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

The Citizen
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Merritt College updates its online resources for undocumented students after The Citizen finds outdated information from 2022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
SEIU 1021 members carry protest signs decrying planned layoffs among Peralta employees. The district recently announced its intent to cut 68 positions across several departments, 44 of which are currently filled.
Proposed layoffs condemned during public comment at 2/11 Peralta trustee meeting
February 20, 2025
(Photo by Li Khan/The Citizen)
PCCD to hold hearing on proposed layoffs
February 10, 2025
Faculty, classified employees, and administrators convened Friday to share ideas for how to repair the district's financial crisis in the long term. The district needs to make at least $11.5 million in cuts next year, but officials say a significant "reimagining" of the district is necessary to sustain the district in the long run.
PCCD is in crisis. Everything is on the table
February 1, 2025
An audience in academic regalia watches a graduation ceremony. One graduation cap reads, "All that I am & hope to be, I owe to those who believed in me[.]" (Photo: Marcus Creel/PCCD)
Gilkerson quells Pell grant fears during federal freeze: “This executive order does NOT impact your financial aid”
January 29, 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
A new space for LGBTQ+ students has popped up on the Laney College campus. The Queer Community center will host events and offer resources to LGBTQ+ members of the Peralta community.
‘We’re here, we’re in school, we have dreams’: New Laney queer center offers safe haven for LGBTQ+ students
November 20, 2024
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
In Director Chelsea Bo's first feature-length film, half-sisters Harper (left, Chelsea Bo) and Georgie (right, Ava Acres), thrown together by circumstance and a weak blood relation, must untie the knots in their relationship. The film won "Jury Prize Feature" at the Alameda International Film Festival last week. (Courtesy: Paxeros)
No Right Way, Chelsea Bo’s hard-hitting emotional rollercoaster about the complexities of sisterhood, shown at Alameda International Film Festival
February 29, 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 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
(Photo: Glen Carrie/Unsplash)
Student elections open today. Has voter information been ‘widespread’?
April 8, 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
(Photo: Katrin Bolovtsova/Pexels)

PCCD public safety director Tim Thomas pleads no contest, receives six months probation for battery charge

PRA update: Thomas ‘did not apply/request to work remotely’ on day of DUI/concealed carry charge, district says
Lylah Schmedel, Managing Editor • March 13, 2024

Peralta Community College District (PCCD) Executive Director of Public Safety, Tim Thomas, received a deferred entry of judgment at a disposition hearing March 6, for his misdemeanor case related to a...

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

Li Khan, Editor in Chief • February 22, 2024
We asked our district a question in the form of multiple Public Records Act requests, but got incomplete answers. It's still happening.
(Photo: Citizen Staff)

PCCD public safety director placed on leave pending resignation

Announcement comes hours after recent court hearing for battery case
Lylah Schmedel-Permanna, Managing Editor • February 14, 2024
Chancellor Tammeil Gilkerson announced yesterday that she placed the district’s Executive Director of Public Safety Tim Thomas on leave pending resignation. The announcement came hours after Thomas’ recent court hearing, during which the presiding judge stated that an active warrant had been issued for Thomas’ arrest. 
(Photo: @tapanakorn/Canva)

Thomas hearing rescheduled due to outstanding arrest warrant

Warrant stems from Thomas' failure to appear for Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program
Lylah Schmedel-Permanna, Managing Editor • February 13, 2024

A disposition hearing for the misdemeanor case against Tim Thomas, Executive Director of Public Safety for the Peralta Community College District, was rescheduled by the judge today, due to an outstanding...

(Photo: QuinceCreative/Pixabay)

New movement in public safety director’s criminal cases

Tim Thomas convicted on DUI, new hearing set for battery case
Lylah Schmedel-Permanna, Investigations Editor • December 22, 2023
The beginning of December marked a series of updates for the criminal cases against Tim Thomas, PCCD's Executive Director of Public Safety. Thomas was convicted on two charges relating to a DUI, while his battery and elder abuse case is set for another disposition hearing.
Thomas hearing set, new charges unveiled

Thomas hearing set, new charges unveiled

Jan 30 arrest includes DUI, refusal to test, and firearm charges according to CHP
Lylah Schmedel-Permanna, Investigations Editor • October 17, 2023

A disposition hearing is set for Tim Thomas, Peralta Community College District’s (PCCD’s) Executive Director of Public Safety, regarding his misdemeanor charges of battery, elder abuse, and grand...

Peralta public safety director seeks court diversion for criminal charges

Peralta public safety director seeks court diversion for criminal charges

Trustees approve decision to reclassify his position
Lylah Schmedel, Staff Writer • September 4, 2023

Update 9/21/2023: The pretrial hearing has been rescheduled. On Sep. 20, The Superior Court of Alameda County informed The Citizen that the "there is a Pretrial Hearing on 10/03/2023 at 9:00 am for...

Alameda County District Attorney’s Office reverses itself on recusal from Thomas case

Alameda County District Attorney’s Office reverses itself on recusal from Thomas case

David Rowe, Associate Editor • April 21, 2023

Update as of 6/18/2023: On June 15, the pre-trial hearing was rescheduled, and will now take place Aug. 3 at 9 am. Correction 5/18/2023: An earlier version of this story named Clifford Blakely as...

District Attorney’s Office recuses itself from Thomas case

District Attorney’s Office recuses itself from Thomas case

Appointment of Royl Roberts creates a potential conflict
David Rowe, Associate Editor • February 19, 2023

Appointment of Royl Roberts Creates a Potential Conflict By David Rowe, Associate Editor February 18, 2023 Correction 5/18/2023: An earlier version of this story named Clifford Blakely as the...

Laney Faculty Senate Passes Resolution to Censure PCCD Director of Public Safety Tim Thomas

Laney Faculty Senate Passes Resolution to Censure PCCD Director of Public Safety Tim Thomas

Ken Lester, Managing Editor • November 17, 2022

During meetings held by the Laney Career Technical Education Advisory Committee (LCTEAC) and the Laney College Faculty Senate on Nov. 14 and 15, respectively, both shared governance bodies passed resolutions...

Graphic by: David Rowe

Tim Thomas pleads “not guilty”

Pre-trial hearing on misdemeanor battery, elder abuse, and grand theft charges set for Dec. 15
David Rowe, Associate Editor • October 24, 2022

Update: The original version of this story did not include any remarks from the Peralta Community College District, which had not responded to inquiries made by The Citizen at the time of  publication....

District Attorney files three charges against PCCD Safety Director

District Attorney files three charges against PCCD Safety Director

David Rowe, Associate Editor • October 5, 2022

Nearly five months after Oakland Police Department (OPD) officers cited Tim Thomas, Peralta’s Director of Public Safety, for two misdemeanor offenses following an altercation with an elderly RV resident...

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