Good morning Bakersfield.
It is Saturday, November 3, 2018…..a great day to be a Renegade.
Gorgeous eastern sky. Photo snapped during the early morning dog walk.
Very active week at BC…but then that’s how we roll at BC.
On Friday, College Council met at our Delano Campus. It was a treat to be in Delano for our meeting.
Abel Guzman, Raquel Lopez and Jaime Lopez did a great presentation on the expansion of Rural Initiatives.
Homecoming Game
It was an exciting Saturday evening, October 27th, at Memorial Stadium with the Homecoming Game. The Renegade Football Team hosted East LA College in a wild 2018 homecoming game that ended with a big 58-17 Renegade win.
At halftime of the game the 1988 JC National Championship Renegade football team was honored on the field and presented with a special hat remembering their exceptional achievement.
About 40-50 players and coaches, including Murray Adams, Chris Figueroa, William Young, Bobby Blackman, and Raymond Braxton, came from all across the country to reunite and remember their perfect 11-0 season from that year.
At the conclusion of the game all in attendance were treated to an incredible fireworks show with a finale that left multiple car alarms blaring throughout the tailgating parking lot!
I love when families come to Renegade athletic events. And I was happy to see retired Dean Frank Gornick out at the game – once a Renegade always a Renegade! More about Frank-Gornick, Board of Directors for Foundation for California Community Colleges
Look at who else was at the homecoming game:
As always, the fireworks display was spectacular.
Did you see the feature on KGET highlighting the incredible work of BC’s Industrial Automation seniors? See how students Chad and Aaron prepared their robots for Renegade football on KGET.
Homecoming Week
Homecoming Week closed out with a bang last week as Student Life and BC Student Government Association (BCSGA) welcomed the community to the BC Campus for the Friday Night Halloween Bash on October 26th. Over 800 guests attended our trunk-or-treat, Student Organization led game tables, face painting, inflatables, dancing, and a viewing of Hotel Transylvania 3. It was a great night!
Saturday’s Homecoming Parade visited the packed Tailgating Area with the Drumline leading the way. Fans were so excited to see and take photos with the mascot, Emmanuel Limaco, who was crowned later at the halftime show as Homecoming Royalty. Thank you to Homecoming Royalty Candidates (pictured from left to right) Paul Coffman, Francis Benavente, Aliyah Khan, Andrea Lopez, and winner, Emmanuel Limaco – Congratulations, Emmanuel!
BC in the Vineyards Project — Very proud of this work by the Rural Initiatives Team
As I wrote in last week’s blog, BC was out in the vineyards of Kern County this week. In partnership with the Central Valley Farm workers Foundation, Bakersfield College Rural Initiatives team and outreach advisors visited 20 farmworker crews at local vineyards throughout North and South Kern to promote higher education. The team was able to reach over 1200 farmworkers, planting a seed of hope for higher education. Over 150 workers have requested follow-up services to begin their matriculation.
I would like to thank all those who assisted in this project and Adult Education Managers, Jaime Lopez and Endee Grijalva for coordinating the efforts to make this possible. Although, this outreach effort is the first of its kind, it will not be the last as the Rural Initiatives Team continues to change lives across Kern County!
Art for Planet, Art for People
Levan Center speaker Esther Iverem spoke to the Umoja Community ASTEP students before her evening presentation on Tuesday, October 30, 2018. Iverem is an independent journalist who has written on social justice, arts, and culture for the New York Times and Washington Post. She also has published books on poetry and film reviews.
Iverem, also host of the On the Ground radio show, talked to the students in Dr. Paula Parks’ Umoja English class on the importance of creating their own media and locating non-biased sources of information. Most students admitted that they get their news from social media. “Something I took away from her discussion was that everything we enjoy in the media was written by someone and that writing is a career option,” explained Michaela Edwards. Iverem, a native of Philadelphia who lives in Washington, D.C., also spoke on the importance of writing to express oneself. “She reminded me that not only do I have the ability to create as an individual, but the power as an African American to make great narratives. It was very motivating,” stated Dujour Sams.
