Our imperative as a college continues to be to provide access to higher education for members of the diverse communities within our service area, and to offer courses, programs, and other activities to enhance the economic conditions and the quality of life in these communities. We continue to engage in processes of introspection, implementation, investigation, and innovation to better support our disproportionately impacted student populations.

Empowerment Programs


Equity Partnerships


Professional Development

Our professional development (FLEX) days have centered on making our college student-ready. Through interactive sessions that center student experiences, we have learned and discussed actionable strategies for building on the strengths our students bring to PCC. English professor Dr. Silvia Toscano has also created a speaker series on closing equity gaps experienced by Chicanx-Latinx students through culturally competent pedagogies and high-impact practices.

Cross Cultural Center

This campus resource brings the classroom to life by offering experiential opportunities that value and build on the diverse lived experiences that make up our students at PCC. The Cross Cultural Center is a hub for student leadership development and advocacy grounded in cultural humility. Signature events include mixers for African American/Black, Latinx, Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander, and LGBTQ students to welcome them to campus in the Fall.

Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Program

This program provides services to students at pre-college levels and at PCC to assist historically underserved students in attaining degrees in math, engineering, and science from four-year institutions. MESA has been a campus leader in enacting cultural competence and academic rigor as complementary pillars towards holistic student success. They also house the MAS2 program, which supports the academic and social needs of future STEM students at the very beginning of their community college journey.

Safe Zones

The Safe Zones Coalition is a cross-functional group of faculty, staff, and managers who have led our college in building allyship and services for undocumented and LGBTQ students. Their work has been instrumental in creating an inclusive college through a combination of training and direct student support. Learn more about SafeZones.

College Diversity Initiative

This lecture series draws from artists, scholars, musicians, performers, and writers to share performances that elicit dialogue on the ways art can operate as activism for historically marginalized communities. History professor Dr. Christopher D. West coordinates these multimodal experiences that bring together the PCC community with the community at large.

Academic Senate

Faculty members have coordinated student panels during Academic Senate meetings in order to learn about how to best support students by listening to experts on the matter – our students themselves. These meetings have been open to the college community as a whole, and recorded for continued learning into what faculty and staff can do to facilitate course completion from the start of the semester and throughout.

USC

The Center for Urban Education led ground-breaking, day-long workshops throughout the college to build our capacity to discuss and operationalize equity. We have also partnered with the new Center for Race and Equity to explore additional learning opportunities and tools for cultivating a positive campus racial climate.

UCLA

Professors and graduate students from the Graduate School of Education have partnered with us through data collection and data inquiry groups to more fully understand our students’ experiences. We also co-convened the Learning Together Conference in Spring 2018, an opportunity for practitioners and scholars to collectively engage in action towards equity.


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