Peralta Community College District's Only Student-Run Publication
Peralta Community College District's only student-run publication.

The Citizen
Police officers gather outside the Laney College Fieldhouse following a report of an "active shooter" on campus in Oakland, CA on Nov. 13, 2025. One person was confirmed injured.
[UPDATED] John Beam hospitalized after Laney College Fieldhouse shooting
November 13, 2025
Graphic made in Canva
Meet Peralta’s new security teams
November 8, 2025
Anjru Jaezon de Leon, back, comforted his grandmother, Amelia Bulauan, during her emotional comments about the death of her son, Melvin Bulauan, at a Board of Supervisors committee hearing November 6.
GEO Group faces tough questions at SF supervisors hearing over reentry facility
November 7, 2025
College and district leaders, alongside representatives from Noll & Tam Architects and Thompson Builders, break ground on the new library and learning center at Laney College in Oakland, CA on October 28, 2025.
Laney College breaks ground on new construction
October 30, 2025
Calder Storm waves a trans flag over a crowd of counterprotestors at a rally for trans youth outside of a Kaiser Permanente clinic in San Francisco on July 25, 2025.
Trans youth and families face hard choices after Bay Area clinics pause gender affirming care
October 30, 2025
Isela González Santana burns incense over an ofrenda at Merritt College in Oakland, CA on Oct 29, 2025.
Puente celebrates Día de los Muertos at Merritt College
November 12, 2025
Laney counselor Philip Jucaban rests on a bench at Laney College in Oakland, CA on Oct. 29, 2025. Jucaban says he grounds his counseling work in the Filipino cultural value of bayanihan: “I’m just one counselor, but I like to bring a village together for each student,” Jucaban said.
Philip Jucaban brings bayanihan into counseling Laney students
October 29, 2025
Mooncakes in a variety of colors and flavors sit in a display at Berkeley City College on Oct. 8, 2025. API LEAD students traded mooncakes for trivia to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with the BCC community
BCC students celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with mooncakes and community
October 28, 2025
A pair competes in the Potato Dance contest, where two people hold a potato between their foreheads and dance around the arena at the NAHC Powwow at Merritt College in Oakland, CA., on September 27, 2025.
‘Laughter is Medicine’, Annual Powwow highlights Native American healthcare
October 13, 2025
Trellis and sign stand at the entrance to the Urban Community Gardening class plot at the Lakeside Park Garden Center in Oakland, CA., on September 23, 2025. 
Merritt College urban garden class sows “practical skills”
October 6, 2025
Left to right: Gavin Piedra, Arctomy Padilla, and Mariah Pon, organizers of the Student Arts Guild, prepare for a Club Rush event.
Submissions now open for Berkeley City College student-run art show
October 21, 2025
Alexandra Tejeda Rieloff performs with her band at Etcetera Wine Bar in San Francisco, CA., on April 15, 2025.
Alumnus reflects on decades-long performing career: “it really started in Laney College”
September 26, 2025
Yunomi by Ian Bassett is one of the featured works at the new exhibition. STOKED highlights the unique texture and color of wood-fired ceramics.
National art exhibition ‘STOKED’ showcases wood-fired possibilities for Laney ceramics program
September 24, 2025
Berkeley City College Multimedia Arts student Yunha Kim created the new owl mascot in collaboration with Marcus Creel, the district's graphic design specialist. (Owl and banner design via Yunha Kim and Marcus Creel. Used with permission.)
Berkeley City College arts student helps new mascot take flight
April 16, 2025
The pieces shown in Clay, Paper, Wood are crafted by advanced Laney students across many mediums. The gallery offers a tranquil space in the center of Laney College’s campus.
Laney Art students get crafty in new gallery show
March 10, 2025
Graphic made in Canva
Dial Tones and Disengagement: A student election marked by silence
October 16, 2025
Graphic of a student journalist, using a rolled up newspaper to break the ribbon of silence.
The Citizen will not “take down” the truth
October 4, 2025
Incumbent Area 2 Trustee Paulina Gonzalez-Brito, pictured here in The Citizen's newsroom, has what it takes to stay on the Peralta board for another four years.
EDITORIAL: Keep Paulina Gonzalez-Brito on the Peralta board
September 25, 2024
Staff Writer Desmond Meagley stands in the very spot where a security guard confronted him last month: the doorway of the men’s restroom in the Laney College Library. Meagley, who is transgender, tried to report the incident, but reached a dead end when an administrator told him he would need the security guard’s name.
The Catch-22 in AP 3435, Peralta’s Harassment Protocol
May 19, 2024
Social Media Editor Isabelly Sabô stands in front of the door to The Citizen's newsroom. Sabô is an international student from Brazil.
We’re not just ‘rich kids on vacation’: The journey of an international student
May 5, 2024
A CoA counselor was told to cancel an unvetted “class” – then promoted a nearly identical one
A CoA counselor was told to cancel an unvetted “class” – then promoted a nearly identical one
October 29, 2025
An athlete looks down the dark stairwell towards the locker rooms. Illustration by Eliot Faine
The Locker Room Stall: 47 years of Title IX allegations at Laney College
March 31, 2025
The American Straight A Academy helped students in China receive transfer degrees from the Peralta Community College District without paying international tuition or setting foot in California. The for-profit company, registered in Dallas, Texas, has not disclosed how much students pay for the experience.
Investigation: A look at the for-profit Chinese business that sold Peralta classes overseas
October 30, 2024
Investigation: Over half of PCCD conflict of interest disclosures nowhere to be found
Investigation: Over half of PCCD conflict of interest disclosures nowhere to be found
September 17, 2024
The Citizen Investigates: International Travel
The Citizen Investigates: International Travel
July 25, 2024
Peralta Community College District's only student-run publication.