The evening presentation consisted of Iverem reading and showing art from her latest book Olokum of the Galaxy, which is the story of Olokum, a West African spirit who lives in the oceans. From below, he witnesses the creation of the seas, bodies of slaves who jumped or were thrown off the slave ships, smoke and coal debris from the industrial revolution, today’s oil and chemical spills, and eventually the destruction of the planet due to man’s abuse.
Iverem said that “the way that we are treating the planet is an emergency. We were not great stewards before, but we seem to be going backwards.” She cited recent pipeline construction and increased offshore drilling.
Most of the audience questions centered on her art.
The book was an offshoot of the Olokum figures that Iverem was making from reclaimed fabric and discarded buttons, chains, and belts. She said that it takes her a few days to hand make each doll. Some also have necklaces with small photos of African Americans (such as Tamir Rice) who were gunned down by police. Iverem’s Olokum projects have combined her passions for social justice, the environment, African-American culture, poetry, writing, and visual and textile art.
We are so fortunate to welcome journalists, artists, authors and speakers to Bakersfield College to enrich the lives of our students and community with culturally diverse experiences. We are able to educate our students and community beyond the regular classroom curriculum. See why I feel like the luckiest and happiest president? I would like to thank Dr. Paula Parks and Reggie Williams for organizing this event.
Animal Advice: Are You Listening?
Speaking of our fortune in being able to bring great scholars to enrich our lives, yesterday, Friday November 2nd, Dr. Rae Ann Kumelos, Bakersfield College English Professor, was honored as this year’s Faculty Colloquium in the Levan Center. About 50 faculty, staff, students and community members were present for her presentation “Animal Advice: Are You Listening?”
The colloquium examined the relationships between humans and animals through stories from myth, fairy tale, literature, science, pop culture and life. She pointed out that animals are often depicted as a wise helper in fairy tales, shamans use them as totems and spirit guides. We see them in our dreams and the etymology of the word “animal” can mean soul, breath, life and impulse.
In the physical world, animals are a major part of human life. 63% of homes have animals, while only 35% have children. 89% of pet owners call their animals their children and 94% talk to their pets like people. Presence of animals can lower blood pressure, cholesterol and anxiety and dogs are being used to assist people with medical issues like sensing epileptic seizures and low blood sugar, while others can be used for leading the blind. As our culture shifts from the rural life to a more suburban existence, we are bringing the animals into our homes and backyards and seeing their individual personalities. Yet, 50% of animals have gone extinct in the last 40 years. We recognize our individual pets as having a personality, yet hunters view wild animals as trophies. Rae Ann’s point is that animals are showing us our future and speaking to us about the state of our world and what we humans have done to it. We need to listen to the animals and pay attention to politics about our environment and treatment of animals.
Rae Ann writes academically and as a columnist for a variety of national publications about the relationships between humans and animals in myth, literature, astronomy and popular culture. She lectures at various conferences, most recently at Oxford University and has her own radio program broadcast on XM Satellite Radio called Voice of the Animal. Her book Wild Wisdom: Animal Stories of the Southwest received a national award as gift book of the year. We are lucky to have such quality faculty as Rae Ann, congratulations on your award.
The Faculty Colloquium is made possible by the generous donation from Dr. Norman Levan. Rae Ann was presented a plaque and a $1500 stipend which she plans to use for a safari to see the animals of Africa. Thank you to the Faculty Colloquium committee Susan Pinza, Bob Allison, Adel Shafik, Donna Starr, Nick Strobel, Erin Miller and Richard Marquez (Rae Ann outed that Richard doesn’t like cats, he says he does like dogs), Reggie Williams, Director of the Levan Center, and Alex Gomez for the fabulous food. And now, I am off to ask Neo and Bessie for some wisdom.
