Measure J Passes! Thank you Kern County
With a vote of 96,589 to 58,155, Kern County supported Measure J with 62.42% of the vote. Measure J also received 59.99% of the vote in Tulare County, and 63.6% of the vote in San Bernardino County. After months of hard work, I am so grateful to our voters for supporting our community colleges! And I am grateful to the many volunteers who turned out over the past few months to get out the vote and spread the word about the great things that this bond will do for Bakersfield College and all of the college in the Kern Community College District.
And a special thank you to my friend who reminds me everyday to Keep the Faith!
And thank you Tom Moran who responded to my early morning call on Saturday and taught me how to sign my thank you message to the voters.
We had an amazing group of volunteers that came out to assist in our final push on Election Day. It was a busy day that began around 6 am and lasted until midnight! The guy behind me in the picture is Dave Mason who worked with us through the campaign. He drove in from Oakland to spend election night with us. Thank you Dave!
Here are two great pictures of Nick Strobel on November 8th. One was taken when he was relentless in phone banking to get out the vote. The picture was taken at 7:30 p.m., 30 minutes before the polls closed. And the picture on the left is when we had a table give way, sending an ice bucket and the melted water in it crashing to the floor. (I guess you could say the election center took the ice bucket challenge…) Nick, true to himself, we the first one up and helping to clean the floor.
A few of our volunteers shared some memorable moments from the campaign:
The weekend leading up to Election Day was hectic at campaign headquarters. Here are pictures of Nov 5th (Saturday) and Nov 6th (Sun) including the half-time show that Congressman Bill Thomas (or should I say KCCD Trustee Bill Thomas) did with Vance Palm on the Damron Deck with a great view of the city and the valley. Vance Palm, you do a real nice job with Renegade Football and the half-time show with the congressman was fantastic.
November 5th; Here is Rick Kreiser, owner of Carney’s saving the day and saving the campaign by replacing the toner Saturday late evening so that we could continue printing materials for our GOTV (Get Out the Vote) campaign. Thank you Rick Kreiser for all of the donations and all of your time in support of passing Measure J.
I love this picture of Chief Counts and his beautiful daughter Faith who volunteered their time through the entire Measure J campaign.
And pets were also part of the campaign. Here’s Tom Gelder with canine friend Lexy and Bruce our election dog on November 10th helping clean up Campaign HQ.
Measure J was a “whole family affair.” Andrea Thorson and her son James. Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg holding Lily Ann (Grace’s baby girl), who was sleeping peacefully while Nan phone banked. I love both these pictures.
Dr. Kimberly Bligh, Dr. Janet Fulks, Bruce Meyer all phone banking on Nov 7 2016
Grace Commiso and Sue Vaughn.
I loved the cookies Bill Moseley baked using a 3D printed cookie cuttter. Yes on J!
On November 7th night, I was trying to get these folks out of the office and get them to go to bed before the big day. It was a hard task! Lesley Bonds, Nicky Damania, Chris Glaser, Nicole Para.
The Election Day 6:00 a.m. pictures
On the right, our fabulous campaign manager Nicole Parra. In the group picture on the left: Chris Glaser, Lesley Bonds, Sue Vaughn, Ashley Ward, Todd Coston, Bill Potter, Liz Rozell, Asha Chandy, Nicole Parra.
Polling location teams at Aera Energy and at Delano
Polling location team at the Kern County Fair and first-time voters who were so excited. Thank you Olivia Garcia for the photo.
Polling location teams in South East Bakersfield and at Wasco.
Veterans Day. Nov 11, 2016
On Veterans Day, our BC Veterans Club took part in the annual Bakersfield Veterans Day parade. It was such an honor to meet with them at the parade. We are truly grateful for their service, and for the service of all this great nation’s veterans. Thank you!
Thank you Karen Goh for some great pictures.
It was also a treat running into Martha Miller nee McCuen at the Vets Parade. Martha is the daughter of Theron McCuen who was the Superintendent of Kern High and Bakersfield College when BC was on the Kern High campus. Martha’s husband Doug Miller retired as Superintendent of the Panama Buena Vista School District in 2007. I am so glad Martha recognized me and called out as I was dashing towards my car. With the work we undertook related to campaigning for Measure J, I was always fully aware of BC’s past, particularly 1956 when the campus moved from Kern High (Now BHS) to the Panorama Bluffs, while we were forging BC’s future. So to run into the daughter of Theron McCuen whose name is on the Administration Building where I have my office felt like an auspicious moment.
