Blue waves behind the words Coast Colleges in dark blue

Weekly News Brief | February 24, 2023
From the Office of Chancellor Whitney Yamamura, Ed.D.
Chancellor Yamamura in front of the District Office

This Wednesday, I had the magnificent honor at Orange Coast College to hear from Sylvia Mendez and Janice Munemitsu as a guest of Professor Fred Judd and his business law class.

For those who may not be familiar, Sylvia Mendez was the central figure in the Mendez v. Westminster case that eventually led to California becoming the first state to officially desegregate its public schools in 1947, some six years before Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

As they were being forced from Orange County, Janice Munemitsu's family, victims of the US internment of those with Japanese ancestry, leased their farmland to the Mendez family. The beautiful story of cooperation between the Mendez and Munemitsu families continued from there.

The Coast Report covered this event, giving wonderful context to the journey of both Sylvia Mendez and Janice Munemitsu. This includes Sylvia's nursing education at Orange Coast. She repeatedly expressed appreciation for the college experience that launched her career.

In the depths of human injustice, these two families of different origins – Mexican and Japanese – found each other, tore down an ugly law, and built something beautiful.

History is still with us. We carry the scars from generation to generation. Yet, we also inherit the strength and persistence of those who came before us. Of those, who – as title of Janice Munemitsu's book states – told a story of The Kindness of Color.

With gratitude,

 Whitney

Whitney Yamamura, Ed.D.
Chancellor

 

New District Student Trustee John Bruning

 

Student Trustee John Bruning

 

Meet the Coast District's new Student Trustee, John Bruning. After graduating high school in 2000, Student Trustee Bruning served in the military up until 2021. Through his time at Coastline College, Student Trustee Bruning played an active role as the Associated Student Government (ASG) Military Senator (2020-2021), ASG President (2022-2023), and the District Student Council Vice Chair (2020-2021, 2022-2023). Also, Student Trustee Bruning is a Certified Peer Support Specialist and a member of the Orange County Veterans and Military Families Collaborative Resources Working Group. As Student Trustee Bruning continues his cybersecurity studies at Coastline, he will work hard to give a voice to all students of the Coast Community College District.

 

College News


Program of Special Note:
Disrupting Racism through the Lens of The Arts

In support of diversity, equity and inclusion, Coastline College is hosting a series of collaborative events for faculty, staff and students running through June 15, 2023, the Friday before Juneteenth. All are invited to attend the remaining sessions.

 

COASTLINE COLLEGE

On February 11, Coastline College cybersecurity professors, Tobi West and Andrea Barrios, hosted a CyberTech Girls event at the Garden Grove Campus. Women from the local community colleges and high schools attended multiple workshops where they learned about cybersecurity concepts and career. The students developed their coding skills with a hands-on Valentine's themed do-it-yourself kit while learning about education pathways and careers in technology from leaders in the cybersecurity field. Coastline's CyberTech Girls events are designed to improve diversity in the field of cybersecurity through early career exploration activities, as well as providing space for students to hear from industry leaders they can relate to. Activities were funded in part by WiCyS (Women in Cybersecurity) and the Center for Inclusive Computing.

 

The words Coastline College above a shield with the letter C.
Coastline CyberTech Girls event

 

GOLDEN WEST COLLEGE

This spring semester, Golden West College is offering students valuable training for suicide prevention. QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) training will teach attendees how to recognize the warning signs, clues, and suicidal communications of people at risk. Reserve your spot today.

 

A circle with the words Golden West College, Huntington Beach, on the outside with a central surfboard and the letters GWC.

 

ORANGE COAST COLLEGE

On February 22, Orange Coast College kicked off a year of celebration for the 75th anniversary of the campus by hosting guest speaker and OCC alumna Sylvia Mendez to share her family's history fighting school segregation in the historic local case Mendez et al. v. Westminster 1947. "Sylvia, somebody has to talk about it. It's history," Mendez said of her mother. She now travels around the country educating students on the importance of the change the ruling started on the desegregation of schools in America and advocating for this chapter of history to be added to California and national school standards. Author of The Kindness of Color, Janice Munemitsu, also spoke, sharing the history of the case and how their immigrant families were introduced by a banker "who did not judge them by their name or their skin color" to help each other combat the injustice they were dealing with at the time of World War 2.

 

An Orange circle forming an O with two interior waves in dark blue forming two C shapes.
OCC event: Janice Munemitsu, Dr. Angelica Suarez, Sylvia Mendez

 

 

Schedule, Week of February 27


Board of Trustees
The next regular meeting will be held Wednesday, March 1, with closed session beginning at 4:00 p.m. and open session at 5:00 p.m.


Chancellor
Dr. Yamamura is in the District, Monday through Friday

 


publicaffairs@cccd.edu

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