She died on July 1st. She was thirty-seven. She left behind an incredible account of the ravages of war and the cost of resistance. Honest, intimate, and wry, this book will be celebrated as a classic.
*****
Pariah By: Dan Fesperman
Hal Knight, a comedian and movie star-turned politician, is no stranger to controversy. But after an embarrassing and humiliating encounter on set, Knight resigns from Congress, quits social media, and disappears to the tiny Caribbean island of Vieques to drink dirty martinis and nurse his wounds. Shortly after his arrival, he is approached by a trio of CIA operatives hoping to recruit him to infiltrate the power structure of Bolrovia—a hostile, Eastern European country whose despotic president, Nikolai Horvatz, happens to be a longtime fan of Knight’s adolescent male humor. Knowing that Horvatz plans to invite the disgraced star for an official visit, the CIA coaxes Knight to accept. Skeptical, but with little to lose, Knight accepts the challenge, sensing this might be his one chance to do something worthwhile, even if no one else ever finds out.
*****
Idea Man By: Paul Allen
In 2007 and 2008, Time named Paul Allen, the cofounder of Microsoft, one of the hundred most influential people in the world. Since he made his fortune, his impact has been felt in science, technology, business, medicine, sports, music, and philanthropy. His passion, curiosity, and intellectual rigor-combined with the resources to launch and support new initiatives-have literally changed the world.
In 2009 Allen discovered that he had lymphoma, lending urgency to his desire to share his story for the first time. In this classic memoir, Allen explains how he solved problems, what he learned from his many endeavors-both the triumphs and the failures-and his compelling vision for the future. He reflects candidly on an extraordinary life.
*****
Iron Flame By: Rebecca Yarros
Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.
Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.
*****
Fourth Wing By: Rebecca Yarros
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.
*****
Source Code By: Bill Gates
Everyone is programmed a little differently, and Bill Gates’ unique insight led to business triumphs that are now widely known: the twenty-year-old who dropped out of Harvard to start a software company that became an industry giant and changed the way the world works and lives; the billionaire many times over who turned his attention to philanthropic pursuits to address climate change, global health, and U.S. education.
Source Code is not about Microsoft or the Gates Foundation or the future of technology. It’s the human, personal story of how Bill Gates became who he is today: his childhood, his early passions and pursuits. It’s the story of his principled grandmother and ambitious parents, his first deep friendships and the sudden death of his best friend; of his struggles to fit in and his discovery of a world of coding and computers in the dawn of a new era; of embarking in his early teens on a path that took him from midnight escapades at a nearby computer center to his college dorm room, where he sparked a revolution that would change the world.
*****
State of Terror By: Louise Penny and Hilary Rodham Clinton
After a tumultuous period in American politics, a new administration has just been sworn in, and to everyone’s surprise the president chooses a political enemy for the vital position of secretary of state.
There is no love lost between the president of the United States and Ellen Adams, his new secretary of state. But it’s a canny move on the part of the president. With this appointment, he silences one of his harshest critics, since taking the job means Adams must step down as head of her multinational media conglomerate.
As the new president addresses Congress for the first time, with Secretary Adams in attendance, Anahita Dahir, a young foreign service officer (FSO) on the Pakistan desk at the State Department, receives a baffling text from an anonymous source.
Too late, she realizes the message was a hastily coded warning.
*****
The Vegetarian By: Han Kang. Translated by Deborah Smith
Before the nightmares began, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary, controlled life. But the dreams—invasive images of blood and brutality—torture her, driving Yeong-hye to purge her mind and renounce eating meat altogether. It’s a small act of independence, but it interrupts her marriage and sets into motion an increasingly grotesque chain of events at home. As her husband, her brother-in-law and sister each fight to reassert their control, Yeong-hye obsessively defends the choice that’s become sacred to her. Soon their attempts turn desperate, subjecting first her mind, and then her body, to ever more intrusive and perverse violations, sending Yeong-hye spiraling into a dangerous, bizarre estrangement, not only from those closest to her, but also from herself.
Celebrated by critics around the world, The Vegetarian is a darkly allegorical, Kafka-esque tale of power, obsession, and one woman’s struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her.
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And a look back at some of the books I’ve read in the previous years –
This past week was quiet on the work front with Christmas falling on Thursday. Got into the holiday spirit Christmas eve with a visit to Crumbl Cookie…
…followed by lounging by the fire binge-watching. With the storm moving through California, it was the perfect way to slip into the spirit of the season.
The skies were celebrating early Christmas morning –
Some more beautiful skies and trees for you this holiday season:
Sunrise –
More –
And more –
And two of my faves – Hugh Jackman and Stephen Colbert.
Good morning California. It is December 27, 2025. A good day to be a Community College Champion
This week, I’ll continue my annual tradition of closing the year reviewing past blog posts. Today we’ll look at posts from 2022-2025.
