This week, parts of the United States, Mexico & Canada were treated to one of the rarest & most beautiful phenomena – a total solar eclipse. In California, it was a partial social eclipse.
Check out this video from NASA of highlights from the eclipse:
I loved this story about a science teacher who, back in 1978, invited his students to an eclipse watch party decades in the future.
When he started teaching in 1978, Patrick Moriarty passed out worksheets to his science class, showing the trajectories of upcoming eclipses. Only one was expected to pass near their hometown in Upstate New York, but watching it as a class was going to be difficult — it wouldn’t occur for nearly five decades.
“Hey, circle that one on April 8, 2024,” Moriarty recalled telling his students. “We’re going to get together on that one.”
On Monday, Moriarty fulfilled his promise when about 100 former students watched the total solar eclipse from the driveway of his Rochester, N.Y., home. But ultimately it wasn’t the eclipse that astonished Moriarty — it was his students.
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I began my week at the 2024 Pathways to Equity Conference in Anaheim.
I asked my keynote time to be split between my opening remarks and a student panel. Our students were fantastic – Jessica Lopez, Jessica Velez, Esteban Zeferino & Alexis Primo.
Jessica Lopez, a recent graduate of Coastline Community College and transfer student to ASU, was born without hands and feet, and battling a chronic illness, Jessica’s story is one full of institutional barriers, systems of inequity and her resilience to overcome them is remarkable. Here is a link to her LinkedIn profile – https://www.linkedin.com/in/realjessl/
Alexis Primo, a single mother of two, who had to close her home childcare business in the face of COVID. Needing to make ends meet for her family, Alexis faced system barriers, and situations difficult to overcome, but she found the way out through a noncredit business pathway at San Diego College of Continuing Education.
Jessica Velez, a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran who became a single mom and needed help with housing and finances. Education and a degree seemed out of reach at the margins, and Jessica’s stressful daily grind did not align with the structure and mainstream messaging about who belonged at college. Facing the difficulties addressing her basic needs, Jessica’s story is testimony of her resilience in finding allies.
Esteban Zeferino, who currently serves as a work study student in Santa Ana College’s Rising Scholars Program, assisting with the onboarding process of other justice impacted members of the Santa Ana community. Esteban’s story of survival and will is a stark reminder of how those out of sight and marginalized must be brought into our equity work.
With BOG member Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg:
Wednesday was CCC Advocacy Day. It was a great day meeting with many state leaders to support our California Community College students.
Love this fun photo of walking to the Capitol with Amy Costa, Board President.
At Senator Newman’s Office
With our student Jacob from Sierra and Board Members Paul Medina and Harry LeGrand
Recognizing Senator Ashby at the Legislative Champions Reception
Trustee Welcome event in Sacramento
Good morning California.
It is April 13, 2024.
A good day to be a Community College Champion
From California Community Colleges.
Our Time is Now!
Grossmont College Introduces Innovative Student-Centered Space The Village
Step inside the second floor of the Grossmont College Tech Mall, and you’ll find one of the most unique and transformative spaces on the Grossmont College campus. The Village is a brand-new student cultural hub that includes student services, community, and culture. It also brings together specialized counseling programs under one roof.
Colleg of the Canyons Instructor Selected to Represent COC in Iceland
Holly Hitt-Zuniga, an architecture and interior design instructor at College of the Canyons, has been selected to represent the college and the National Science Foundation’s Center for Renewable Energy Advanced Technological Education (CREATE) in Iceland as part of a 10-person delegation of educators participating in an international education program focused on clean energy and electric transportation.
Ventura College Holds Annual Diversity in Culture Festival
Ventura College held the 2024 Diversity in Culture Festival April 10-11. This year’s theme was returning to our roots with nature and highlighting Indigenous Culture worldwide.
Woodland Community College hosts Lake County Restaurant Expo
On January 29, Lake County Campus was host to the Lake County Restaurant Expo organized by the Lake County Economic Development Corporation. The event is part of an initiative to support the local food service and restaurant industry.
In Case You Missed It
2024 Student Leadership Award Winners Announced
Four student leaders, dedicated to equity and inclusion on campus and in their communities, have been honored with the California Community College’s annual Student Leadership Award.
April Brown of Long Beach City College, Claudette Clark of Cuyamaca College, Jessica Lopez of Coastline College and Nikhil Masand of Contra Costa College were recognized April 5th at the Student Senate for California Community Colleges 28th General Assembly in Santa Clara.
