City Times - Spring 2023, Volume 77, Issue 2

COMMENCEMENT EDITION

City Times sdcitytimes.com

Covering the San Diego City College community since 1945

Volume 77, Issue 2 May 25, 2023

FIRST CLASS San Diego City College celebrates AAPI students in historic graduation ceremony B Y J OEL N EVAREZ , Multimedia Journalist

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tudents along with their loved ones and member s of the San Diego City College community gather ed for the campus?fir st Asian Amer ican Pacific I slander gr aduation celebr ation at the A building patio on

May 15.

The histor ic occasion br ought together AAPI students and faculty fr om differ ent backgr ounds to

al umnus

Above: Savat hna Em r eceives a gr aduat ion cor d dur ing t he AAPI celebr at ion at t he A building pat io May 15, 2023.

Below: Mat ilda Chavez, left , hands Sammit t a Em, r ight , a cer t ificat e dur ing t he same event . Phot os by Joel Nevar ez

celebr ate student achievement and success with a after his time at Yale. focus on r epr esentation. ?I r epr esent,? Ondevilla said. ?And I 'm ver y The recognition kicked off with the awarding of pr oud.? scholar ships to students for both academic achieveThe celebr ation was one of many events hapment and community involvement. pening at City College for AAPI Her?I t?s just something that was r eally itage Month, which was celebr ated ?We want to for the fir st time at City. special for me,? said Sammitta Em, who r eceived a scholar ship and is tr ansfer?I t took 100- plus year s since school r ing to UC San Diego to pur sue a de- offer a different star ted,? said Masahir o Omae, dean gr ee in inter disciplinar y computing and of Behavior al and Social Sciences opportunity for and a City alum. ?We want to offer a the ar ts.

For Em, gr aduating at an AAPI differ ent oppor tunity for students to themed cer emony made her feel at students to celebr ate who they ar e.? home and hopeful for mor e events like t meant a lot for Omae to see AAPI celebrate who Istudents it in the futur e. get r ecognized and he Thr oughout the cer emony, students wants those students to know that they are.? wer e pr esented with their gr aduation they ar e seen.

- Masahiro Omae, Dean After the ceremony was over all atcor ds and encour aged to speak on the podium to attendees. of Behavioral and Social tendees wer e invited to the cafeter ia ?I ?m still pinching myself now,? said Sciences, City alum for the r eception.

Nilo Shaw Ondevilla, a fine ar ts major The cafeteria was filled with loved who is leaving for Yale and has been attending City ones of graduates enjoying AAPI cuisine, including since 1990. ?I t?s a big deal. Education is the key in calamansi while coming together to dance to music solving pr oblems.? in celebration of the student?s achievement.

Ondevilla has cher ished his time at City and will ?I t's gr eat to see, people (of) different cultur al continue to advocate for how special of a place it is. backgr ounds, upbr ingings, coming together and He hopes to come back and teach at City College celebr ating students' success,? Omae said.

the voice of sd education

Jakob McWhinney?s reporting on education draws influence from his own journey at San Diego City College

B Y SE AN M ONNE Y Multimedia Journalist Jakob McWhinney was finishing his 5- month inter nship at the online news or ganization Voice of San Diego when it posted a job opening for the education r epor ter position.

Then a second-year digital jour nalism student at San Diego City College, McWhinney was encour aged by his cowor ker s to apply.

But he said he never imagined himself wr iting about education.

He decided to apply anyway, compiling infor mation and exper ience for his r esume and r eflecting on his own educational jour ney. ?I star ted to r ealize my stor y is an education stor y,? McWhinney said. ?I t's a stor y that shows r eally the

tr uly tr ansHe got fully for mative involved in power of jour nalism at education.?

City College, After gr adwhere he uating fr om wrote for City Helix High Times, proSchool in duced pod2008, casts for CT McWhinney Sound and occasionally anchored TV attended class Jakob McWhinney wor ks on a stor y at Voice of San Diego's news shows at Gr ossmont downtown office May 5, 2023. Photo by Sean Monney for CTTV?s Community College.

Newscene and Inside City.