Take a little time out of your weekend, relaxing with a cup of coffee (or tea or hot chocolate) to browse through previous posts…
2022
February 19, 2022 – KernCCD team in DC
Last week, I traveled to the Community College National Legislative Summit in Washington, DC, with a KCCD delegation that included Trustees Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg and Yovani Jimenez, as well as Senator Emeritus Jean Fuller. While there, a group of us from the Community College League of California met with US Department of Labor Assistant Secretary Angela Hanks to discuss the key role that community colleges play in training our workforce.
May 21, 2022 – After graduation – a week of gatherings, fellowship, and celebrations
This week we were able to come together and celebrate the amazing people who keep the Kern Community College District. Kern CCD #DaringMightyThings
Each of our campuses – and the district office – held events to honor our classified employees. We also held the inaugural Kern CCD Management Association Symposium at the BC Conference Room, and closed out the week with a potluck at my home.
It was truly special to have colleagues from across the district join together in person, a wonderful celebration to cap off the academic year.
August 20, 2022 – Kern CCD Colleges ready to welcome students back to Fall 2022 classes. Let’s go!
We are wrapping up another event-filled summer and getting ready to start our next school year, welcoming new Pirates, Coyotes, and Renegades into our classrooms. This week, all three of our colleges held activities welcoming students, faculty and staff back in anticipation of fall semester.
I was happy to be able to spend part of Thursday morning at Porterville College and Bakersfield College and to join Cerro Coso virtually for their opening day.
On Wednesday, the California Resources Corporation presented the Kern Community College District with a check for $1.94M to establish the CRC Carbon Management Institute to facilitate community education, workforce development, learning labs & student academies as Kern County defines its role in the new carbon economy. I am so excited to see how this gift will help as Kern CCD continues #DaringMightyThings.
Ridgecrest Regional Hospital nursing administrators hosted a tea for Cerro Coso nursing students on November 16th to encourage partnership and build connections.
A nursing shortage is currently challenging the healthcare systems across the country that will continue to impact hospitals for years to come. An aging population, increased demand for services, expanded insurance coverage, as well as rising rates of chronic disease are fueling the growing need for nursing staff. “We need our LVN’s,” said Celia Mills, MSN, VSN, RN, PHN, RRH Administrator of Care Coordination and Community Health.
February 25, 2023 – California Community College System names the eleventh chancellor
On Thursday, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges named the eleventh chancellor of the California Community College system.
My colleagues from Kern Community College District colleagues made the trek to Sacramento for the announcement. My Kern CCD family THANK YOU for your love and support.
April 23, 2023 – Teaching and Learning Exchange (TALE) at Kern CCD
Last week, Kern Community College District hosted the inaugural KernCCD TALEFEST. The Teaching-and Learning Exchange Festival was created to celebrate and support Kern CCD educators through the sharing of teaching-and-learning stories and the discussion of strategic new directions in a festive, positive environment showcasing achievement and innovation, peer-learning opportunities, and building district-wide mutual understanding and connections – in support of the goals of continuous improvement toward ensuring student learning and achieving student success with equity.
Porterville College’s Bob Simpkins led the initiative. The festival featured special guest speaker Susan D. Blum.
We enjoyed a no-host dinner at the end of day 1 of our meeting. This is a terrific group… absolutely dedicated to our students and a whole lot of fun.
We also had two more announcements at the BOG meeting.
The Apprenticeship Pathway Demonstration Project, creates a roadmap for colleges to convert apprenticeship learning experiences into college credit, including both existing and new and innovative apprenticeship experiences, as well as related supplemental instruction and prior on-the-job training.
The California Community Colleges and the United Domestic Workers (UDW) announced a partnership to support the ongoing educational needs of the union’s members and their dependents that will lead to educational pathways with upward socio-economic mobility.
This week, I traveled down to San Diego again. This time for the ASU GSV conference.
I took the ferry back-and-forth to the conference site at the convention center.
At the conference, I joined ASU President Michael Crow & Silicon Valley Community Foundation President Nicole Taylor for a Sunstage X Coffee session to discuss the revolution in education & learning technology for California learners.
I started my week in DC for a White House AI summit.
Back in Sacramento, the executive team had a two-day planning meeting, and we also celebrated Deputy Chancellor Daisy Gonzales who is transitioning to lead the California Student Aid Commission:
It was also a time to honor Juneteenth, a federal holiday to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the Civil War.
January 25, 2025 – Saluting and honoring our fire fighters
It has been heartbreaking with the fires in southern California being fanned by the Santa Ana winds. We have all watched our fire fighters run towards the danger to save people, animals, and homes. Let’s take a moment to honor them – their skill, dedication, and selflessness keeps us safe and uplifts our communities.
California Community Colleges train large numbers of our first responders. I am so proud of our colleges.
In that spirit, let me share this post from College of the Siskiyous celebrating heroic, lifesaving efforts by 4 of their students:
“Last nights monthly Board of Trustees Meeting recognized some of our Paramedic and Fire Academy Students for their lifesaving skills during a recent call.