Community Healthcare Needs Discussion
Bakersfield College, CSU Bakersfield, and Senator Andy Vidak partnered together earlier this week to create a forum of discussion between some of the top healthcare professionals in our region and higher education faculty. Bruce Peters, President & CEO of Mercy Hospitals, Sharlet Briggs, President & CEO of Adventist Health, and cardiology specialist Dr. Jeet Singh were just a few of the power houses in attendance. Attendees chatted about how we can all work together to ensure that our area is being provided the programs that it and the industry needs, and to try to help prevent any shortfalls in occupation employment. The interactions and topics were great, and exactly what we wanted to address!
BC’s Associate Dean of Instruction Carla Gard shared her insight on BC’s nursing program. KCCD Associate Vice Chancellor Cindy Collier shared her insight on assisting in the healthcare workforce development in Kern. CSUB’s Chair of the Nursing Program, Debbie Boschini shared insights on challenges and opportunities for developing and strengthening our nursing pathways.
Top Healthcare Leaders in Kern County
The conversations and interaction between education and healthcare industry partners led to a commitment to continue working together to develop opportunities for allied health education in our area. THANK YOU to everyone who attended. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for this new partnership!
Dream Big Conference
Two-hundred and forty two participants attended the Dream Big Conference at the Bakersfield College main campus on Friday, October 26th. A grand total of 18 local high schools participated in the youth conference. It was a great day of inspiration for English second language learners, migrant students, undocumented youth, and first generation high school students of Kern County. The conference’s mission was to educate, motivate, and inspire disproportionately impacted youth groups with the intention of promoting education as a viable mechanism for future prosperity and social class mobility.
Participants learned about the various resources on campus, such as FAFSA/CA Dream Act, Dual/Concurrent Enrollment, Matriculation Steps, Transfer Services, EOP&S, and attended a resource fair from a variety of departments and community agencies. In addition to the wealth of knowledge students received, this extraordinary youth conference imparted resiliency, hope, sense of community, and stressed the importance of creating generational change within their immediate family by pursuing post-secondary education. Participants gained insight from a college panel which was made up of student leaders from the LUPE Student Organization. Students received BC swag, danced a little, left the campus well informed, and had a great time.
I want to thank the following departments that supported, organized, and made the conference possible: Office of Student Success & Equity, EOP&S/CARE/CalWORKs Programs, Cal-SOAP, Office of Student Life, Office of VP Student Affairs, Office of Outreach & School Relations, Office of Financial Aid, Adult Education & Rural Initiatives, Counseling & Advising Department, LUPE Student Organization, Kern High School District (KHSD), Academic Support Services, Maintenance & Operations, BC Food Services, and the many wonderful student volunteers!
We are BC! (Somos BC!)
Fall Pathways Fest
This week we had another inspiring event for current students about the Learning & Career Pathways and support services. The sky was blue and the weather was perfect for the BC Counseling Faculty and Educational Advising team to host the inaugural Fall Pathways Fest outside on the Student Crossroads lawn. On Wednesday, October 31st, 2018, campus students were provided with full access to informational tables hosted for each Learning and Career Pathway, such as Agriculture/Nutrition/Culinary Arts, Arts/Humanities/Communication, Business, Education, Health Sciences, Industrial and Transportation Technology, Public Safety Training, Social and Behavioral Sciences, STEM, and Personal and Career Exploration.
In addition, CSU Bakersfield, the FINISH IN 4 Program, BC Transfer Center, LET’S TEACH, Summer Bridge, and EOP&S/CARE/calWORKS hosted tables promoting various support program services critical to student success and completion.
At the event, students met one-on-one with their Pathways Counselors and Advisors, signed up for educational workshops, received information regarding their majors, and obtained additional services such as change of major, educational planning, and major exploration. Food was provided by the Office of Student Success and Equity.
I would like to thank Mark Oseo and the Counseling and Advising Department for organizing and hosting this event and thank all of the departments, staff and faculty that participated. This successful event exemplifies a structured educational experience to support our students. As a partner with California Guided Pathways project, BC is changing the way education is provided to our students. We are integrating our initiatives and providing students with maps to achieving their goals. This event exemplifies our dedication to the Guided Pathways Project and our students.