I t was not until the pandemic that Dur ing his inter nship with Voice of he decided to go to City San Diego, McWhinney College and r eally ?give ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT wor ked on pr ojects inschool a r eal shot.? dependently but also alongside other When McWhinney took a jour nal- jour nalists like Jesse Mar x, the assoism class to fulfill a pr er equisite, he ciate editor at Voice of San Diego. fell in love with it. ?He embodied all of those tr aits

that make a r eally good r epor ter,?

Mar x said about McWhinney. ?So I str ongly encour aged him to apply and I put in a good wor d for him.?

McWhinney was hir ed as the education r epor ter for Voice of San Diego, wher e he went on to wr ite about chr onic absenteeism, student wor ker wages and tr ansitional kinder gar ten.

McWhinney said he wouldn?t have even been able to get back into school without the gr ants and scholar ships he r eceived, and now wor ks full-time to affor d the costs of univer sity. ?Education is supposed to be this gr eat equalizer,? he said, ?but still to this day it's ver y, ver y unequal.?

To read more, scan the QR code.

CITYNEWS

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sdcitytimes.com| May 25, 2023

ASG pres brings l ife BACK TO CITY

East Village Middle College alum Diego Bethea looks forward to second term as student government president

B Y D ANI E L L ASK E R , Multimedia Journalist

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iego Bethea?s fir st exper ience at San Diego City College wasn?t in college at all.

Bethea initially came to City College as a student at East Village Middle College High School. ?I was able to have a smaller class (size) and r eally inter acted with the differ ent teacher s,? Bethea said.

City?s student gover nment caught his attention when a for mer Associate Student Gover nments member made a guest pr esentation in his personal gr owth class. ?I t r eally didn?t make too much sense at the time because I am mor e of a visual lear ner, so I had to see (ASG),? he said. ?And then once I saw it, it was like ?Wow, this is something I want to do in the futur e.??

Bethea will r etur n in the fall in the

pus,? Bethea said. ?I hope to accomplish r eally br inging back student life.? Bethea wants to br ing mor e focus to the L GBTQ+ community.

He also wants to gr ow the r ecent ASG legacy pr oject that put fr ee per iod pr oducts in all gender- neutr al fir st-floor r estr ooms on campus. ?I ?m staying on for a second year because I don?t feel like I accomplished many things,? said Bethea. ?Knowing the knowledge that I have, I can br ing it into the second year and make it a lot better. And then ? (that will) car r y over to whoever that comes to the next pr esident.?

Bethea hopes to attend either UC River side, UC San Diego, UC Ber keley, or SDSU once he ASG Pr esident Diego Bet hea speaks wit h visit ing st udent s at Cit y College?s Open House Apr il completes his degr ee 20, 2023. Bet hea will ser ve a second t er m in t he same r ole next year . Phot o by Daniel Lasker at City College next same r ole again, advancing towar d a fer ent ways to keep ever yone active spr ing.

B.A. in business administr ation. and lear ning the differ ent str uctur es To read more , scan ?We can hold mor e events and dif- of the shar ed gover nance on cam- the QR code.

people who had never encounter ed conver sations ar ound equity and diver sity.

As a discr imination investigator at Greg Smith steps into acting role after former Chancellor the US Depar tment of L abor, Smith Carlos Cortez resigned May 1to care for his parents wor ked r efor ming or ganizational cultur es and hir ing pr actices, which gr adually convinced him of the imto Smith what his sixth gr ade teacher B Y M ARCO G UAJARD O, por tance of or ganizational cultur e to attempted to impar t.

Multimedia Journalist employee exper iences within a ?And that?s the power of educar eg Smith spent sixth company. tion,? said Smith, now the acting gr ade in Mr s. Br own?s However, he wanted to have a chancellor of the San Diego Commuclassr oom tr ying to shake mor e dir ect impact on the people that nity College Distr ict. the feeling that she didn't public money would ultimately ser ve.

These cultur ally significant like him.

Mar vin Jor dan, Smith?s for mer sulessons now define the equity-focused Smith noticed in sever al of his atper visor and regional director at the goals, values, and leader ship he tempts to comment dur ing class disDOL, immediately saw his investigabr ings to the distr ict. cussions that she would ultimately tive prowess, his potential, his ability to Smith decided enrolling at Cerro r espond to the contr ar y.