“On December 9th 2024 Lake Shastina Fire was dispatched to a medical 911 call for a 74 year old male with chest pain. 4 responding Lake Shastina student firefighters arrived, and the patient answered the door to let the firefighters in. He was walking around the living room, talking and completely coherent and responsive. While the students were doing a patient assessment and taking vitals, he suddenly collapsed in his chair. They tried to wake him and attempted a sternum rub with no response. The firefighters then checked for a pulse and did not find one.
“They quickly pulled him out of the chair to lay him on the floor and begin life saving measures. One of the firefighters ran out to the engine to grab the AED while the other 3 performed CPR. Once the AED was applied the patient was shocked twice during multiple rounds of CPR. At this point the patient was stable enough to load him into the ambulance to transport to the hospital. He started to gain consciousness while in route to Mercy Medical Center. Once arrived, he was flown to Redding for emergency heart surgery due to a heart attack.
The 4 firefighters were recognized by The American Heart Association and received the Heartsaver Hero Award.
Pictured from left to right: Jase Rothenberger, Tobias Medina, Matt Maben (patient), Christian Cerezo, and Nathan Ade.”
March 29, 2025 – Celebrating Women’s History Month in California Community Colleges
Just wrapped up Board week…. Since March is Women’s History Month we have started wearing white at the March meeting….
At the meeting, we honored three faculty with the prestigious 2024-25 Gerald C. HAyward awards for Excellence in Education
History Instructor Stacey Marie Svilich of Feather River College, Math Professor Leila Safaralian of MiraCosta College, and Business Professor Denise Bushnell of Sierra College were honored at the March 25 Board of Governors meeting in Sacramento.
This week the Board of Governors headed to the NOCE Anaheim Campus. I love having the opportunity to visit our campuses!
And look who we met – Lindon, NOCE’s first-ever Facility Dog! NOCE does a great job, with innovative ways to keep students, staff and faculty healthy and reduce stress.
We had a wonderful lunch at Cypress Bistro, Cypress College’s student-run bistro, located on the Anaheim campus.
As we enter a season that’s meant to bring warmth, comfort, and connection, our hearts are heavy from so many senseless acts of violence that have taken place in recent weeks.
On December 13, a mass shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island left two students, Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, dead and nine others wounded while they were preparing for final exams. Authorities have also tied that attack to the killing of MIT physics professor Nuno Loureiro, who was found shot at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, just days later in an incident that stunned the academic community.
On December 14, the world was shaken by the mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, where what should have been a joyful Hanukkah celebration turned into a profound tragedy. At least fifteen people lost their lives, and dozens more were injured. The victims reflect the breadth of lives and stories cut short that evening:
Edith Brutman, 68, Vice president of B’nai B’rith NSW
Dan Elkayam, 27, French national and soccer player
Boris Gutman, 69, Husband of Sofia, who helped disarm one of the gunmen
Sofia Gutman, 61, Wife of Boris, killed while trying to stop the attackers together
Alex Kleytman, 87, Holocaust survivor and civil engineer
Yaakov Levitan, 39, Rabbi and secretary of the Sydney Beth Din
Peter Meagher, 61, Retired police detective and photographer
Reuven Morrison, 62, Businessman who confronted the shooter
Marika Pogany, 82, Long-time community volunteer
Matilda, 10 — The youngest victim, a child attending the celebration
Eli Schlanger, 41, British-born assistant rabbi and chaplain
Adam Smyth, 50, Local resident attending the event
Boris Tetleroyd, 68, Visitor at the Hanukkah gathering
Tania Tretiak, 68, Randwick resident attending the celebration
Tibor Weitzen, 78, Automotive engineer who died while shielding others
Closer to home, the deaths of beloved figures like Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, found fatally wounded in their Los Angeles home, have added layers of sorrow to this season as families grapple with unimaginable loss.
Let us pray for peace for the families of those affected by these senseless acts.
As we enter this season I hope we all get a moment to slow down, exhale and connect with those we care about, and give space find small sparks of hope and healing amidst the heaviness.
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Here is something more hopeful and uplifting.
Every year, the Chancellor’s Office has a virtual holiday party organized by the People and Culture department. They put their hearts into planning every detail of the event to send us all into the holiday season on the right note.
Dr. Rowena Tomaneng wrote a poem that she read at this event. So beautiful that I wanted to share it with you and send you off into the season on the right note.
Across California’s valleys, its coasts, and mountain air, A network of 116 colleges shines with purpose everywhere. From bustling city campuses to quiet desert skies, 2.2 million students rise, with hope before their eyes.
And in the Chancellor’s Office halls, this season brings a glow— A steady hum of mission-driven work that helps our students grow. For each email, plan, and policy; each meeting, task, and call, Is a step toward greater opportunity for every learner—all.
Vision 2030 guides the way, a lantern burning bright, A promise that with equity, we widen paths to light. To open doors to access, to strengthen every hand, To build support that meets each need across this vast, diverse land.