So, of course, I went searching in BC’s archives. Thank you Jerry Ludeke for your commitment to the archives.
Here is a 1958 photo that includes Theron McCuen at Ralph Prator’s retirement dinner. From Left: Ralph Prator (outgoing BC President), Ed Simonsen (incoming BC President), Marvene Simonsen, Theron McCuen (Superintendent), Hazel McCuen. 1958.
Also from the archives this newspaper clipping from the Bakersfield Californian. From Left to Right: H.E. Woodworth, Ralph Prator, Ed Simonsen, Dorothy Donohoe, Theron McCuen. This is the first time that I have seen a picture of Dorothy Donohoe, who as Assemblywoman was responsible for the development of the California Higher Education Master Plan. It seems appropriate to have her picture in my post Measure J blog to recognize the leaders from our community who had the vision for what we are today.
BC Veterans
Let’s salute our faculty, staff and students who are veterans.
Bernadette Martinez in the counseling department put out a call to our faculty & staff to share out who on our BC campus is a veteran, which I’d like to repeat here:
United States Marines
- Jeremy Staat, 2005-2009, Corporal (E-4). — Welding
- Armando Trujillo, Marine Corps –Veterans Educational Advisor
- Felix Ramirez from 1980-1985. 1985-2002 Army National Guard (E-7) —Public Safety Officer
- Juan Torres, United State Marine Corps from 1988-1994—Site Operations (Delano)
United States Navy
- Lieutenant Manuel Fernandez, 11 years—Electronics
- Jahnea Palfrey, 1999-2003, Law Enforcement—Department Assistant
- Di Hoffman, 1992-2001 – Nursing
- Eddie Rangel, 1998-2001 (E-4) –Information Technology
- Diana Alcala, 2002-2008—Human Resources Assistant
- Paul Beckworth, 1989-1993, Guard 1997-2003—History
- Richard McCrow, 30 years –Director Delano Campus
United States Army
- Pat Smith, 5 yrs —Criminal Justice
- Patrick Fulks, 1969-1971,(E-5) Biology
United States Air Force
- Bernadette Martinez, 1993-1997 (E-4)—Office Supervisor
- Christine Dunn 1995-1998 (Captain) Nursing
Veterans Celebration at Porterville College
On November 10th we had the KCCD Board meeting at Porterville College. They had their Veterans event on the same day and it was wonderful wandering the campus hearing from student veterans and visiting the Veterans Resource Center. Steve Schutlz has done a real nice job with the facility and I was warmly greeted by the counselor for PC’s student veterans Maria Roman.
I learned from the keynote speaker, a Vietnam Vet, that it was important to remember our history…particularly the local history. He shared that there was a former airport and military airfield located in the area that conducted flying training during World War II.
During our lunch with the Board, Dr. Carlson had organized a presentation on the Pathways work undertaken by the community over the last decade; a large scale collaboration with business and industry and K-12 partners. Both Trustee John Corkins and President Rosa Carlson have worked in leadership roles to advance this work on student success. Pretty cool stuff. Great results!
At the Board meeting, I enjoyed the presentation by Jay Rosenlieb on behalf of the Measure J Honorary Committee. Jay reviewed the work done by hundreds of volunteers that resulted in the successful passing of Measure J. Board members too commented about this great accomplishment. YesOnJ!
Wounded Heroes Fund
The Kern County Wounded Heroes Fund is a local nonprofit that supports veterans and their families with a focus to help ease the transition back to civilian life through ongoing support and appreciation. When veterans come home, sometimes they’re unsure of what to do, not knowing what’s next – that’s where Wounded Heroes comes in, offering everything from a cup of coffee and good conversation to marriage retreats, couples counseling, financial counseling, and even housing.
On November 5th at the Kern County Fairgrounds, a BBQ Steak Lunch helped raise money for these great causes. At the Veterans Parade on November 11th, Paul Beckworth introduced me to Glenn Porter who is on the Board of Directors for the Wounded Heroes fund and he talked about this event and that it was sold out this year. It was wonderful getting to know Glenn.
To learn more about the Wounded Heroes Fund, check out http://thewoundedheroesfund.org/.
