In light of Hispanic Heritage Month, City College’s Board of Trustees convened on Thursday, Oct. 9 where programs like Extended Opportunities Programs and Services (EOPS), ethnic studies and the Dream Center spoke on initiatives toward student success.
President of the Board Jonathan Abboud opened the floor to Assistant Superintendent-Vice President of Student Affairs Paloma Arnold to highlight certain programs for Hispanic Heritage Month.
“As an HSI [college], we acknowledge that all areas of our campus share responsibility for supporting Latino, Latina and Latiné students,” Arnold said. “In recognition of this commitment, we wish to highlight several programs that were either founded to serve educationally and historically marginalized students.”
Some of the programs present at the meeting included Chicano studies, EOPS, Transfer Achievement Program (T.A.P), English as a Second Language (ESL), Dream Center, Raíces, Mathematics, Engineering, Science, Achievement (MESA) and Spanish.
Arnold gave an introduction to each program and said they play an essential role at City College.
The Board then allowed the programs to share what they’ve been doing for students.
Ethnic Studies Chair and professor Thomas Carrasco said he’s been able to develop a strong ethnic studies department. He explained that every student is able to benefit in that department, whether it’s collaborations with EOPS or in education.
To end his speech he said that people may feel frightened right now but emphasized that City College has supported students.
“Our communities are under the gun in regards to being scared of the ICE raids, of what’s going on, of being racialized and so when you give students information they’re able to be empowered,” Carrasco said.
Alisha Sanchez, EOPS’ student success coordinator, spoke on behalf of EOPS and let the trustees know of their core services.
“What we are here on campus is a support service for students who are low-income, first-generation, underrepresented, system-impacted,” Sanchez said. “The work that we do is pure magic.”
Sanchez highlighted that students go to their office to feel comfortable and that there are student peer mentors to show a student’s point of view when helping others.
“They get to work with students on a different level,” Sanchez said. “I always like to tell students that if you want to get advice you may want to talk to them first.”
At the end of her speech, she let the trustees know it’s a beautiful program.
Director of Student Equity and Engagement Programs, Roxane Byrne, spoke about the Dream Center. During the meeting, she wanted to acknowledge that while it’s Hispanic Heritage Month, not all undocumented individuals are of Latinx heritage.
Byrne told the Board that the Dream Center makes sure its program is bilingual in English and Spanish. The center has spent a lot of time on translating apps and has been finding individuals who can help translate other languages.
Since students in the Dream Center are undocumented, they do their best to protect them.
“We really take great care to protect the confidentiality of the students who are utilizing our services,” Byrne said.
Byrne gave an example of a student who was able to change their legal status. They had an internship in the dream program and were able to gain a job in the U.S. because they had documented work experience from the Dream Center. This left many amazed at the meeting.
After hearing all the programs in attendance, Trustee David Morris said a reminder to the crowd.
“Since real history is being challenged nowadays, it’s worth remembering that people were making their lives here in North America speaking Spanish 40 years at least before anyone was up here speaking English,” Morris said.
The next board meeting will be held on Nov. 13.