The Citizen
Peralta Community College District's only student-run publication.

The Citizen

Events

Mooncakes in a variety of colors and flavors sit in a display at Berkeley City College on Oct. 8, 2025. API LEAD students traded mooncakes for trivia to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with the BCC community

BCC students celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with mooncakes and community

Though typically associated with Chinese culture, mooncakes are a staple of the seasonal celebration for many East and Southeast Asian countries.
Dustin Chu, Staff Writer • October 28, 2025
From Oct. 6 to 8, students with the Asian Pacific Islander Leadership Empowerment Adversity Diversity (API LEAD) program and the Society of Scholars handed out mooncakes in flavors like pandan, red bean, lotus seed, and pistachio while sharing the meaning behind one of Asia’s oldest harvest festivals. 
A pair competes in the Potato Dance contest, where two people hold a potato between their foreheads and dance around the arena at the NAHC Powwow at Merritt College in Oakland, CA., on September 27, 2025.

‘Laughter is Medicine’, Annual Powwow highlights Native American healthcare

The Native American Health Center has served everyone who walked through their doors in San Francisco and Oakland for over 50 years.
Eliot Faine, Multimedia Editor • October 13, 2025
The sky was nearly cloudless at Merritt College campus on Sept. 27, the Saturday after the 2025 California Native American Day. Warm sun beamed down on the jewelers and dancers and volunteers as they prepared for the fourth annual Native American Health Center (NAHC) Powwow.
Laney Engineering Department Chair Mallory Barkdull tallies points as her students pit their soccer-playing robots against each other. The friendly tournament challenges contestants to learn design and coding skills through play.