BC was out at the Fairgrounds for the Wounded Heroes Fund event. Here are three pictures..the first with our nursing students and the second with Paul Beckworth’s family (Andy Lopez, Eileen Lopez, Adam Lopez, Sandra Beckworth, Paul Beckworth, Sonya Christian) who came out to support the event and the last one, a selfie with Wesley Barrientos. Wesley, I am so happy to see you!
Renegade RIP covers Driven by Art
The Renegade RIP, BC’s student newspaper recently highlighted the unique and individually painted trucks you’ve spotted around town. J.R. Hensley, the RIP Reporter notes, “the trucks will be in their current locations until the January 6, 2017, at which time the businesses that purchased the models will take possession of them or they can donate them to the city, which will put them on permanent display on the Westside Parkway.” I hope you’ll have a chance to spot them all – many are in various places throughout Downtown Bakersfield.
The RIP has been around for over 85 years at Bakersfield College reporting on news and events across campus and our community. To learn more about The RIP, visit www.therip.com and to see my previous blog about the BMOA’s Driven by Art Trucks, see https://sonyachristianblog.com/2016/10/08/so-many-reasons-to-celebrate-we-are-bc/.
EOP&S Takes Off to Museum of Tolerance
I found this draft blog entry from March 2016. Enjoy!
A group of 42 EOP&S students and staff gathered before sunrise on March 18, 2016 and boarded a bus headed southbound to the Museum of Tolerance. During the drive, the movie Anne Frank was played to get an insight of the holocaust.
Her spirit was felt on the bus and students were left thinking about the horrific events that happened in the early 1930s.
The Museum of Tolerance provided an interactive experience for students ranging from digital storytelling, films, artifacts, personal testimonies and thought provoking questions. Students were also guided to the Tolerance center exhibit where they were exposed to major issues of intolerance that happen on a local and global level. Topics on contemporary events such as bullying, hate speech, discrimination, human rights exploitation, and terrorism were covered, all which affect our community. “Don’t be a standby” was a phrase that the docent kept repeating as he challenged us to think what we can do to work to end injustices, discrimination, hateful behaviors and concluded with “History has a tendency to repeat itself.”
After the tour, a few students shared this was an eye-opening experience. One student expressed “this education[al] excursion [taught] me a lesson about the power of words.” Another student said “every minute was filled with learning about history” and others shared this was just not a visit “but also an educational trip, it teaches us about what we should do about eliminating discrimination.” When students were asked to identify steps to be more personally responsible for positive change, many responded to “speak up, help others, and care more.” One student summed it up and said “Speak up because someone needs to take initiative. Be the change I want to see.”
Their visit to the Museum of Tolerance was impactful. Over 85 percent of the group had never visited the museum. In the evaluation of their learning experience at the Museum of Tolerance, only about 26 percent indicated they had a great deal of understanding of the Holocaust prior to visiting the museum — after visiting the museum, 75 percent of the students indicated they gained a greater understanding of the Holocaust. Overall there was a 77 percent student consensus that visiting the Museum of Tolerance increased their awareness of past social injustices and the different types of prejudice and discrimination that exist in the world we live in.
Academic Senate
Its been a while since I visited with our Academic Senate. BC has a great group of faculty serving on the senate with exceptional leadership from President Steven Holmes, VP Andrea Thorson and the Exec Board of the Senate. I stopped by on Wednesday, November 9th, after the election to thank the faculty members from the senate who helped with the Measure J work. One of my colleagues took these pictures and I so enjoyed seeing them that I thought I would share them with you. We Are BC!
That’s all for now.
Until next week.
With much Renegade Pride and Collegiality.
sonya — signing off with a picture of Bruce and reminding everyone that I am the luckiest and happiest college president ever.
On Thursday evening, after the Board meeting, I attended the graduation ceremony of the Energy Academy which started on May 21st. Check out my previous blog post at 
A wave of updates has washed over our campus this past summer. Have you seen the new signs around campus, the newly poured walkways, and fresh coat of paint in the parking lot? In addition to those and many more, BC Athletics has a new website! You can’t miss the pop of Renegade Red, while checking out the accomplishments of our fantastic student athletes.
Another staple at BC is our talented music faculty. Since 1985, every summer, at the CACDA (California American Choral Directors Association) conference near Yosemite, a director is awarded the Howard Swan Lifetime Achievement award. This award recognizes an outstanding retired choral director in our state and candidates are nominated by the California ACDA Board of Directors and voted upon by past Presidents.
