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

The Citizen

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

The Citizen

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

The Citizen

Eliot Faine

Eliot Faine, Managing Editor

Eliot Faine is a journalist in Oakland. Faine believes in balanced storytelling to empower individuals to make informed decisions. In turn, restoring power to communities. Outside of the newsroom, they have an affinity for all things wild.

All content by Eliot Faine
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

Florida-based private prison operators GEO Group were called to answer to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for alleged sexual violence, carceral conditions, and the death of former San Francisco resident Melvin Bulauan while under their care at their Taylor Street reentry facility -- a building historic for housing the one of the earliest recorded transgender riots against police brutality in the nation.
Eliot Faine, via Bay Area Reporter
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

Four long-awaited construction projects commenced at Laney College on Tuesday.
Eliot Faine and Erik Bracken
October 30, 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

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
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”

Every Tuesday morning, Tom Branca and his students gather far from Merritt College’s campus in the Oakland hills to the heart of Lake Merritt.
Eliot Faine, Multimedia Editor
October 6, 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

The Citizen is Peralta’s only student-run news publication. We serve all four colleges as a watchdog. Just like professional newsrooms, we take accurate reporting very seriously.
Eliot Faine, Multimedia Editor
October 4, 2025

Alumnus reflects on decades-long performing career: “it really started in Laney College”

For Alexandra Tejeda Rieloff, it all began with a dance class.
Eliot Faine, Multimedia Editor
September 26, 2025
Graphic by Ivan Saravia, Sept. 1 2025.

Peralta in the roots of Oakland labor history

Courses about the American labor movement are few in number at the Peralta Community College District – across all four schools, the district currently offers just one eight-week class about labor history through Laney College.
Eliot Faine, Multimedia Editor
September 1, 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

Nearly 10 years since the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights mandated their renovation, Laney's locker rooms remain in disrepair.
Eliot Faine and Romi Bales
March 31, 2025
VC of General Services retires

VC of General Services retires

New security survey, search for PCCD General Counsel, and more announced today
Eliot Faine, Staff Writer
April 22, 2024
(Illustration: Eliot Faine/The Citizen)

CoA to host blood drive

College health coordinator says blood donations fell during pandemic
Eliot Faine, Staff Writer
April 13, 2024
Chancellor Tammeil Gilkerson shared new changes to the district's organizational structure in a March 1 Youtube update. (Source: PCCD)

PCCD Chancellor announces decision to hire new Chief Operating Officer

Organizational changes will eliminate VC of Finance, General Services
Eliot Faine, Staff Writer
March 9, 2024
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