Chancellor's News Brief

As we enter November, we enter what is informally referred to as "educational conference season." Over the next month, many of us will attend several important conferences focused on enhancing our commitment to leadership, education, and innovation within our community. A virtue of the conference experience is the connectivity, networking, and advocacy avenues they provide.

At the beginning of next week, teams from all our colleges will attend the 2024 COLEGAS conference. COLEGAS is dedicated to developing, elevating, and increasing leadership from the Latinx community throughout higher education through liberatory practices. This conference is a vital opportunity for us to engage with best practices and strategies that empower our diverse communities.

Following COLEGAS, the State Chancellor’s Office will convene the leadership, Career Education faculty and subject matter experts from all the Orange County Community College Districts. The focus will be on exploring partnerships for career education and reinforcing the alignment of each district’s goals with the state’s Vision 2030 plan. Collaborating on these initiatives is essential for our collective success and for better serving our students.

The following week, I will join President Rodriguez and members of his team in attending the CBEX Conference, which centers on elevating competency-based education (CBE). This conference will provide us with invaluable insights into effective CBE practices that can enhance our educational offerings.

After CBEX, is the Community College League of California Annual Convention. This convention is a vital gathering for the entire California community college system, fostering the sharing and celebration of our achievements while collaboratively addressing the challenges we face. Again, teams from all our colleges will be attending.

While away at these conferences, the district will be in capable hands under the oversight of our Vice Chancellors, who will have support available should any needs arise to ensure that operations continue smoothly and effectively.

Thank you for your ongoing dedication to our mission and for your support of our students and community.

With gratitude,

Dr. Whitney Yamamura
Chancellor

This week’s example of persistent innovation carries with it themes of timing and connections. This Tuesday an event was hosted at the District office to commemorate the passing of Assembly Bill 1805. The bill authored by Assemblymember Tri Ta and co-author, Senator Tom Umberg, ensures the inclusion of curriculum relative to the seminal court case of Mendez et al. v. Westminster School District et al. into the California K-12 system. Why the Coast Community College District got involved in a bill related to K-12 curriculum when it is admittedly not our purview is a lesson in persistence by local civil rights advocates in leveraging every connection.

The Estrada, Guzman, Mendez, Ramirez, and Palomino families are the portents of persistence in this story. Equal in their courage to challenge the racism of their time, the families pushed against the norm of segregation, insisting that their children have the same access to education as their white counterparts. In 1947, four years after the children were denied access. the 9th Court of Appeals upheld the children’s rights under the 14th Amendment. Four years of pushing against the societal norms, four years of advocating for their children through the court system, and for the children, four years of not getting to play on the good playground. That was the perspective of innocence retold by one of the Mendez children, Sylvia, who was 8 at the time.

It was Sylvia who later, encouraged by her mother to speak publicly about their story, started to voice the dream of having her parents’ and community’s story taught in schools throughout the state. Her advocacy brought many acknowledgments of the history through an award winning documentary, the naming of parks, school buildings, and courthouses, and even a commemorative stamp in 2007. The persistence of advocacy seemingly culminating when she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2011.

Despite all these honors and recognitions, the original dream that children in California would grow up knowing about the state’s role in desegregation remained unfulfilled. Attempts had been made. In 2006, legislation even made it all the way through the legislative process only to be vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger due to implementation concerns.

This year, the connections Sylvia had made over her lifetime came together and the timing proved to be right. Sylvia happens to be a graduate of Orange Coast College’s nursing program, and her brother Gonzalo Jr. happens to be very close friends of Dr. Rendell Drew, faculty at OCC. Rendell and fellow faculty member, Lee Gordon, introduced Sylvia and her story to the Academic Senate who then nominated her as OCC’s Alumni Member of the Year. Through these efforts, the case came to the attention of Chancellor Yamamura, who brought it up to board member Trustee Prinsky. Unbeknownst to him, Trustee Prinsky had already connected to the case and in 2016 had sponsored a weeklong advocacy event at the District which included a legislative breakfast and exhibition by the Museum of Teaching and Learning entitled A Class Action: The Grassroots Struggle for School Desegregation in California. After being introduced to Sylvia and her extended family, Whitney joined Dr. Prinsky and the larger group of advocates in the Mendez Family circle and brought back the exhibition in Fall of 2023.