Employer of the Year for Large Business
BC is honored to be recognized as Employer of the Year for Large Business at the 2018 Mayor’s Helping Incorporate Reliable Employees (HIRE) Luncheon. Manager of Operations, Ramon Puga accepted the award on October 16, 2018 during the HIRE luncheon which celebrates local employees with disabilities, employers, and National Disability Employment Awareness month. Originally founded by former Mayor Harvey Hall, current Mayor Karen Goh is continuing to champion and celebrate diversity within our workforce. The recipient of the Employer of the Year Award is a recognized employer who has shown active recruitment and hiring practices promoting the concept of employment of people with disabilities.
(Left to Right) Carlos Medina, Denise Crawford, Jessica McGrath, (back) Rudy Gutierrez, Mayor Karen Goh, Terri Goldstein, (back) Paul Beckworth, (front) Daniel Gutierrez, and (back) Ramon Puga.
Bakersfield College is proud to offer on-campus student employment opportunities which can sometimes evolve into full time or permanent positions alongside programs like Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSPS), which ensures equal access to educational opportunities for all students with disabilities. Services are available to support students through certificate or degree completion in order to gain skillful employment within the local workforce.
(Left to Right) Priscilla Varela, Mrs. Kern County Mayor Karen Goh, City of Bakersfield Ramon Puga, Manager of Operations, Bakersfield College
Bakersfield College staff, Daniel Gutierrez, was also nominated for Employee of the Year, while Howard Silver, long-time volunteer on the Bakersfield College Workability Advisory Board, was nominated for the Harvey L. Hall Humanitarian of the Year Award.
Tony Cordova, Director of Career Education, Bakersfield College Sonya Christian, President, Bakersfield College Mayor Karen Goh, City of Bakersfield Denise Crawford, HIRE Committee and Program Manager, WorkAbility, Bakersfield College Liz Rozell, Vice President of Instruction, Bakersfield College
Various BC staff participate in the HIRE Committee including Rudy Gutierrez, Workability Job Development Specialist, Jessica McGrath, Career Education Job Development, Carlos Medina, Career Education Job Development Specialist and Denise Crawford, Program Manager for Workability. I am truly the luckiest and happiest president to have such caring staff.
Kern High School Transition Fair for Students with Disabilities
Disabled Students Programs & Services at Bakersfield College was well represented at Kern High School Districts’ Annual Transition Fair for Students with Disabilities on November 1, 2018. DSPS’ Job Development Specialist Rudy Gutierrez, Alternative Media Specialist Katrina Marquez, and Director Dr. Terri Goldstein met with students and their parents as they considered options for what to do after high school.
Also at the event were Janis Mendenhall and Amar Abbott from Taft College and representatives from CSU Bakersfield and Fresno State, as well as a number of state and community-based programs.
Lucky attendees won gift baskets from various groups, including a large basket of BC items that every respectable Renegade needs. The event was so well attended, they will need to find a larger location for 2019!
Thank you Terri, Rudy and Katrina for representing the college. It is so important that we prepare all of our students for the transition from high school and to enable them to be successful.
KCCD Leadership Academy
On Friday, November 2, Bakersfield College hosted the KCCD Leadership Academy, which works to prepare classified, faculty, and management employees for leadership roles at every level of the organization through experiential learning opportunities in day-long workshops. This year’s Leadership Academy cohort was presented with topics that included Guided Pathways, Baccalaureate degrees, Dual Enrollment, Facilities, and Strong Workforce.
John Means, Vice Chancellor, began the day by welcoming everyone with an overview of the day’s activities. He was followed by Cornelio Rodriguez, Dean of Instruction at BC, who talked about the BC campus, including its centers, programs, and bright future. The audience was moved by his story of a young Latina student who, after graduating, received a bouquet of roses from her father.
