Sean Brooke, Director of International Education for Peralta District, will be on hand to answer questions about immigration and visa issues related to the executive order on immigration. The information session will be held at BCC on Thursday, February 2, from 12:15 – 1:15 pm, in Room 33.
Sean is a former attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration & Naturalization Service, where he interpreted, applied, and enforced an intricate field of Immigration & Nationality Law. He later went into private practice where he represented clients on a variety of immigration matters.
Vice Chancellor Little and BCC Director Shirley Slaughter will present the Mid-Year Budget Forum in the BCC Auditorium on Wednesday, February 1, 2017, from 12:15 – 1:20 PM. Please join us!
If you experienced any loss in the events of the Oakland Fire we welcome you to join our BCC family to help each other together. Attend for a listening ear, support or a space to grieve.
Wednesday, December 14th @ College Hour (12:15 – 1:15 pm), in the Auditorium
“Even the darkest night will end and sun will rise” ~ Victor Hugo, Les Miserables
We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Ara Jo, a former library Artist-in-Residence at Berkeley City College. Ms. Jo perished in the Oakland warehouse fire on Friday, Dec. 2. She was part of an artistic community who breathed an abundance of creative life into our East Bay cities. Our sincerest condolences go out to Ms. Jo’s family, to those who knew and worked with her, and to the many others who lost loved ones in the fire.
A native of the Los Angeles area, Ms. Jo was a member of The Rock Paper Scissors Collective, a volunteer-run East Bay organization that fosters creativity and collaboration in order to strengthen local communities and encourage sustainable practices. She also was a founder of Oakland’s Sgraffito Gallery and worked at Berkeley’s Ink Stone Reprographics.
During her time at BCC, Ms. Jo created the foundation for a Zine library at the college. The vivacious, creative and talented artist and writer worked with many BCC classes and instructed students on how to self-publish Zines to express their artistic, literary and creative gifts. Faculty members Jenny Braman (Art), Heather Dodge (Librarian), Tom Moniz (English), and many others collaborated with her as she worked with classes, in the library, and on the East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Festival, held annually at BCC.
Ms. Jo’s contributions to the creative fabric of BCC’s learning community and to the East Bay will enrich us for many years to come. In these difficult times, we can all take a moment to reflect on the Oakland warehouse fire and how Berkeley City College and our sister colleges can engage with our cities to find ways to provide safe and affordable dwellings for all.
In community spirit,
Rowena M. Tomaneng, President
Celebration of the Life and Work of Ara Jo
The life and work of Ara Jo will be celebrated at the East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest on Saturday December 10 from 10am to 3pm at David Brower Center, at 2150 Allston Way in Berkeley.
There will be a table dedicated to those who perished in the Ghost Ship fire where you can also donate to their families.
Berkeley City College’s art and literary journal Milvia Street will have a table that we have open for all BCC students with zines and chapbooks.
Ara was so fundamental in making sure the EBABZ continued in face of many challenges.
BCC music instructor Aaron Mobley has penned a book on the history of jazz and is co-author of a 2nd edition text on Human Achievement and Innovation in the Arts. The latter evolved from a course he co-created at the University of Arizona, where he still is an adjunct faculty member and part of the American Culture Ideas Initiative in the Fred Fox School of Music. The text and course examine significant evolutions in music, art, and dance from antiquity to the present.
In October, Mobley is an invited guest scholar and presenter at the“2016 Music + Festival” at the University of Arizona. He will speak on Arnold Schoenberg,Kurt Weill, and Hans Winterberg under the rubric of “Forbidden Composers” (their music was banned by the Nazis). This year’s festival explores the composers’ lives in their native lands and in America, the relationship between serious and popular music, and brings a new voice into the musical conversation of the 21st century.
Lee Marrs, retired BCC Multimedia Arts instructor and department chair, animator, creator of a variety of underground comic books, and who serves on the department’s animation advisory committee, has authored a new book. The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge: Girl Blimp. It is described as “a feminist journey fraught with angst and anchovies,” with a forward by Gloria Steinem, and debuted on Sept. 20.
Dr. Fabian Banga, BCC’s Modern Languages Department chair, recently published Brujos, Espiritistas y Vanguardistas (Witches, Spiritualists and the Avant-Garde). Published by Leviathan, the prestigious Argentinean publishing house, the work explores the representation of esoteric traditions in the aesthetic projects of the avant-garde literary movements in Latin-American and Spain during the early decades of the 20th century. The book is based on Dr. Banga’s UC Berkeley doctoral dissertation with a forward written by his mentor and friend Dr. Francine Masiello, professor of Spanish and comparative literature and Sidney and Margaret Ancker Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Cal. In August, Dr Banga presented his work at UC Berkeley’s Institute of European Studies and in Buenos Aires in June.
BERKELEY—Berkeley City College President Rowena Tomaneng received the 2016 Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute’s (APALI) award for outstanding leadership and community service at the organization’s annual banquet held Fri., Aug. 19, in Cupertino, CA. APALI encourages civic participation, community development, and identity security. It also addresses issues such as racial stereotypes, workplace/social glass-ceilings, and civic representation.