We champion student success not just in grades or ends, But in the thriving of their futures, their families, and trends. We craft the road, we clear the path, we listen and we lead— So every dreamer walking in finds tools they truly need.
This holiday, we celebrate the work we proudly share— The late nights spent refining plans, the moments of deep care. For every colleague’s dedication, every team that stands as one, We honor all the progress made, and all that’s still to come.
So here’s to joyful winter days, to warmth within our space, To a future built with Vision—every challenge we embrace. And here’s to California’s students, whose journeys inspire the way: May the new year bring success and light, more brilliant every day.
And to close out, last weekend I attended the graduation of both Asha Chandy and Yovani Jimenez. Here are some photos.
With Asha Chandy, her mom and cousins.
With Yovani Jimenez and Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg
Good morning California. It is December 20, 2025. A good day to be a Community College Champion
This week, I’ll continue my annual tradition of closing the year reviewing past blog posts. Today we’ll look at posts from 2013-2017.
Take a little time out of your weekend, relaxing with a cup of coffee (or tea or hot chocolate) to browse through previous posts…
2018
April 7, 2018 – Watching Dreams Blossom at BC!
The community has been clamoring for a BC presence in the Southwest.
On Friday, April 6th, College Council met at BC-SouthWest to explore the facility and continue building on our ideas to ramp up class availability and courses for students at this alternative location.
We had a great morning hearing updates from Nick Strobel about BC’s ISER in preparation for our accreditation visit later this year, hearing from Janet Fulks and Khushnur Dadabhoy regarding transfer pathways, and Liz Rozell and Manny Mourtzanos about the upcoming courses being offered at BC SouthWest.
August 18, 2018 – Welcome Families, Faculty, and Friends to Fall 2018
Opening week at BC is the week before the students come back for their fall semester. This is the week where faculty, staff and administrators spend five days together attending a variety of workshops and gearing up to greet our students and provide the very best learning environment for them.
Fall 2018 Opening Week was particularly good with a great slate of workshops. On Tuesday, August 14th we welcomed not only incoming Renegades, but their families as well to The Family Bridge To BC: Open House and New Student Convocation. Turnout was amazing.
October 14, 2018 – Proud to Announce “The Bakersfield College Vernon Valenzuela Veteran Resource Center”
Group Photo of BC Representatives at the KCCD Board Meeting
Thursday, October 11th was a historic day for Bakersfield College! The Kern Community College District unanimously voted to approve the naming of the new VRC to The Bakersfield College Vernon Valenzuela Veteran Resource Center. We are proud the KCCD Board of Trustees voted to name the center after a local veteran advocate, inspirational leader, and Renegade.
Vernon Valenzuela left a lasting legacy, for the Home of the Renegades, but also for his extended community, and in the hearts of all who knew him. His life’s work to benefit veterans lives on through the veterans he worked with, and the Renegades whose lives he helped transform.
To celebrate the kickoff of Women’s History Month at Bakersfield College, yesterday I hosted a panel discussion on Women in Leadership. California Senator Emeritus and Early College champion, Jean Fuller served as the guest moderator while four esteemed panelists shared their stories, accomplishments, challenges, and more. Thank you to guests Shannon Grove, Republican State Senator, 16th Senate District; Blanca Cavazos, Taft Union High School District Superintendent; Cynthia Giumarra, Local Attorney and minister; and Rosalina Rivera, Delano Union Elementary School District Superintendent for participating on the panel.
Roy Allard and Manny Fernandez congratulate campers.
Throughout the months of June and July, Bakersfield College faculty are getting high school and middle school students interested in STEM with the Summer STEM Camps sponsored by Chevron and Project Lead the Way. There are 7 camps over the summer centered around interesting STEM projects. Each participating student applied to the free camps with an application and essay back in May.
Students in the first three camps learn about digital fabrication (3D Printing), mobile app development, and programming drones. Last week, the students created guitars from cigar boxes in camp. Upcoming projects in the STEM camps include learning to design and build a tiny house, and exploring and designing alternative sources of energy. This is a fun and engaging method to entice students to consider STEM fields of study.
All of the camps are held on our Panorama Campus, except the last, Alternative Energy/Solar, which will be held at the Weill Institute location. I’d like to thank Martin Perez, Program Manager, Klint Rigby, Department Chair, and everyone with the Industrial Technology Department, as well as Chevron and Project Lead the Way for providing this amazing opportunity for potential future students.
Our BC Student Government Association and the Office of Student Life had the pleasure of hosting the Distinguished Speaker Dr. Paula Green and her presentation Peacebuilding in Divided Communities earlier this week. Dr. Green, founder of The Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, presented her work on the significance of peacebuilding efforts in communities worldwide with the purpose of resolving conflicts and the valuable impact of understanding one another’s different views. Dr. Green discussed the importance of reconciliation through our mutual understanding to communicate on the issues that divide communities and give rise to conflicting views making it necessary to discuss and understand our differing perspectives.