Coso Community College would be his think on his feet and get ahead of tasks.

Mr s. Br own appr oached young When he star ted looking into pubbest route coming out of high school Gr eg in the middle of an activity durlic ser vice as a car eer, Smith saw the and said he encountered a faculty ing the last week of school to expr ess more directly invested in their students emphasis ar ound community colher sincer e appr eciation for his parthan what he found at the more presti- leges having Equal Employment Opticipation in her classr oom that year. por tunity plans and addr essing gious univer sities he later attended. ?I thought you hated me,? he Smith got his start in higher educa- diver sity. r esponded.

The community college alumnus tion administration at Shasta CommuAs he r emember ed, Mr s. Br own, a nity College, contributing his skill set closed the loop in 2020 when the SD black woman, r eassur ed Smith she CCD br ought him on boar d as Vice to the transfor mations around diveronly wanted him to under stand that Chancellor of People, Cultur e and sity, equity and inclusion taking place. ?not ever ybody exper iences the Technology Ser vices.

Stacey Bar tlett, Dean of Ar ts, wor ld the same way you do.?

Smith finds gr eat satisfaction in Communication and Social Sciences Gaining life exper iences and fulfilling his ideals, which has afat Shasta, wor ked closely with Smith lear ning of inequities, it became clear and said he excelled at infor ming for ded him the oppor tunity to give

CHAMPIONOFSERVICE, EQUITY

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Act ing Chancellor Gr eg Smit h. SDCCD on Flickr

back to the type of institution that set him on his path. ?Reinvesting in an education system that says no matter who you ar e, wher e you've been, what you've done, what your str uggles, what your tr iumphs have been, this is a system that will help you succeed, that's a r eally cool thing to be a par t of,? Smith said.

To read more , scan the QR code.

SDCITYCOLLEGEGRADAIMSFORTHESTARS MESA program student with a love for science pursues aerospace engineering

s a homeschooled student, Shalayah-Naomi Webb had limited options for specialized lab sciences classes like chemistr y. ?My par ents enr olled me at City College and I ?ve been her e ever since,? Webb., 22, said.

Four year s later, Webb ? who goes

by Naomi ? is completing a degr ee in aer ospace engineer ing with a dr eam of wor king in the space industr y. ?My next step after getting my degr ee is to wor k for NASA or another company involved in the space indus-

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Shalayah-Naomi Webb. Shamer e Gr imes phot o

CityTimes

sdcitytimes.com

SPORTSEditor

LUKEBRADBURY SYDNEYDULL SHAMEREGRIMES MARCOGUAJARDO DANIEL LASKER SEAN MONNEY

SVEN DOMINGOS

Staff

Podcast Director

PEGGY PEATTIE, PH.D NICOLEVARGAS, M.A.

KATHRYN GRAY Editor-in-Chief

SUSANA SERRANO ManagingEditor

JOEL NEVAREZ

KEADAN BRADLEY Social MediaProducer

Advisers

Volume77, Issue2 | May 25, 2023 PublishedasTheJay Sees(1945-1949), Fortknightly (1949-1978), City Times(1978-present).

Incorporatingnewspapers Tecolote, Knight Owl &Flicks.

District policy statement: Thispublication isproducedasalearningexperienceunder SanDiegoCity College?s Digital Journalismprogram. All materials, includingopinions expressed herein, arethesole responsibilityof thestudentsandshould not be interpretedtobethoseof thecollegedistrict, itsofficersor employees.

CITYTIMESCONTRIBUTORS Nathaly Alvizures

tr y,? Webb, 22, said.

Webb will be tr ansfer r ing to SDSU to wor k on a bachelor ?s degr ee in I n fall 2019, Webb was accepted Aer ospace Engineer ing. into the NASA Community College Scholar s pr ogr am, which took her to Upon gr aduation, she hopes to the Jet Pr opulsion L abor ator y in land her dr eam job at NASA. Pasadena, Califor nia.

