California Community Colleges Unite on Racial Equity

A new initiative from the USC Race and Equity Center will bring together leaders from California’s community colleges – including Pasadena City College (PCC) – to address issues related to race and racism. 

The California Community College Equity Leadership Alliance will provide resources, training and annual assessments to its members, all aimed at improving equity. 

Shaun Harper, founder of the Race and Equity Center who’s also a Provost Professor at USC, created the initiative and introduced it to the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) in January. To date, 60 community colleges, including PCC, have joined the alliance. 

Each member of the alliance will pay the center $25,000 annually for 12 professional training sessions throughout the year, access to an online resource center and annual campus racial climate surveys.

The first training will be held virtually on Monday, Harper said. Each college within the alliance can send 20 people and five people to each subsequent training. 

PCC President Erika Endrijonas told online higher education news publisher Inside Higher Ed she hopes this training and assessment will help spread responsibility for the work of improving equity throughout the campus.

“For too long, colleges have allowed a particular part of the college to own that work,” she said.

But to achieve her goal of Pasadena being the first college in California to close all equity gaps by 2027, everyone on campus needs to see equity work as their responsibility.

 Endrijonas called the issues a priority, which is why she committed funding to the alliance in the wake of a global pandemic and ensuing financial crisis that has rocked higher education and the state budgets for public colleges.

In March, the Pasadena NAACP announced it is investigating employment practices at Pasadena City College.In a released statement, Allen Edson, president of the Pasadena NAACP, said the probe is “specifically related to black employees, and the hidden figures, black women.’’

Both Edson and his predecessor, former NAACP President Del Yarbrough, have repeatedly been told by college officials that PCC was “looking into the matter,” yet no investigation was ever announced, according to the release.

According to Alex Boekelheide, PCC spokesperson, in the last 21 months, the college has appointed a new superintendent/president and two new vice presidents.

“The team in place now is aware of the perception of inequity at the college and is deeply committed to ensuring a level playing field,’’ Boekelheide said. “As we look toward our second century PCC has placed its central focus on equity – for our students and our employees.”

“Regardless of whether we’re in a financial crunch or not, every way that we spend dollars is a reflection of what we value as an institution,” Endrijonas said in the Inside Higher Ed report. “If we value advancing our equity agenda, then we will figure out how to pay for it.”

Harper sent the invitation to community college presidents on Sunday; he hopes that, over time, more college presidents will respond and join. 

“I am grateful to the presidents who responded favorably to my invitation to take serious, strategic action to dismantle systemic racism, address longstanding racial climate problems and eliminate racial inequities on their campuses,” Harper said.  

California’s community colleges are responsible for the education of more than 1.2 million students each year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.