California Community Colleges held their monthly Zoom student teleconference on April 19 from 3 – 4 p.m. The teleconference was spearheaded by Interim California Community Colleges Chancellor Daisy Gonzales, who talked about an array of topics regarding the state’s efforts in aiding its community colleges and their students after the pandemic.

To kick off the meeting, Gonzales recognized the land acknowledgment California Community Colleges has made, which is a statement that acknowledges and respects the land we are on belongs to those from Indigenous tribes and communities. 

“It’s important to recognize the work with Indigenous communities,” said Gonzales, as the California Community Colleges Board of Directors continues to work with agencies that will benefit students from Indigenous backgrounds.

“This land acknowledgement was a long time in the making,” said Gonzales.

Since April is California Community College month, there’s been, and will continue to be, a bunch of events held state-wide to support students in community colleges. 

  So far, there have been two LGBTQ+ Summit events, which Gonzales described as “a space for students and faculty to focus on this years theme, ‘fiercer together.’”

Summit events were held on April 19 and 20 at LMC, where several workshops were held to uplift members of the LGBTQ+ community.

As a part of California Community College month, Gonzales also said that next week will be “Black student success week,” as a series of online webinars will be hosted to discuss topics that are crucial for Black students to excel.

“The goal is to make sure Black and African American students succeed at community colleges,” said Gonzales.

Aside from events, Gonzales was proud to announce that overall enrollment has seen increases in comparison to fall 2021 semester, and found the growth to be encouraging. 

Gonzales said the work is not done yet, as now the focus is on “staying focused on being optimistic,” since as more students return, “we need to keep up the work we are doing on colleges.”

She referred to these plans as “high impact strategies” that will seek to improve the experience for California community college students.

Gonzales also acknowledged the hiring of Dr. Sonya Christian, who will be the permanent chancellor of California Community Colleges starting June 1. Christian is the first woman to have this permanent position, as well as the first person of South Asian heritage to have the role.

There will be one last student teleconference this school year, which will take place sometime in May.