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

The Citizen
Faculty, classified employees, and administrators convened Friday to share ideas for how to repair the district's financial crisis in the long term. The district needs to make at least $11.5 million in cuts next year, but officials say a significant "reimagining" of the district is necessary to sustain the district in the long run.
PCCD is in crisis. Everything is on the table
February 1, 2025
An audience in academic regalia watches a graduation ceremony. One graduation cap reads, "All that I am & hope to be, I owe to those who believed in me[.]" (Photo: Marcus Creel/PCCD)
Gilkerson quells Pell grant fears during federal freeze: “This executive order does NOT impact your financial aid”
January 29, 2025
Longtime head coach for the Laney College Eagles, John Beam, retired last month from coaching, but will stay on as the Director of Athletics.
In case you missed it: Beam retires, new audit scrutinizes financial oversight and more at 12/10 trustee meeting
January 28, 2025
Berkeley City College is picking a new mascot, and it wants the community's help.
Owl, Penguin, or Butterfly? Four days left to choose BCC’s next mascot
January 4, 2025
Trustees Louis Quindlen (left) and Paulina Gonzalez Brito switched roles at Friday's board elections. (Courtesy of Ken Lester and Paulina Gonzalez Brito)
Quindlen/Brito duo tops board elections for a second year
December 17, 2024
New CoA President wants to be a role model for students
New CoA President wants to be a role model for students
December 12, 2024
Laney's student body president, Frida Veliz, wants to help connect students to the resources she didn't have access to when she first started college.
New ASLC President Builds Community
December 11, 2024
Cheryl Lew has been an instructor in the Culinary Arts department since 2012 and was tenured in 2015. Her focus is on baking and pastries.
Multi-layered, highly decorated pastry chef Cheryl Lew brings culture and chemistry to Laney’s culinary department
December 11, 2024
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
November 26, 2024
A new space for LGBTQ+ students has popped up on the Laney College campus. The Queer Community center will host events and offer resources to LGBTQ+ members of the Peralta community.
‘We’re here, we’re in school, we have dreams’: New Laney queer center offers safe haven for LGBTQ+ students
November 20, 2024
Native American photographer Dugan Aguilar spent decades documenting the lives of Indigenous Californians through his camera lens. His collection of work is on display now at the Oakland Museum of Califoria. (Shown: “Mimi Mullen (Madiu) Grand Marshall,” 1997 Greenville Gold Digger Days Parade)
This Indigenous art exhibition is free for Laney students
January 27, 2025
A seven-year relationship ends in a tumultuous fight in Jeffrey Lo's "A Kind of Sad Love Story," performed live at the Laney Theater last month. Shown: Maya Wooten, Jesse Savoey
‘It started with an argument about bags’: Laney Theater performs A Kind of Sad Love Story
December 8, 2024
Merritt Librarian reimagines 'alebrijes' sculptor’s life in new picture book
Merritt Librarian reimagines ‘alebrijes’ sculptor’s life in new picture book
May 30, 2024
College of Alameda jazz professor Glen Pearson demonstrates his musical talent on his classroom piano. He's one of the newest members of the Count Basie Orchestra, a historic 18-piece jazz ensemble that took home a Grammy this year.
The humble Grammy-winning pianist leading CoA’s music program
March 4, 2024
In Director Chelsea Bo's first feature-length film, half-sisters Harper (left, Chelsea Bo) and Georgie (right, Ava Acres), thrown together by circumstance and a weak blood relation, must untie the knots in their relationship. The film won "Jury Prize Feature" at the Alameda International Film Festival last week. (Courtesy: Paxeros)
No Right Way, Chelsea Bo’s hard-hitting emotional rollercoaster about the complexities of sisterhood, shown at Alameda International Film Festival
February 29, 2024
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
(Photo: Glen Carrie/Unsplash)
Student elections open today. Has voter information been ‘widespread’?
April 8, 2024
The state flag of California flies underneath the American flag on the west side of the Laney College campus. Behind, the Tribune Tower, which once housed Oakland's daily print newspaper, sits in the city skyline. Both California and the United States have open government laws that establish the public's right to information, but the Peralta Community College District consistently lags behind in comprehensively fulfilling requests for public information made by student journalists at The Citizen. (Photo: Li Khan/The Citizen)
We sued our district over public records and won. Here’s what we learned
February 22, 2024
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
Sunshine Week 2024: Spotlighting public records
Sunshine Week 2024: Spotlighting public records
March 17, 2024
The UC Berkeley chapter of End Overdose at Sproul Plaza in Berkeley on Jan. 23, 2024. The organization passes out free fentanyl test strips to students, and gives other organizations training on Narcan usage. (Photo: Juliana Yamada/CalMatters)
Narcan at California colleges: Are students getting overdose medication?
March 8, 2024
Peralta Community College District's only student-run publication.

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

The Citizen

PCCD

Faculty, classified employees, and administrators convened Friday to share ideas for how to repair the district's financial crisis in the long term. The district needs to make at least $11.5 million in cuts next year, but officials say a significant "reimagining" of the district is necessary to sustain the district in the long run.