Robot soccer teaches students nuts and bolts of engineering

Engineering students at Laney College get to have a ball while learning coding and design basics
Sam O’Neil, Staff Writer • November 26, 2024
“This class is not like other classes where we just sit in the classroom listening to the teacher trying to give a lecture, but this class is actually hands on,” Wells said. “Everybody is always engaged.”
New district chancellor Tammeil Gilkerson delivered an impassioned speech introducing herself to PCCD at Spring 2024 Flex Day. Other keynote speeches, performances, info sessions, and trainings were held throughout the day. (Photo: Faiza Ali/PCCD)

Spring semester kicks off at districtwide Flex Day

New chancellor Tammeil Gilkerson delivers personal introduction
Ivan Saravia, Staff Writer • January 31, 2024
PCCD Chancellor Tammeil Gilkerson gave a personal introduction to Peralta, while state chancellor Sonya Christian showcased her vision for California Community Colleges. Laney geography professor and biogeographer Mark Rauzon gave a presentation on the effects of climate change in the Bering Sea.
A crowd gathers underneath the Laney Construction Canopy as Karl Seelbach, Laney’s Carpentry Department Chair, speaks at the ceremony. The new tiny home, pictured on the left, was donated to the Shelterwood Collective. (Courtesy: Filomeno Tomas)

Laney Carpentry Department finishes fourth tiny home project

Sam O’Neil, Associate Editor • November 18, 2023

A new tiny home has been built by the Laney College Carpentry Department. The department held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the tiny home Oct. 11 in the Laney Construction Canopy. The final project...

(Image by Randi Cross/The Citizen)

BCC holds events for Undocumented Student Action Week

Emily Tenorio Molina, Staff Writer • November 14, 2023

The week of Oct. 16 marked the seventh annual Undocumented Student Action Week across community colleges in California. Berkeley City College (BCC) held a series of events centering the undocumented student...

From The Ground Up inside of the Berkeley City College Atrium. (Photo by Emily Tenorio Molina/The Citizen)

BCC Art instructor Juana Alicia honored by the San Francisco Art Commission

Emily Tenorio Molina, Staff Writer • September 21, 2023

Berkeley City College Art instructor and Bay Area muralist Juana Alicia Araiza was celebrated for her decades-long contribution to the arts by the San Francisco Art Commission (SFAC) “Dreaming in Color”'...

A graduation cap with the words "Wake up your dreams and make it true" glued on the top, along with paper butterflies and a flower

District-wide Latinx graduation held in-person for the first time

Tamara Copes, Staff Writer • June 7, 2023

On May 18, over 60 Latinx students adorned the stage at the first-ever in-person Raíces, the Peralta Community College District (PCCD) Latinx Graduation Celebration. Held at Laney College this year,...

An image of lavender-colored tassels in the foreground and rainbow pins in the background.

This is Intersectionality

Reflections of an aging queer rights advocate on Peralta’s Lavender Graduation ceremony
Timothy Lane, Staff Writer • May 30, 2023

On May 5, 2023, the Peralta Community College District (PCCD) held the first-ever district-wide Lavender Graduation ceremony for LGBTQIA+ graduates from the district’s four community colleges. I am a...

The Citizen receives the General Excellence Award at the 2022 Northern California Journalism Association of Community Colleges Conference

The Citizen receives the General Excellence Award at the 2022 Northern California Journalism Association of Community Colleges Conference

Emily Tenorio Molina, Staff Writer • November 5, 2022

On Saturday, Oct. 22 The Citizen won accolades from the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) at the 2022 Northern California conference. The newsroom accepted awards in three categories...

RAÍCES online graduation ceremony showcases Latinx excellence

RAÍCES online graduation ceremony showcases Latinx excellence

Justin Burrows, Staff Writer • June 3, 2022

The RAÍCES graduation, which translates in Spanish to “Roots” graduation, is Peralta Community College District’s annual graduation celebration for Latinx and Chicanx students.  The ceremony...

Carlos Cruz (foreground) celebrates a goal that put his team ahead 1-0. (Ken Lester/ The Citizen)

Oakland Roots’ development team dominates in home opener at Merritt College

Project 51O remains undefeated and is leading the USL League Two Southwest Division after their first 3 games
Ken Lester, Staff Writer • May 25, 2022

Project 51O, the development team for Oakland Roots, opened their USL League Two home schedule at Merritt College on Sunday with a dominant 4-1 victory over Central Valley Fuego FC II. According...

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