“This is a great honor and I am delighted to be part of an organization which fosters civic engagement and which addresses social challenges that Asian Americans must face today,” she said.
“More than ever, it is important that we strive to build community and foster social equity and economic opportunity for everyone.”
Tomaneng assumed the presidency of Berkeley City College on July 18, 2016.
“BCC’s location provides the college with many opportunities. Not only are we situated next to San Francisco Bay, we are partners with major cultural, technological, and educational centers,” she noted. “There exists a strong mutual support network among us and our neighborhood organizations, city government, businesses, local school districts and universities. This solid foundation benefits everyone in our community.”
Prior to her appointment at BCC, she was for six years De Anza College’s associate vice president of instruction. Her responsibilities included the academic services division, the Office of Equity, Social Justice and Multicultural Education; the Office of Professional Development, Pathways programs (Learning Communities of Umoja, Puente, First Year Experience, and IMPACT AAPI) and the Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action (VIDA) where, in 2006, she was a founding co-director and developed many community and educational partnerships.
Tomaneng was a full-time English instructor at De Anza College from 1996 to 2010, teaching all levels of composition and literature. She was English Department chair for three years and led initiatives to foster equity in faculty hiring and cultural competency. She served for two years as interim dean of De Anza’s Language Arts Division, and supervised over 175 full-time and part-time faculty.
BCC’s new president has actively engaged in culturally focused local, regional and national organizations and has led advocacy campaigns for immigrant rights and community policing with organizations such as the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, USA and the Coalition for Justice and Accountability in San Jose, CA. She wrote for and contributed to a variety of publications and serves on the advisory board for the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ Diversity and Democracy publication.
In December, when Tomaneng completes her dissertation on the educational dimensions of Filipina migrant workers’ activist identities at the University of San Francisco, she will receive a doctorate in international/multicultural education, with a concentration in human rights education. She holds a master’s degree in English from UC Santa Barbara and a bachelor’s degree in English from UC Irvine.
The Peralta Community College District serves the communities of Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland and Piedmont. The district includes Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College, and Merritt College. In addition to providing two-year programs that prepare students for long-term educational goals, Peralta also offers specialized life-long learning opportunities to Bay Area residents.
Rowena Tomaneng, Berkeley City College’s past president, started in July, 2016 and was impressed with the college and its community. Her story begins in 1972, the year she and her family immigrated to Los Angeles from the Philippines, both parents seeking economic opportunity and educational access for their children.
Early years.
The family later settled in the San Gabriel Valley where she and her siblings attended public schools, including Cypress College in North Orange County. There, inspired by several inspirational instructors, Tomaneng decided on teaching as a profession and chose to combine English and history as fields of study. Her mother also had a hand in her choice.
Growing up, BCC’s new president heard stories about her grandfather, a community leader in their Philippine village. She learned through her mother’s stories of his commitment to people’s well-being. That fostered her appreciation for history, storytelling and service to community.
Commitment to student success. Prior to her appointment at BCC, Tomaneng was for six years De Anza College’s Associate Vice President of Instruction in Cupertino. Her responsibilities included the college’s Academic Services Division which included the Office of Equity, Social Justice and Multicultural Education; the Office of Professional Development, Pathways programs (Learning Communities of Umoja, Puente, First Year Experience, and IMPACT AAPI) and the Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action where, in 2006, she was a founding co-director and developed many community and educational partnerships.
She also oversaw the collaborative units of De Anza’s Learning Resources BCC President Rowena Tomaneng Division which housed Online Education, Library Services and the Student
Success Center.
Statewide leadership.
Tomaneng also held leadership roles in state initiatives such as Basic Skills, Student Equity and Student Success and Support programs. She has obtained and administered state and federal
funding, including Asian American/Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions and Title III: Strengthening Institutions grants. She worked on faculty and district-wide administrative teams for many years, leading and developing program reviews and accreditation documents. In 2013, nominated by Academic Services faculty, she won the statewide
Association of California Community College Administrators’ Administrative Leadership Excellence Award.
On Fri., Aug. 19, she was presented with the Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute’s (APALI) 2016 Pacesetter Award for Educational Leadership at the organization’s annual community
celebration.
Inspired scholar.
Tomaneng was a full-time English instructor at De Anza College from 1996 to 2010, teaching all levels of composition and literature. She was English Department chair for three years and led initiatives to foster equity in faculty hiring and cultural competency. She served for two years as Interim Dean of De Anza’s Language Arts Division, and supervised over 175 full-time
and part-time faculty.
BCC’s new president has actively engaged in culturally focused local, regional and national organizations and has led advocacy campaigns for immigrant rights and community policing with organizations such as the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, USA and the Coalition for Justice and Accountability, San Jose, CA. She wrote for and contributed to a variety of publications and serves on the advisory board for the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ Diversity and Democracy publication.
In December, when she completes her dissertation on the educational dimensions of Filipina migrant workers’ activist identities at the University of San Francisco, she will receive a doctorate in International/Multicultural Education, with a concentration in Human Rights Education. She holds a master’s degree in English from UC Santa Barbara and a bachelor’s degree in Englishfrom UC Irvine. Read the more on BCC’s new President, Rowena Tomaneng.
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