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

The Citizen
Merritt College to host "Peralta Pumpkin Pursuit" district fundraiser marathon
Merritt College to host “Peralta Pumpkin Pursuit” district fundraiser marathon
October 7, 2025
Leslie Blackie speaks during public comment at the Sept. 23 Board of Trustees study session at Merritt College. (via PCCD livestream)
Student support programs highlighted at Sept. 23 Board of Trustees study session
October 5, 2025
Peralta set to launch campus shuttle service in December
Peralta set to launch campus shuttle service in December
September 29, 2025
Andrea Epps speaks to the Peralta Board of Trustees about an independent analysis into the district's equity as an employer. Despite finding Latinx-identified individuals to be underrepresented among district employees, the analysis did not show "persistent patterns of adverse impact” on hiring “by race, ethnicity, or gender.”
Laney-Merritt merger “concerns” and EEO presentation at Sept. 9 Board of Trustees meeting
September 29, 2025
SEIU members pack the Board of Trustees regular meeting at the Peralta District Offices, Aug. 26, 2025.
Board hears union opposition during public comment and more at Aug. 26 Board meeting
September 9, 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
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
Mina Spasely, peer mentor for SALAAM learning community and nursing major at College of Alameda, poses in front of the sign for the college. SALAAM aims to uplift CoA students from Arab, Southwest Asian and North African diasporic communities.
SALAAM program helps immigrant women find confidence and careers at CoA
September 19, 2025
Graphic by Ivan Saravia, Sept. 1 2025.
Peralta in the roots of Oakland labor history
September 1, 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
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
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 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
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
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

Desmond Meagley, Staff Writer • May 20, 2024
In light of recent news about the Nex Benedict case, Staff Writer Desmond Meagley decided to hold his school accountable for an incident of discriminatory harassment by campus security.
(Graphic: Li Khan/The Citizen)

PCCD Trustees to vote on $6 million Marina contract

$63.7 million amendment to BCC’s Milvia Street Expansion also on agenda
Sam O’Neil, Associate Editor • February 27, 2024

The Peralta Community College District (PCCD)’s Board of Trustees is set to vote tonight on a new $6 million contract with Marina Security Services (Marina), the private security firm currently contracted...

Marina security guards lack basic communication equipment

Marina security guards lack basic communication equipment

Many unarmed guards must use their personal cell phones to communicate with supervisors
David Rowe, Luke Wrin Piper, and Leticia Luna • October 27, 2021

The unarmed security guards at the Peralta campuses interviewed by The Citizen lack basic two-way communication devices and must rely on their personal cell phones to report incidents. Interviews with...

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