Webb believes that society needs After enter ing a robotics competition, mor e women and mor e diver sity in meeting engineers and tour ing the facil- science, technology engineer ing and ity for four days, Webb knew exactly math and wants to what career she wanted to pursue. leave behind advice ?After that, engineer ing r eally cap- for those seeking to enter similar fields. tur ed my imagination and I was like, ?ok, this is it for me,?? Webb said. ?I then switched to aer ospace engineer- To read more , scan ing fr om chemistr y.? the QR code.

Duringthespring2023semester, CityTimeswill publishonlineregularly, or as newsbreaks, on sdcitytimes.com andtwicein print.

Signed opinionsarethoseof theindividual writersand donot necessarily represent thoseof theentire newspaper staff, City Collegeadministration, faculty andstaff or theSanDiegoCommunity CollegeDistrict Board of Trustees.

Letters totheeditor: Letters totheeditor arewelcome, 350 wordsor less.

Thestaff reservestheright toedit for grammar, spelling, punctuationandlength.

Howtoreachus: CityTimes SanDiegoCityCollege 1313 Park Blvd. | San Diego, CA92101 Newsroom: L-117 E-mail: citytimes@gmail.com Memberships: JournalismAssociationof Community Colleges CaliforniaCollegeMediaAssociation Associated CollegiatePress CaliforniaNewspaper Publishers Association

CITYGRADUATES

sdcitytimes.com | May 25, 2023

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'never too l ate'

These grads among the many who have overcome obstacles to complete their degrees

Nilo Ondevilla paint s one of his signat ur e wor ks, which depict s his chilhood alma mat er The Philippine High School for t he Ar t s. Phot o by Kat hr yn Gr ay/ Cit y Times Media

Kelley West ley decor at es her gr aduat ion cap at an event held out side t he Cit y College bookst or e, May 16, 2023. Phot o by Nat haly Alvizur es/ Cit y Times Media

B Y K ATH RYN G RAY, Editor-in-Chief

B Y SE AN M ONNE Y, Multimedia Journalist

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elley Westley r ecalled coming home fr om school as a child and not being able to tur n to her par ents for help with homewor k. She stayed late at school to get the help she needed.

Westley was later put into special education classes in high school because she had dysgr aphia, a lear ning disability that makes wr iting difficult.

Today, Westley is gr aduating fr om San Diego City College with a degr ee in ear ly childhood education.

A fir st-gener ation gr aduate, Westley, 56, admitted her jour ney to gr aduation was not a dir ect path.

But Westley knew her whole life she wanted to help people. ?I str uggle with English and literacy,? Westley said. ?That's why I 'm so passionate about liter acy and r eading and kids because I was that child.?

Westley said liter acy is fundamental to ear ly education and that education car r ies over fr om school into the family household. ?I want par ents to be able to help their childr en as well as educate themselves,? she said.

With her degr ee, Westley plans to continue the life-long volunteer wor k in her community with gr oups like Head Star t that help childr en in under ser ved communities.

Westley was also heavily involved in the City chapter of Active Minds, ser ving as vice pr esident of the club dedicated to destigmatizing and changing the conver sation ar ound

ilo Ondevilla, a Navy dance and ar t with pr ofessor s who veter an, a sur vivor of thr ee had pr eviously wor ked with her. suicide attempts and one Also a fier ce advocate involved str oke, with a hand and with the Amer ican Foundation for wr ist r avaged after an angr y Suicide Pr evention, Ondevilla punch to a concr ete wall, never fought for cr eation of a National imagined he would be back at City Suicide Pr evention Hotline, 988.

College after almost 30 year s away. ?You know what the solution is? ?I know ther e?s somebody Education,? Ondevilla said. watching and conspir ing for my Exper iencing his own tr agedy, success,? Ondevilla said. ?I ?m tr ying opened his hear t again not only to to figur e out why.?

Note to readers: This ar t but to other human beings I t was a tr agedy in article discusses the in a way he hadn?t expected.

2014 that br ought topic of suicide. If you Fine Ar t pr ofessor Wayne Ondevilla back to City, or someone you know Hulgin, who taught Ondevilla but it was joy that made may be struggling with in the 90s and is now one of suicidal thoughts, call his mentor s, sees a futur e of him stay. or text 988. ?Ber nadette success for him. celebr ated her 23r d bir thday the ?He's just a natur al dr awing, you last time I saw her happy,? he said. know,? Hulgin said. ?He's gonna ?Six days later the cops came to my have a gr eat futur e because he's so house and said to my wife, ?she ambitious.? jumped the br idge.??