The humanitarian efforts of the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding advocate for the importance of bridging divides in order to develop a sustainable peace in communities worldwide affected by political, civil, religious, and war conflicts. Dr. Green has recognized that we must learn to be deep listeners and to understand the circumstances of others around us in order to accept the differences of others and to reach a point of unity and peace. Thank you to the BC Student Government Association and the Office of Student Life for hosting this presentation, and a very special thank you to Dr. Green for taking the time to visit our campus and share her insight. And thank you Nick Strobel!
February 29, 2020 – Celebrating Leap Year & showcasing Sterling Silver 2020
We had a beautiful reception at the Seven Oaks Country Club last weekend as part of our 12th-annual Sterling Silver Dinner, which the BC Foundation puts together to honor and recognize the exceptional support that members of our community provide to BC every day. Proceeds from the Sterling Silver Dinner help fund scholarships for students, providing vital opportunities to make higher education a reality for thousands of Renegades.
The evening brought together Renegade alumni and supporters, generous donors, and friends of the college to celebrate this year’s honorees. Under the direction of Kris Tiner, the BC Jazz Ensemble masterfully entertained the crowd as they entered the event. Seven Oaks chef Paul Burzlaff prepared a wonderful variety of culinary delights with help from BC Culinary Arts students.
Several notable Renegade supporters were on hand to celebrate our honorees, including Mayor Karen Goh, Assemblymember Vince Fong, State Senator Shannon Grove, County Supervisor Zack Scrivner, and City Councilmember Andrae Gonzales. Other notable community partners included S.C. Anderson, Diane Lake, and AECOM/Parsons.
Novel coronavirus, COVID-19, social distancing, shelter in place, stay at home, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Sanjay Gupta,….. all names, words and phrases that have become part of our day-to-day conversations.
In this time of uncertainty and crisis, I am amazed at how swiftly and robustly BC moved to continue supporting our students. We have been ahead of the curve with our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, sending out emails to our faculty and staff as early as January 30 with resources to keep themselves safe.
From the moment the incident command team was activated in late February , we cancelled events as we systematically ramped up our actions to ensure the health and safety of our campus community. Over the next three weeks we systematically moved all of our instruction, student services, and academic support online while preparing 40,000 students and 1,000 employees with resources for using Canvas, ConferZoom, Starfish and accessing their desktops remotely.
August 29, 2020 – Bakersfield College – A Peace Garden of Learning, Reflection & Renewal
Have you met Dr. Naina Patel? Well, she is a quiet force in our community promoting peace and wellbeing. I got to work alongside Naina last year as she she was coordinating the Gandhi celebrations here in Bakersfield. During these celebrations, we had the fortune of having Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Arun Gandhi speak to the students in our Early College Program in Delano. What a treat! Check this out in my October 5, 2019 blog titled – Live simply so others can simply live https://sonyachristianblog.com/2019/10/05/live-simply-so-others-can-simply-live/
Here is a 9:31-minute video from Opening Week where we unveiled the Peace Garden project. If you don’t have time to watch the whole video, then start at the 6:56 timestamp and hear the message from Dr. Naina Patel and the Gandhi committee.
And then Earl found me this great piece from BC’s first president, a woman.
“One thinks of a college year book as a record of things past, things done together that are worth remembering. And this is surely its evident purpose. However, one might also think of it as a promise of things to come, a rehearsal for the larger drama of community life. As you turn over the pages of this 1948 Raconteur, let each one tell its story of personal and group achievement, of cooperation toward a common goal, of happiness shared with one another. And, in doing so, let each page also prophecy the kind of community you can help create by the same willing and selfless working together.”
January 30, 2021 – Kern County — Thank you for supporting BC
As we wrap up the first month of 2021 – a month that has brought upheaval and many changes – I was grateful this week to be able to get back to campus briefly to see the progress on the construction of our new buildings. I was joined by Billie Jo Rice, and it was wonderful to spend some time together and appreciate the future of Bakersfield College as we build #ABetterBC.
May 29, 2021 – Sunsetting May 2021 as BC Builds Bridges
This week I read an article about the Brooklyn Bridge. May 24th was the 138th anniversary of the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, which connected New York and Brooklyn for the first time in history. It seems almost impossible now to imagine a time when those two cities were not connected. And the sheer amount of planning, thought, work and engineering that went into what became the “eighth wonder of the world.”
I’m so pleased to see resources set aside in the upcoming nationwide infrastructure plan that will help restore our great nation’s precious bridges — a thing of remarkable beauty and great engineering feat.
And it’s not only physical bridges that are key to maintaining our relationships. Our metaphorical bridges also must be maintained so that we can continue to connect with people and ideas that otherwise may have been unreachable.
That’s why I’m so proud of the Bridge to BC program. This high-touch, high-tech program helps our first-year students get all the support and guidance they need to be successful. This year’s program will be fully online, designed as a one-week course with online sections that run Monday through Saturday. The sessions will run from June through August, and are available to all our incoming freshmen, including those who earned college credits in high school.