PCCD is in crisis. Everything is on the table

Officials consider layoffs, college closures in light of repeated deficits
Li Khan and Rachel Venable • February 1, 2025
"There will be impacts to employees," said Chancellor Tammeil Gilkerson.
An audience in academic regalia watches a graduation ceremony. One graduation cap reads, "All that I am & hope to be, I owe to those who believed in me[.]" (Photo: Marcus Creel/PCCD)

Gilkerson quells Pell grant fears during federal freeze: “This executive order does NOT impact your financial aid”

A White House memo mandating a freeze on all federal grants left students nationwide concerned about their financial aid.
Desmond Meagley, Editor in Chief • January 29, 2025
A pause on federally funded grants would not impact student financial aid, the Peralta Community College District (PCCD) informed students Tuesday. The district’s reassurance came during an uncertain moment for the future of publicly funded institutions nationwide.
Longtime head coach for the Laney College Eagles, John Beam, retired last month from coaching, but will stay on as the Director of Athletics.

In case you missed it: Beam retires, new audit scrutinizes financial oversight and more at 12/10 trustee meeting

Ivan Saravia, Stephon Autery, and Romi Bales • January 28, 2025
Beam brought national fame to Laney College in 2020 when the Laney Eagles were featured on the Netflix documentary series Last Chance U.
Trustees Louis Quindlen (left) and Paulina Gonzalez Brito switched roles at Friday's board elections. (Courtesy of Ken Lester and Paulina Gonzalez Brito)

Quindlen/Brito duo tops board elections for a second year

Romi Bales, Staff Writer • December 17, 2024
Former Board VP Louis Quindlen won his bid for Board President at board elections Friday.
Many of PCCD's neglected facilities need critical repairs, leading to high costs, Deputy Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer Greg Nelson said during the November meeting.

Facilities ‘in the red,’ districtwide employees get 1 percent raises and more at 11/12 meeting for Peralta trustees

Eliot Faine, Staff Writer • December 11, 2024
The board discussed the total cost of operating and maintaining its facilities.
Paulina Gonzalez-Brito shares a laugh with The Citizen staff during the publication's public forums held Sep. 23. Area 2 voters re-elected Gonzalez-Brito this month, according to unofficial results from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

Paulina Gonzalez-Brito to retain Area 2 seat

Incumbent trustee prepares to tackle finance, facilities
Romi Bales, Staff Writer • November 24, 2024
Gonzalez-Brito also reflected that their focus was not actually on the election, but rather getting the district financially stable.
Peralta’s financial outlook is ‘negative’ according to Fitch Ratings

Peralta’s financial outlook is ‘negative’ according to Fitch Ratings

New report outlines PCCD’s upcoming fiscal challenges but maintains AAA status
Ian Waters, Staff Writer • November 14, 2024

Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings downgraded its rating of the Peralta Community College District (PCCD)’s financial outlook in a 2024 annual report, due to concerns over the district’s projected...

PCCD's financial future got an honest look at the Oct. 22 board meeting. From left: Chancellor Tammeil Gilkerson, Chief Operating Officer Greg Nelson. (Photo: Kristina Hoessl/The Citizen)

‘The sky’s already fallen’: Peralta’s grim financial future and past mistakes overviewed at 10/22 trustee meeting

Kristina Hoessl, Staff Writer • November 14, 2024
District officials warned the board about the impacts that a new state funding formula will have on the institution's already shaky financial outlook.
Abdul Pridgen. (Source: 9/24 PCCD Board of Trustees Meeting livestream)

New hybrid safety model proposed for Peralta Community College District

Peralta safety director suggests employing ‘sworn and non-sworn’ personnel
Ivan Saravia, Staff Writer • October 3, 2024
The proposed hybrid model is a new development in the district's efforts to restructure its approach to campus safety following the 2020 death of George Floyd. PCCD currently contracts with Marina Security Services to provide unarmed security districtwide.
New Student Trustee Pierce Byrne takes the oath of office at the Sep. 10 meeting of the Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees.

New student trustee, $325m budget and more at 9/10 meeting for PCCD trustees

Li Khan, Editor in Chief • September 24, 2024
In addition to approving this year’s budget, the board also swore new Student Trustee Pierce Byrne.
The Peralta boardroom. Photo was taken before current Board President Paulina Gonzalez-Brito stepped onto the board. (Photo: Peralta Colleges SmugMug)

Sinead Geneva Anderson runs for Peralta board against Area 2 Trustee Paulina Gonzalez-Brito

The Citizen makes plans for public forums, endorsement
Desmond Meagley, Associate Editor • September 17, 2024
A challenger has stepped forward in the Area 2 Peralta Community College (PCCD) Board of Trustees election.
New contract approval process to reduce delays, confusion

New contract approval process to reduce delays, confusion

Ivan Saravia, Staff Writer • August 28, 2024

After collecting constructive feedback from district employees, the Peralta Community College District (PCCD) announced plans to improve the system by which district contracts are processed. The improvements...

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