After the morning session, the group was treated to a cart tour of the BC campus, which highlighted Memorial Stadium, the Veterans Center, and Horticulture Lab. The day was a good opportunity for the district staff in attendance to learn about all the great things going on at BC. Everyone learned information to help enhance their leadership skills.
Thank you to all of the presenters for your time and effort, including:
- John Means, Vice Chancellor, KCCD
- Michele Bresso, Dean of Instruction, Bakersfield College
- Cornelio Rodriguez, Dean of Instruction, Bakersfield College
- Jennifer Johnson, Dept. Chair, Nursing Program, Bakersfield College
- Grace Commiso, Dean of Counseling & Student Success
- Michele Bresso, Dean of Instruction, Bakersfield College
- Keith Ford, Associate Athletic Director, Bakersfield College
- Paul Beckworth, Faculty Lead, Veterans Services, Bakersfield College
- Nicky Damania, Director of Student Life, Bakersfield College
- Chris McCraw, Agriculture Department Chair
- Steve Watkin, Director of Outreach & School Relations, Bakersfield College
- Anna Laven, Program Manager, Dual Enrollment, Bakersfield College
- Bill Potter, Director of Maintenance & Operations, Bakersfield College
- Tony Cordova, Program Director, CTE, Bakersfield College
- Cindy Collier, Associate Vice Chancellor, Economic & Workforce Development, KCCD
Your hard work and dedication to making our district a great place to work is much appreciated! We are BC!
Renegade Report
If you missed watching the Renegade Report live this last Thursday at 11 a.m., check out the segments from this week’s show. This week’s highlights include segments with Head Women’s Basketball Coach Paula Dahl and one of her Assistant Coaches Clarence Stephens and Women’s Basketball student athletes Victoria Trevino, Jasmyn Rodriguez, Kaylana Demmin and Aubrey Stone.
Renegades of the Week
Renegade Athletics is proud to announce this week’s (10/21-20/27) Wells Fargo Renegades of the Week!
Lanie Camarillo, Volleyball – Total of 26 kills, 3 errors, 43 attempts, .605 kill% and .500 hitting% in leading team to wins over Cuesta and LA Mission.
Jesus Barajas, Men’s Soccer – 1 goal and 2 assists in helping team to victories over Canyons and Victor Valley.
Congrats to Angelo Benitez and Ben Carlson
Renegade Athletics is proud to announce that men’s cross country student athletes Angelo Benitez and Ben Carlson have been named to the 2018 Academic All-State Cross Country team by the CCCCCTCA (California Community College Cross Country & Track Coaches Association). To make the team cross-country student athletes must complete a minimum of 24 academic units with a 3.5 GPA or higher. This is now the third time that Ben has been awarded Academic All-State. He was previously named Academic All-State in both Cross Country and Track & Field last year.
Roundup of Athletics Events this week
It was a full week of athletics events for our Renegades teams. Highlights from the week include (click for the story on GoGades.com):
- Men’s Soccer drops first conference game
- Women’s Soccer edges Citrus
- Women’s Golf places third at WSC Conference Tournament
- Football Wins Big Over East LA on Homecoming Night
- Wrestling Stays Unbeaten in Conference with Win over Cuesta
- Men’s Soccer Takes Conference Win Over Victor Valley
- Volleyball with 16th Sweep of the Season
- Women’s Soccer with huge win at Victor Valley
Stay Connected to Renegade Athletics
Be sure to stay connected with Renegade Athletics by following us on social media. On Facebook find us under ‘Bakersfield College Athletics’, on Twitter – @GoGadesGo and on Instagram – @gogadesgo.
Halloween Spirits at BC
Wednesday was a boo-tiful day as many of our faculty and staff got into the Halloween spirit. Here are a few fun photos:
I heard a rumor that Matt Garrett made his costume from scratch.
We are BC!
That’s all for now.
Until next time.
With much Renegade Pride and Collegiality.
sonya —
the luckiest and happiest college president ever