» Read more
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October 23, 2021 – KCCD living every moment, not just existing
This week, all three of our campuses celebrated Undocumented Student Action Week. It’s a statewide effort led by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, Community College League of California, and the Foundation for California Community Colleges.
This year’s theme, “Change in Action”, aimed to find ways to engage in local, state, and federal action to support undocumented students in their goal of earning a college education.
Across KCCD, daily events helped support our students on a local level, while also encouraging participation in the statewide efforts. Undocumented students were able to get assistance on topics like financial aid, transfer, or immigration questions. Other events encouraged allyship and cultural education.
This week, representatives from the Chancellor’s Office headed to Sierra College for the grand opening of their new student housing complex.
On the far right is Ronnie Slimp who leads our facilities work, including student housing. He has done a remarkable job shepherding this work.
The facility has 358 beds, with the majority being offered at below market rents. Students will begin moving in next semester!
I wanted to share this bit from Sierra College’s news article –
Each year, several students with the greatest financial need will be eligible to receive free room and board as a result of the “Endow-A-Bed” program spearheaded by the Sierra College Foundation. The program aims to raise $250,000 to endow one bed in perpetuity for students in need – with a goal of endowing 10 beds in total, including one reserved for a military veteran.
BOG member Pam Hynes and I were able to snap a pic with Sierra College President Willy Duncan:
Good morning California. It is December 13, 2025. A good day to be a Community College Champion
This week, I’ll continue my annual tradition of closing the year reviewing past blog posts. Today we’ll look at posts from 2013-2017.
Take a little time out of your weekend, relaxing with a cup of coffee (or tea or hot chocolate) to browse through previous posts…
2013
May 2013: Red and White Wine and Jazz Festival
Friday April 12th capped a week of travel: the Sloan emerging technology conference in Vegas, then back to host the Board meeting at the College on Thursday, to Harris Ranch for a two-day conference with the Central Valley CEOs and trustees. It’s been almost a month, but there’s a major event that I wanted to be sure to blog about. I left the conference at Harris Ranch early that Friday to be present for the Red and White Wine and Jazz festival. This a major annual fundraiser that the Foundation has organized since 2008 in support student scholarships, and I didn’t want to miss it for anything.
I was impressed from the start with the level of attention to detail and organization – everything from the parking shuttles to the staff at the entrance, to the layout of booths and food. The Culinary program did an outstanding job of providing a tasty and creative variety of food to complement the wine, and the students were great at serving the guests and creating a festive atmosphere. There was an abundant selection – far more than was possible to have more than a sampling. My personal favorite was the pastas rellenas… The students, Chef Coyle and Chef Gomez were all in fine form.
September 2013: Summer Bridge Helps Incoming Freshmen Transition
Do you remember what those first weeks of college were like? Fresh out of high school, the size and scope of a college campus, along with the sheer number of students walking the halls, was daunting. Then, there’s the switching from building to building, locating classes and services, and having to do everything yourself.
Helping students transition to college life is the goal of a program here at Bakersfield College called Summer Bridge. This past August, many people on campus came together to help 35 incoming freshmen learn the ropes and ready themselves for college. Over four days, these students spent 18 hours on campus taking care of business. Many, many more wanted in, but time and space limited how many we could serve.
November 2013 – Learning in Community: Meeting the Needs of our Students with Disabilities
On Friday, November 15th many faculty, staff and administrators attended a workshop on instructional technology issues and accessibility for students with disabilities presented by Gaeir Dietrich, the Director of the CCCCO’s High Tech Center Training Unit. To complement the training, the DSPS faculty and staff also put together a terrific display of technology typically used by students with a variety of disabilities.
Gaeir Dietrich taught us many interesting things—most importantly that “campus accessibility is a campus-wide responsibility” and that “digital does not necessarily mean accessible.” “It’s a matter of equal rights, campus diversity, and better pedagogy by acknowledging learning differences that benefits all students.”
March 2014: Bakersfield College Students Chosen for Leadership Conference
A select group of Bakersfield College students recently honed their leadership skills at a special invitation-only conference in San Diego for math-based majors. The event was sponsored by the California Utilities Diversity Council. The 10th annual Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Student Leadership Conference offered extensive professional and leadership development through direct interaction with industry mentors and speakers. The hand-picked MESA students, all science, engineering, or math majors, represented over 30 universities and community colleges from across the state, including Bakersfield College.
May 2014: Project Atlantis Opens International Doors for BC Students
For the past three years, Bakersfield College has been participating in “Project Atlantis,” an International Exchange Program for students in humanities careers. This year, Bakersfield College has three students from Spain and one student from Italy currently attending classes, and sent two of our students to Spain and one to Italy. All the students who have participated have been academically successful and have gained a new cultural understanding.The International Exchange Program is a dynamic program enabling eight students to have an international experience. All students who participate in the exchange program receive the international exchange certificate. The exchange program is a one year commitment. One semester will be spent in either Italy or Spain taking a full load of classes at the University in the language of the country.