As it happens Assemblymember Tri Ta who represents the city of Westminster had authored an assembly bill for the Coast District in the 2022-2023 legislative year. During the MOTAL exhibition he was hosted by the District at an acknowledgment ceremony to celebrate that bill’s passing. At that event he and Whitney spoke about the case and discovered that they had a common commitment to be persistent in pursing Sylvia’s dream. When the legislative session opened at the end of 2023 Mr. Ta proposed AB 1805 and the Coast District team became his behind the scenes partners. The Coast team brought together the local K-12 schools districts, the other community colleges in the county, local chambers of commerce, and elected officials who wrote letters of support at each step in the process.

On September 20, the persistence, courage, and seemingly limitless connections borne from the five families paid off when Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1805: Instructional materials: history-social science: Mendez et al. v. Westminster School District et al. of Orange County into law, ensuring that no longer will California residents reach adulthood without learning about the role their state played in the desegregation of the nations’ schools.

When Sylvia, now 83, was told of its passing, she reminded us that the original case also carried with it a coalition of community and connections.

"It wasn’t just Latinos fighting,” she said. “Everybody came together.” Just like today with AB 1805, she noted.

“Look at all the people who have been helping in this scenario, trying to get it through so it can be taught in schools,” Mendez said. “I am just so happy, I’m so thrilled and grateful that the dream has finally come true.”

Please send examples of persistent innovation, by which I mean having a good idea and then putting in the hard work to make that vision a reality. The more examples submitted, the better I can highlight your successes in future letters and in the community!

Coastline College’s Associated Student Government (ASG) leaders joined by Golden West and OCC ASG leaders took center stage at the 2024 Student Leadership Conference, hosted by the California Community College Student Affairs Association at the iconic Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Themed “Leaders Taking Stage: Centering on Authentic Leadership,” the event empowered ASG students through dynamic sessions on networking, advocacy storytelling, and driving impactful change. ASG President Amelia Le, Military Senator Chad Lloyd, Campus Clubs Senator Hasanah Chhom, and Legislative Affairs Senator Patricia Rodriguez shared their excitement and gratitude for this inspiring experience and are eager to bring their newfound knowledge back to Coastline!

Golden West College will eliminate all course materials fees – including textbooks, calculators, and access codes for homework and study programs – for math classes in the Spring 2025 semester, which starts on January 31.

Currently, GWC has converted approximately 50 percent of its courses into “Zero Textbook Costs” or ZTC courses to remove financial barriers for students. ZTC courses often use Open Educational Resources (OER) which are created under a Creative Commons License that allows people to share, use, and build upon the work.

In the College’s Mathematics and Engineering department, the number of ZTC courses is even higher, with approximately 85 percent of courses designated as zero cost due in large part to the work done by math faculty who have embraced a transition to OER over the past few years. “The Math Department has been tirelessly dedicated to this mission,” says Math Department Chair Dr. Shawn Taylor. “Faculty members have voluntarily embraced this transition, driven not by financial incentives or external pressures, but by a genuine commitment to our students and their success.”

In a typical college-level math course, the cost of course materials can place a significant financial strain on students, with the cost of purchasing a textbook, an access code and a calculator ranging anywhere from $100-$250.

Golden West is tapping into Student Equity and Achievement Program (SEAP) funds to close the 15 percent gap in Spring 2025 and ensure that ALL math classes at the College are designated as ZTC. This initiative allows students to borrow calculators, and in some cases, textbooks for the duration of the Spring 2025 semester. SEAP is a state-funded program that aims to promote student success and equal educational opportunities for all students.

“At GWC we strive to remove all barriers to student success,” says Vice President of Student Services Claudia Lee. “Our goal in having all math classes as zero-cost to students is to increase the number of students who take math within their first year at GWC, and increase their course success and completion rates.”

“With this transformative initiative to eliminate all course material costs in math, Golden West College reaffirms its commitment to educational innovation and equity, ensuring that all students have the resources they need to succeed in their academic journey,” says Dr. Taylor.

Chancellor, Week of November 4

Vice Chancellor Dr. Serban is Acting Chancellor, Monday and Tuesday.

Dr. Yamamura is in the District, Wednesday through Friday.