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Bridge Program founders Kate Pluta and Kim Flachman
A literary love story: Local colleges collaborate on English programs at conference
Kim Flachmann, the coordinator of the writing program at CSUB, and Kate Pluta, a retired English professor from BC, originally started the conference with a $13,000 grant and a goal to create a smoother pathway for English students to transfer from BC to CSUB.
Flachmann and Pluta chose to collaborate on their English programming rather than compete in the interest of their students. Flachmann calls it “the love story” between the two colleges that started more than 30 years ago.
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Making an Impact in California – Higher Education Leaders
on Learning & the Ed Tech Revolution
On Monday, April 15, at 10:30 am, I will join ASU President Michael Crow at the ASU+GSV Summit. We will present a session – “Making an Impact in California – Higher Education Leaders on Learning & the Ed Tech Revolution.”
» Watch: https://ow.ly/ig0C50RftrJ.
Fun Photos & Spotted on Social Media
I copied and pasted Jessica Lopez’ post on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/realjessl/
I was honored to be invited to speak on a student panel to open the California Community Colleges Pathways to Equity Conference on Monday. Seeing Chancellor Christian’s commitment to equity and accessibility within the higher education was impactful, and I appreciated the opportunity to share my story with the leaders of the community college system.
Here are the key takeaways I hope the audience received from my story:
• Online education may not be for everyone, but it’s necessary to offer it. It expands access to higher education in ways traditional education has never done. Coastline College served 56% percent of all disabled students within the Coast Community College School District. This represents the fact that disabled students are drawn to online learning formats.
• Accessibility is not about compliance, it’s about culture. With over 1 billion disabled people in the world, we make up a wide variety of artists, inventors, administrators, and leaders. Schools that highlight diversity will serve their disabled students better by elevating disability as a culture and celebrating it as an identity, rather than just a compliance issue.
• Schools that allow their online students to participate through hybrid events will find higher student engagement. Not everyone can make it to an in-person event, but it doesn’t mean they don’t want to participate.
The biggest takeaway from my story is that my story isn’t unique at all, it’s extremely common. As such, my place within this world isn’t to make people feel good or inspired, it’s to teach them how to serve.
I was approached by many people after the student panel who told me that my story was inspiring. That may be intended as a compliment and I appreciate that sentiment. However, a true compliment would be to tell me that my story made you rethink how you do your work. My goal is for people to come away with a direct policy you’ve identified that can be changed to make your institution more inclusive to disabled people. That’s true inspiration.
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From Cerro Coso Community College:
It was an amazing evening at Cerro Coso Community College’s Denim and Diamonds event. A great opportunity to focus on how Cerro Coso Community College gives the Eastern Sierra region access to higher education. President Sean Hancock shared how their college is an engine of opportunity for thousands of students. Dr. Richard Jones, the first President of the college, honored the attendees with his inspirational speech about the beginning of the college. Such an uplifting night at one of our sister colleges in the Kern Community College District. #collaboration #studentsuccess #highereducation
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From West Valley College:
What an amazing day on campus as we welcomed students from 16 Bay Area high schools for the Black Student Summit! Major props to Phil Severe for leading this effort and our Umoja Community of student leaders for showing our prospective Vikings a great day at WVC! #gowest #getfutureready
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From Los Angeles Harbor College:
LAHC Dual Enrollment Team in the House @ San Pedro High! Come see us at the San Pedro High Open House. So Pirates and Go Seahawks!
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And check out this video from Folsom Lake College:
The cast and crew of Falcon’s Eye Theatre at Folsom Lake College gave Good Day Sacramento viewers a sneak peek of their spring production of “Cabaret” during their April 4 live broadcast.
Blast from the Past
Here are my remarks from the Educators for Peace virtual event back in 2021:
And From the Home of the Renegades
Garden Fest at Bakersfield College Postponed to April 27th Due to Weather
Garden Fest, previously scheduled for Saturday, April 13, 2024, has been postponed due to anticipated adverse weather conditions. The event will now take place on Saturday, April 27, 2024.
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Remember – our greatest challenges enable us to do our greatest work.
That’s all for today.
See you next Saturday!
With much hope and joy,
Your Chancellor,
-sonya
#OurTimeisNow
#NuestroTiempoEsAhora
This a great place to gather your thoughts and to end a busy week. 
