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

The Citizen
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
Jeff Sanceri addresses the Peralta Board of Trustees during the public comment portion of their Oct. 14 meeting. (via PCCD TV)
Statewide basic needs survey results and facilities updates at Oct. 14 Board of Trustees meeting
October 29, 2025
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
Graphic made with Canva
Chancellor calls district to action with launch of Peralta’s Transformation Plan
October 29, 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
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
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
All content by produced by Desmond Meagley
Laney College Machine Technology students construct this high-powered reflector telescope as they progress through their training. The project teaches students how to create complex parts out of various materials using precise tools.

[Video] (VIDEO) Laney’s student-built telescope launches machining careers

The Laney Lunar Looker project is part of a "massive modernization" that recently took place within the college's Machine Technology program.
Desmond Meagley, Editor in Chief
April 16, 2025
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