Ondevilla, a spr ing 2023 gr aduate When he saw the police at the with an associate's degr ee in fine door Ondevilla knew his beloved ar t, is gr ateful for suppor t he?s daughter Ber nadette would never r eceived fr om fr iends and family. walk thr ough the door again. ?They say God closes a door and Ondevilla was shocked. He did then He opens another one or a not see any signs of Ber nadette?s window,? Ondevilla said. ?Well, now str uggles.

He?s opened up a huge fr eaking After losing Ber nadette and pr ior gate. The things I don?t under stand, to r etur ning to City, Ondevilla spent I stop questioning.? five year s living in a single r oom of Upon completion of a summer ar t his home consumed by suicidal pr ogr am in Flor ence, I taly, his wife depr ession, shutting out his wife, will join him and they will visit childr en and car eer.

L our des, Fr ance to After year s of sadness and pay homage to his isolation, Ondevilla found a way to daughter's namesake, r econnect with the outside wor ld St. Bernadette. and enr olled in classes at City to To read more , scan feel closer to Ber nadette. He took the QR code.

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mental health. ?She's just got a r eally natur al way of connecting with people and making them feel comfor table, but also a r eally big passion for mental health,?

Active Minds adviser and mental health counselor Nadia Sayeh said.

Sayeh said Westley made sur e people?s voices wer e hear d and students felt welcome and comfor table talking about mental health. ?We help advocate and tr y to br eak this stigma of mental health,?

Westley said, ?and let people know we?ve all been thr ough something.

I t's okay.?

At an event or ganized for gr aduates to decor ate their caps on May 16, Westley discussed her higher educational jour ney while designing her cap with slogans like ?Won?t He do it!?

She cr edited English pr ofessor Tucker Gr imshaw for his help in encour aging her not to be afr aid to fail. ?Halfway thr ough the semester we would go in gr oups, and people wanted to come in my gr oup because I knew ever ything because I had it in her e,? Westley said, pointing at her head. ?I just needed that confidence to br ing it out.?

Westley aced that English class and got all the cr edits she needed to walk at the commencement ceremony, wher e she will be wear ing her cap that r eads ?Never too late.?

To read more , scan the QR code.

summer Classes begin term to open as soon as June 5 B Y SYD NE Y D UL L , Multimedia Journalist Students interested in taking summer cour ses at San Diego City College can now r egister.

Whether to get ahead of your gener al education classes towar d your major or just to enjoy a summer class because it sounds intr iguing, City College offer s a wide var iety of classes over the summer months.

Ther e ar e over 200+ cour ses to choose fr om at City College alone.

Students can take gener ic subjects that count towar d their gener al education cr edit like biology, English,

mathematics and psychology.

City College even offer s classes that can help new students with the tr ansition into college.

Classes star t on June 5 and r un until August 12 and can r un for the full summer semester or can r un in a var iety of weekly sessions. City College offer s 6, 8, 12, or 14- week sessions.

Students also have the option to choose fr om the fir st half or the second half of the session. Classes ar e $46 per unit, and financial aid is available for students who apply.

For mor e infor mation on cour sewor k, financial aid r esour ces, visit sdcity.edu.

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CITYGRADUATES

May 25, 2023 | sdcitytimes.com

at t it ude of gr at it ude

AFFINITYCEREMONYGRADUATESCELEBRATETRIUMPHS, STRUGGLESWITHTHEIRCAMPUSCOMMUNITIES

B Y M ARCO G UAJARD O, Multimedia Journalist

up. But at the end, we chose to per sever e.?

t ever y tur n in her jour ney leading up to her gr aduation r emar ks at the 52nd Chicano- L atina Gr aduation podium, San Diego City College gr aduate Mer cedes Pr eciado encounter ed a familiar r esponse. ?For ever y ?no? that you hear,? she said, ?her e is a per son who, against all expectations and statistics, can tell you all, yes you can.?

Pr eciado ? a 52- year- old par tially deaf, Spanish- speaking immigr ant ? began to over tur n the significance of what it meant to be denied.

