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

The Citizen
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
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
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
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
Sunshine Week 2024: Spotlighting public records
Sunshine Week 2024: Spotlighting public records
March 17, 2024
Peralta Community College District's only student-run publication.

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

The Citizen
“Journalism can really take you places” Tower Co-Editor Saskia Hatvany won honorable mention for an on-the-spot cartoon competition based on journalist Kevin Fagan’s speech at the 2019 JACC state convention. Fagan likened journalism to a public service and talked about the rollercoaster of experiences he encountered throughout his journalism career, from being held at gunpoint to reviewing ice cream flavors for a story.

Everyone is biased

Isis Piccillo, Staff Writer • April 19, 2019

Isis Piccillo won first place for participation in the on-the-spot opinion writing competition at the 2019 JACC State convention. Piccillo wrote about award winning journalist Kevin Fagan’s keynote speech...

Melting guns to plant trees: Reclaiming MLK Day

admin • February 5, 2019

Local non-profit ‘Lead to Life’ melt guns in front of city hall in a symbolic act of defiance. By Michelle Snider. Attendees for a “People’s March” carry banners through downtown Oakland...

It’s been a good run…

admin • May 28, 2018

by Sarah Carpenter & Brian Howey Brian Howey & Sarah Carpenter are finishing their tenure as co-editors-in-chief of the Laney Tower.For four tumultuous and exciting semesters, we’ve kept...

Archive of Print Editions

admin • February 22, 2018

[To load PDF, click caption or image] May 17, 2018In this issue … News: How safe are we?News: Teachers union concerned about class cutsOpinion: Is being a Black woman on the internet worth it?Opinion:...

Laney Tower wins high marks at conference

admin • April 20, 2017

Journalism Association of Community Colleges gives Tower 11 awards for writing, design By Bonnie Oviatt The Laney Tower earned 11 awards at the 2017 Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC)...

Letter to the editor — Tower Watch draws response from district official

admin • March 30, 2017

Sarah Carpenter/TowerA letter to the editor By Sadiq B. Ikharo I am writing to let you and your editorial staff know that the District and College Administration are working very hard to fix and...

Letters to the Editor — Tower gave reader the run-around

admin • May 19, 2016

The story “Ripped off” (May 5) begins with an engaging aesthetic framing the issue on hand, yet the way the story is broken up and positioned all over the Tower is a bit of a nuisance, especially...

You’re already a journalist

admin • May 19, 2016

There’s a tradition at the Laney Tower: on their way out, editors-in-chief write farewell op-eds in which they offer advice or words of wisdom to their readers. I’m deviating from this tradition...

The Laney Tower is your newspaper

admin • April 7, 2016

Here at the Laney Tower, we do our best to reflect the comings and goings of not only the Peralta Colleges, but also the East Bay community at large. Our audience isn’t the tech-bros gentrifying the...

Laney Tower attends JACC

admin • November 20, 2014

Six representatives from Laney College attended the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) 2014 NorCal Conference at California State University, Sacramento on November 8, 2014. Vying for...

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