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

The Citizen
A neon sign on the Laney College Tower building lights up at dusk. The Tower houses the offices of administrators, counselors, and other Laney employees.
Besikof Leaves Laney
March 19, 2025
The Board of Trustees listens intently as public comments are under way.
Peralta’s Board of Trustees vote to lay off 68 positions at 02/25 trustee meeting
March 15, 2025
On Jan. 30, 2025, the Trump Administration issued two executive orders focusing on restricting trans and non-binary people from accessing gender affirming care and spaces. These executive actions have raised questions within the LGBTQ+ community at Peralta about what the colleges are doing to protect their students.
LGBTQ+ students are feeling “fear and hesitation” under Trump. What’s Peralta doing about it?
March 14, 2025
Abdul Pridgen sits down for a chat with The Citizen regarding public safety, how Peralta's security model currently works, and his plans for a new model.
Interview and security updates with Peralta’s Interim Executive Director of Public Safety Abdul Pridgen
March 1, 2025
A sign reading 'No human is illegal' in the R-building at Merritt College. As of Jan. 21, ICE agents are now permitted on college campuses.
Merritt College updates its online resources for undocumented students after The Citizen finds outdated information from 2022
February 20, 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
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
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
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
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 20, 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 9, 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

Student Life

A sign reading 'No human is illegal' in the R-building at Merritt College. As of Jan. 21, ICE agents are now permitted on college campuses.

Merritt College updates its online resources for undocumented students after The Citizen finds outdated information from 2022

Up until Feb. 10, undocumented students seeking resources via Merritt’s website were not given the proper information for the state-mandated “Dreamer Liaison” at Merritt College.
Lylah Schmedel-Permanna • February 20, 2025

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are now permitted on college campuses, including Peralta community college campuses, following the Trump Administration’s reversal of a federal policy...

(Photo: Glen Carrie/Unsplash)

Student elections open today. Has voter information been ‘widespread’?

Eliot Faine, Staff Writer • April 9, 2024

Didn’t know your student body elections are today? That’s okay. We didn’t find out until last week. On Wednesday and Friday, we reached out to the four Directors of Student Activities and Campus...

Meet Peralta's student leaders

Meet Peralta’s student leaders

Four student body presidents discuss their backgrounds and aspirations
Satch Alvarez, Staff Writer • December 13, 2023

At each of the four Peralta colleges, student body government plays a substantial role in the shared governance structure, responsible for voicing the needs and concerns of the students at their respective...

Spring is free... again!

Spring is free… again!

Lylah Schmedel-Permanna, Investigations Editor • November 28, 2023
PCCD is offering its districtwide “Spring is Free” initiative for the second year in a row. Tuition and fees will be waived for those who complete the requirements. 
Word on the Quad – Students Views on Class Modality

Word on the Quad – Students Views on Class Modality

Jindi Zhang and Lylah Schmedel • March 2, 2023

Reporters from The Citizen interviewed students on the Laney College campus Wednesday, Feb. 15th, 2023, on the subject of whether classes should be in-person, online or a hybrid of both. Charlie...

Low level of adoption for PCCD's AC Transit bus pass program

Low level of adoption for PCCD’s AC Transit bus pass program

Fewer than one-third of students paying for EasyPass actually claimed one
David Rowe, Associate Editor • December 16, 2022

Despite support from the Peralta students who voted in an April 2022 election for reinstatement of the AC Transit EasyPass program, only 31% of students being charged for the pass actually claimed...

Peralta Community College District reinstates mask mandate across all campuses

Peralta Community College District reinstates mask mandate across all campuses

Randi Cross, Staff Writer • November 15, 2022

In a Nov. 1 email, the Peralta Community College District (PCCD) announced that the district's indoor mask policy has been reinstated on all Peralta campuses. “Yesterday the Peralta Community...

Word on the Quad -- students share views on district's mask mandate

Word on the Quad — students share views on district’s mask mandate

Jillian Jones-Grant, Emily Tenorio Molina, Randi Cross, and Leo Premnath-Ray • September 27, 2022

By Jillian Jones-Grant, Staff Writer | Additional Research By Emily Tenorio Molina, Randi Cross, and Leo Premnath-Ray Reporters from The Citizen canvassed various areas of Laney College campus Wednesday...

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...

Peralta Foundation scholarship deadline approaching fast

Peralta Foundation scholarship deadline approaching fast

Students must apply by March 1 at Midnight
Travis Chapman, Staff Writer • February 27, 2022

The Peralta Colleges Foundation grants and scholarships are due March 1, and foundation officials encourage students at Peralta to apply. The Foundation’s online smart application system, available...

Student Trustee Leesa Hogan quietly advocates for those with learning disabilities

Student Trustee Leesa Hogan quietly advocates for those with learning disabilities

David Rowe, Associate Editor • February 25, 2022

Viewers of the Peralta Board of Trustees meetings on YouTube are probably familiar with Micah Cooper, the outspoken student trustee from Merritt College. Leesa Hogan, Cooper’s fellow student trustee,...

Board of Trustees December 14th Video Brief

Board of Trustees December 14th Video Brief

Derek Sylvester, Managing Editor • January 28, 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nih3swzGoFA  

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