This was a fun blog – I shared a day in my life, from 5:30 am reading to a 6:30 pm call with my daughter.
5:30 am –Started off my day reading Degrees of Inequality: How the Politics of Higher Education Sabotaged the American Dream and thinking that we should probably have Civic Literacy as one of our Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs).
9:00 am – After that I went to my Saturday exercise class which launched a new routine last week.
10:00 am – I then headed out to BC to see what Steve Watkin and the BC gang were up to with the It’s Possible event. Many counselors, advisors, staff and students were there helping new students assess, complete their orientation, their education plan and then register for classes. We registered approximately 125 students today. Yes!!!!
September 2014: A Circle of Friends – Milt and Betty Younger and Jim Young
On Thursday May 1st, 2014, Bakersfield College had the honor of hosting a very special event– a Betty younger sculpture dedication honoring Dr. Jim Young. “Circle of Friends” is an outdoor sculpture located atop a small hill Northeast of the GET Bus terminal on Panorama Drive. The sculpture, which consists of four red upright figures standing together in a circle, was created by Betty Younger to honor her friend JimYoung, who served as Kern Community College District’s chancellor from 1978 to 1999.
The evening started at 4 P.M. with a brief dedication ceremony at the foot of the hill where the sculpture is mounted. Many members of Bakersfield College’s faculty and staff were in attendance, as well as many family members and students of James Young. Betty Younger and her husband, Milt, introduced the sculpture and each spoke on how their friend has impacted their lives and the lives of others. Mrs. Younger shared that the inspiration for “Circle of Friends” was what James Young has done with and for his students, fellow educators, and friends throughout the years. “He is truly a mentor to all he meets”, remarked Mrs. Younger.
March 2015: Design Challenge Gathers Local Students to Test Engineering Smarts
Each Spring semester, the Engineers Club invites middle schoolers, high schoolers, college students and professionals of all ages to participate in their Design ChallenOge in honor of National Engineers’ Week. During the Fall, the Engineers Club members come up with the specific “design challenge” they want to hold in the Spring. They create a set of parameters that the entrants should follow in designing their machine, and send them off to the various schools and businesses by December. Contestants build their machines and bring them on the day of the event.
This year, the Design Challenge was held on Saturday, February 28th in Bakersfield College’s Gymnasium. The objective was to design a Spring-powered model car that could carry a load of sand between 0 and 250 grams a distance between 10 and 20 meters. The contestants were not given the weight or distance until right before the competition began. As one can see, keeping the specific details vague until the day-of forces the engineers to be as creative and thorough as possible with their designs— they must be able to be adjusted to satisfy the wide range of possibilities within the parameters.
May 2015: Regional Occupational Center (ROC): Making a Difference
There was so much to discuss in my last post from the phenomenal President’s Breakfast event that I wanted to stop and revisit one of the highlights from the morning worthy of its own separate recognition.
Among the stellar speakers at the Breakfast, Salvador Gochez from the Kern High School District Regional Occupational Center delivered a remarkable speech about the amazing work going on at the center as well as their partnership with BC.
August 2015: Thank You, Frank Gifford. A star Renegade and a Driller
Photo courtesy Rick Van Horne, Haley Street Heroes
The world lost a legend Sunday when NFL Hall of Famer Frank Gifford passed away at the age of 84.
But Bakersfield lost a pioneer.
Before Buck Owens and Merle Haggard used their golden voices to add color to our city, and long before racers Rick, Roger and Casey Mears made sure Bakersfield was a fixture on the national sporting map, there was Frank Gifford.
Gifford came to Bakersfield in the 1940s when his father came to work in the oil fields. But for the younger Gifford, paydirt was struck on the athletic fields, where his talents made him a star quarterback at Bakersfield High School.
Despite his success, Gifford found himself at a turning point familiar to many young graduates: he didn’t have the grades to accept an athletic scholarship, in his case, to the University of Southern California. Rather than give up, Gifford pushed forward, enrolling at Bakersfield College instead, where he made to make his mark as a Renegade both on the playing field and in the classroom.
October 2015: Another usual weekend enjoying the Bakersfield Community
I stopped by Wendy’s last evening to pick up a spicy chicken sandwich for dinner and the young woman serving me spontaneously commented that she was a student at BC, psychology major, and that her teachers in all of her classes were the very best. This encounter is not unusual for me or for any of you. BC has stood for excellence and leadership for over a century and this community has steadfastly supported its college for all that time.
My Saturday morning started with welcoming over 100 students from BC and CSUB who were attending a Leadership conference at the indoor theater. Bakersfield Strong: Our city, our organizations, our student leaders was the theme of the conference. I was proud of our SGA President Clayton Fowler and Director of Student Life, Nicky Damania, who planned this event in collaboration with CSUB.