Pr eciado is now a Chicano Studies and Amer ican Sign L anguage Studies gr aduate on her way to SDSU. Or ganized by the Chicano L atina Gr aduation Committee, the gr aduation cer emony was a celebr ation for all students who ear ned associate degr ees, cer tificates, admissions to a A Cit y College st udent at t he Chicano-Lat ina Gr aduat ion cer emony honor s her par ent s by four- year univer sity ? or any combi- decor at ing her cap wit h t he phr ase ?Par a mis apas que llegar on sin nada y me lo dier on t odo,? which t r anslat e t o ?For my par ent s who came wit h not hing, but gave me ever yt hing? May 19, 2023. nation of those.

Phot o by Nat haly Alvizur es Dr essed in gowns and embellished ?I see Black scholars,? City Presicaps, 94 gr aduates walked down the once impossible. I t was a constr ucted dr eam never tur ned into r eality. dent Ricky Shabazz said dur ing a color fully decor ated Mexican-themed Those who came befor e us built a speech. ?I see the next lawyers, the pr ocession aisle to the song ?Yo Soy legacy for you and next doctors (and) Chicano? by Ramon ?Chunky? me to be wher e we Sanchez as the attendees cheer ed. ?Live in such a way that the next professors.? ar e today.?

Keynote speaker Julio Cedillo, who The event also inis headed to UC Ber keley and will St udent s walk at your biography would be cluded student gr aduate City with degr ees in Sociol- Rit e of Passage speaker s on behalf ogy, Chicana and Chicano Studies, of their r espective The Rite of Pas- banned in Florida.? and L iber al Ar ts and Behavior al Sci- sage Celebr ation, colleges, including - Sim Sanco, Lavender Ceremony graduate ences, addr essed the str uggle of the held on May 11, is Mesa student headed to SDSU to pursue a master?s Chicanx community.

Kar en Mukenge. a ceremony celedegree in child development ?L et us bear in mind that today is a br ating the accom?As we all know, celebr ation and that our joy is r evolu- plishments of gr aduating Black stu- this jour ney wasn?t easy for us,? tionar y,? Cedillo said. ?As you look dents acr oss the San Diego Commu- Mukenge said. ?We all got discourar ound at our gr aduates, this was nity College Distr ict. aged at some point and almost gave

- Luke Bradbury 2nd L avender Gr aduat ion celebr at es L GB TQ+ The color s of pr ide, str ength and r esilience set the stage for the ceremony honor ing the L GBTQ+ community at the City A building patio.

I n keeping with the ideals of inclusion and belonging that City pushes for war d and exemplifies, the L avender Gr aduation ceremony gave space for the L GBTQ+ community to expr ess themselves, their futur es and their dr eams.

Per for mances from drag queens Raquelita and Bar bie Q centered around the themes of being your self and being proud of that with a musical twist.

Though sever al of the gr aduates couldn?t attend the ceremony, the ones who did r eceived their r ainbow sashes and applause fr om the cr owd as Pr ide Hub Coor dinator L ucy Plascencia r ead their names, their degr ees and their plans to fur ther their educations.

Sim Sanco, one of the gr aduates who will be pur suing a master ?s degr ee in child development at San Diego State Univer sity, spoke of the gr atitude he feels for City and his hopes for the futur e. ?Ever y day we see how the L GBTQ+ community is used by those in power as scapegoats. To them we say ?No mor e.?L ive in such a way that your biogr aphy would be banned in Flor ida.?

- Shamere Grimes

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Lucy Plascenia, Pr ide cent er coor dinat or , celebr at es wit h 2023 gr aduat es at t he San Diego Cit y College Lavender Gr aduat ion. May 18, 2023. Phot o by Luke Br adbur y

Fr om left t o r ight , Jededi Cunningham, Nigel Zuniga and Nana Yao Asiedu per for m at t he Rit e of Passage cer emony at Cit y College. May 11, 2023. Phot o by Luke Br adbur y

To read more and view photos, scan the QR code.

Class of 2023 gr aduat es at San Diego Cit y College?s Chicano Lat ina Gr aduat ion cer emony t ake phot os wit h fr iends and family. May 19, 2023. Phot o by Nat haly Alvizur es