Los Medanos College students and staff are mourning the death of history professor Joshua Bearden. College President Pamela Ralston revealed in a campus-wide email that Bearden died Sunday, April 14 in his Alabama home at the age of 41. As of the time of print, his cause of death is unknown.
Bearden joined the LMC staff as a history professor in 2015 after receiving his Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of Maryland earlier that year. Previously, he earned his Bachelor of Arts in History from Samford University in 2004 and his Masters at the University of Alabama Birmingham in 2006.
During his nine years at LMC, Bearden served as President of the Faculty Senate from Fall 2018 to Spring 2020. His joyous and loving personality was felt through his colleagues and students.
“As members of the same department, I found that Josh exemplified all the best qualities of a colleague,” Political Science Professor Milton Clarke said. “He was generous both intellectually and materially. We could be both scholastically engaging and still be the ‘cool kids’.”
Bearden was also an active member of the LMC community. He often organized events such as equity speakers, panel discussions and book clubs while working with his fellow teachers to find ways to develop a new curriculum.
“He was passionate about creating quality learning experiences to address equity gaps for marginalized students,” Ralston said in an email to the college.
His passion also showed in his dedication to his students. Patrick Cruz, a current student said, “I would like to say that he seemed to care about us, providing videos every so often about how the semester was going.”
Also in Ralston’s email to the college, she said students praised Bearden for his ability to teach highly controversial topics such as women’s history, queer history, and history of sexuality, as well as U.S. history.
“What truly set Professor Bearden apart, however, was the depth of richness of the material he assigned,” current student Jerika Harris said. “From historical narratives penned by former slaves to thought-provoking essays on race and ethics, the readings he selected were not only provocative but also incredibly enlightening.”
Honors Director Jennifer Saito reflected on her relationship with her fellow colleague and said “he was a perfect fit for LMC.”
“Josh’s combination of intellectual rigor, interactive and dynamic teaching, and reliance on student engagement with primary documents gave energy to the Social Science Department and the Honors Program,” Saito said. “Josh had a great sense of humor and was the best baker on campus. It’s a big loss for the college and all of us who considered him a friend.”
Students were alerted of his passing on the evening of April 15, via announcements on Canvas by Aprill Nogarr, the Dean of Instruction. Professors of the History departments are substituting his current courses. Most substitutes said they were going to keep his courses the same and support students through this troubling time.
Services were also shared to students on April 16 and 17, both online and in-person to allow time to grieve and speak of the beloved professor.
As of print time, there has been no scheduled on-campus memorial for Bearden. However, his funeral service was held in the afternoon of April 18 at the Cedar Creek Baptist Church with a burial followed at Cedar Creek Cemetery in Alabama.
— Aliyah Ramirez and Gabbie Munoz contributed to this report