It was a treat having two members of the Board of Governors, Arnoldo Avalos and Connie Conway, visit BC on Tuesday, April 26th. Rather than doing a special series of presentations, we decided to fit their itinerary into what was happening at BC. The morning started with them attending an annual event where we connect with leaders from high school and share with them the advances made on the goals set the previous year. After that, they toured the campus and connected with faculty and students in the sciences, music, CTE etc. Thank you Joe Saldivar, Jen Garrett, Liz Rozell, Manny Gonzales, Clayton Fowler, Nicky Damania and others who helped. And the fabulous Jennifer Marden who pulled all this together.
It was a wonderful surprise to have Trustee Romeo Agbalog join us. He was able to rearrange his schedule and connect with both Avalos and Conway.
I enjoyed meeting Vince Stewart, Vice Chancellor of External Affairs from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, and hear about the great things being undertaken statewide.
August 2016: Extraordinary stories: Our students, community, and faculty
Many of us on campus are familiar with TED talks… so much so, that we have our own RENEGADE talks (thank you Andrea Thorson and Todd Coston) as a mini campus-wide tribute, each year in April. Our staff, faculty, even some students come together to prepare a set of talks that are (1.) short (2.) concise and (3.) pack one powerful punch in a small amount of time. TED Talks are known for Ideas worth spreading and the library of 10-20 minute videos is nothing short of astounding. Topics range from almost anything you can think of and they’re educational, powerful, and motivational. One could even argue, if you watch one a day, it just might be… the best 13 minutes of your 24-hour day!
As a mini-series to these TED-like talks, Communications Faculty, Helen Acosta, hosted a spin off on Wednesday afternoon featuring her summer COMM B4 students. It was appropriately titled RENx – just as TEDx is a smaller scale of TED talks. I had the joy of sitting quietly in the back of the theater when lights dimmed and the first student took the stage. He was poised and enthusiastic as he conveyed a perfectly crafted message, not only with words. He artistically included body language as a reinforcement to the strong words spoken. His voice was a tool filled with passion and emotion and he swayed towards the audience, engaging us to not miss a single word. Interestingly, his topic was the transformative power of critical listening – and I don’t think this was a coincidence.
October 2016: Our BC family gives to the community!
Every year, the volunteer coordinator for the CA State Parks invites BC students to a one-day volunteer event at Allensworth State Historic Park. Not only is this a great way to give back, but students also learn about the amazing Colonel Allensworth State Park, tour of the park, and a chance to talk to park Rangers.
This year, they had two groups since so many students wanted to attend. One group dusted the insides of historic homes and the other painted a historic house. Pictured above are BC students Andrea Moreno, Salvador Murillo, Krista Nolan, Payton Brandon, and Mitchell Switalki with the park ranger.
What a busy second week of the term! For much of the time I was on the road….to Newport to do a workshop with Kay McClenney and Rob Johnstone and then to Costa Mesa for the IEPI 2-day workshop on Guided Pathways where over 250 individuals from 39 colleges and organizations came together to understand this integrated and powerful approach to enhance student success. The Guided Pathways System (GPS) acts like the GPS (Geographic Positioning System) that we have all grown to rely on.
July 2017 – Scholars, Artists, Sports and Summer Camps
In August 2012, Bakersfield College was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to provide scholarships of $3,000 per year to Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) students. This grant was called the STEM A-PLUS (Action + Persistence + Leadership + Understanding = Success) Scholars grant. The scholarships were dedicated towards helping academically talented students who demonstrated a financial need complete their STEM degrees and transfer to Baccalaureate programs by July 2017.
The College has met and exceeded the goal with students completing and transferring with an average GPA of 3.45. Students from this program have transferred to CSUB and many University of California schools, to Cal Poly campuses, and to other prestigious universities such as Harvard University. Kudos to our STEM faculty and staff!
I was exhausted last night after a hectic fast paced week at BC. For example, just on one day we had the Vice President of the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, Tom Epstein, visit in the Levan Center; Senator Jean Fuller talking to our students in the Fireside Room with several dignitaries attending including Trustee Romeo Agbalog; the California Academic Partnership Program (CAPP) community partners meeting in the SGA Board Room; and Trustee Bill Thomas moving Measure J implementation along with individuals from AEComm. And as Jennifer Marden would say….That’s how we roll at BC!
November 2017 – Bakersfield College in Arvin, Shafter, …..
I often say it’s an exciting time to be at BC and it’s true. I mentioned in last weekend’s blog that Bakersfield College is bringing higher education to Shafter and at our Express Enrollment event this week, it was great to see the excitement and activity in the Shafter area. Over the past three years, BC has remained focused on the strategic goal of bringing higher education into the communities of Delano, Shafter, Wasco, McFarland, Lamont, and Arvin. We look forward to expanding courses offered in Shafter so that students can complete all or a significant part of their degree locally and I know this will directly benefit our students.
The Workforce & Economic Mobility Blog blog shares approaches to workforce and economic development, with a goal of supporting economic mobility for our community while staying committed to the health of our people and the health of our environment.
In the Bhambi & Christian blog, Dr. Brijesh Bhambi join together joined together with the goal of facilitating healing and conversation in our community.
