Second-year student Zora Williams is using her voice to bring more mental health and nutrition programming to San Diego Mesa College. Williams was elected president of the college’s Associated Students (AS) for the 2024-2025 academic year and serves as the college’s student representative on the San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees.
Sometimes, you hear a story that makes you want to know more. Kevin Gonzalez has such a story. The last time this story was updated, San Diego Mesa College student Kevin Gonzalez was a 15 year-old heading off to Massachusetts to complete his high school education. In the ensuing years, he has travelled to the other side of the world, built houses, but remained in close contact with his Mesa College professors and connections he made while on campus.
The San Diego Community College District has appointed four new student trustees for the upcoming academic year. Dalia Ramirez (San Diego City College), Zora Williams (San Diego Mesa College), Hailey Hua (San Diego Miramar College), and Haydee Zuniga (San Diego College of Continuing Education), will be sworn in during the June 20 SDCCD Board of Trustees meeting.
May 2, 2017
San Diego Mesa College celebrated diversity inclusion through four days of workshops, lectures and events during the annual Festival of Colors and Cultural Unity Week on campus from April 10 to 13.
Organized by the Committee for Diversity, Action, Inclusion and Equity and The Humanities Institute, the series of events include an Advocacy Fair, viewings of “Human, The Movie,” lectures on “The Diverse Middle East” and “Islamaphobia,” Healing Drums and a Fashions of the World Runway Show.
“My word, today, is celebrate,” Poet Jaime Victoria Jones said during the Festival of Colors on April 13. “We’re here for the Festival of Colors, and it is important that each and every one of you finds some time to celebrate. I’m encouraging you that if you want to be balanced, work to educate – as you’re doing today – and shout out to say how much you appreciate every flower, favor, breath and step you take.”
Jones is one of the co-authors of “The Gumbo Pot Poems: A Savory Recipe for Life, Community and GUMBO through Poetry,” along with CDAIE Chair and Mesa College Counseling Professor Judy Sundayo, and Rev. Alyce Smith Cooper.
A Somalian Immersion Experience on April 11 was attended by more than 280 students, faculty and staff, according to Sundayo. Attendees walked through tents to learn about the history and cultural of Somalia, try traditional foods and spice tea, and experience firsthand the concept of being new to a country and not understanding the native language.
“Students, faculty and staff went through the immersion tents to understand and experience a very small part of what so many of our Somali students and local community members have experienced,” Sundayo said.
On April 12 a Student Advocacy Fair hosted 16 local groups to teach the campus about their advocacy work and let students, faculty and staff know what they can do to get involved.
Cultural Unity Week ended April 13 with the Festival of Colors featuring dancers, poets and musicians performing throughout the day and a runway show organized by the Fashion Department of clothing from around the world, focusing on Africa. Members of Danza Azteca played Aztec drum music and performed a traditional dance, and dancers from the Mesa College Dance Company showed off their modern hip hop moves.
The day concluded with “Voices from the Left,” an event where 15 students, two actors and two faculty members expressed their personal experiences through various forms of storytelling. More than 143 people attended the event to see performances of poems, stories and an original one act play, written by Professor Bobby Chambers.
“I think that an event like this was/is important because it really made the students stop and think about the perspective of others’,” said Sakeenah Gallardo, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies. “It made them challenge their own biases and privilege as well. This event brings to the forefront the voice of those who can’t speak up or out for themselves. This event made it possible for those who didn’t have a voice, to have one that evening. We covered issues from homelessness, to disability of both the mind and body, to sexual orientation, and we created a sense of community. Audience members shared their thoughts and feelings about what they heard and felt. There were a lot of tears and laughs.”
For more information about the Festival of Colors, Cultural Unity Week and the Committee for Diversity, Action, Inclusion and Equity, contact Judy Sundayo via email at jsundayo@sdccd.edu or phone at (619) 388-2793.
Tags: Committee for Diversity Action Inclusion and Equity, Festival of Colors, Cultural Unity Week
Jennifer Nichols Kearns
Director of Communications
jnkearns@sdccd.edu
(619) 388-2759
Judy Sundayo
Chair - Committee for Diversity, Action, Inclusion and Equity
jsundayo@sdccd.edu
(619) 388-2793
San Diego, CA – All through the month of November 2023, San Diego Mesa College will celebrate Native American Heritage Month with student panels, film screenings, resource sessions and a flag raising ceremony. The Mesa College Committee for Diversity Action, Inclusion & Equity (CDAIE) has worked closely with local tribal leaders and students to plan culturally relevant events, and recently facilitated the adoption of a Land Acknowledgement for the College.
Recently, San Diego Mesa College discovered the posting of flyers across campus that targeted particular ethnic groups. The College followed its free speech policy, and only removed flyers that were improperly posted. This included postings on electronic signboards causing potential damage to college equipment. The Art Gallery was also impacted as materials were defaced with flyers posted over them. The incident was reported to District Police as well as the San Diego Police Department, who continue to monitor the situation.
San Diego Mesa College strongly opposes the racist language used by those who are posting these fliers. To be clear – any doctrine that elevates one group above another has no place at Mesa College and we condemn any language or actions that promote racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, violence, discrimination and other forms of hate.
San Diego Mesa College celebrated diversity inclusion through four days of workshops, lectures and events during the annual Festival of Colors and Cultural Unity Week on campus from April 10 to 13.
