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.
February 7, 2017
Long-time San Diego Mesa College employee Monica Romero – the Program Activity Manager for Proyecto Éxito – has been chosen as the most recent recipient of the Committee for Diversity Action, Inclusion and Equity’s “Salute a Smile” honor.
“I love supporting our faculty and our staff in the work that they do for our students, so it’s kind of a trickledown effect,” Romero said of the inspiration for her smile. “It makes me excited when someone tells me a great story of something that they’re seen or done or have been involved with. It really warms my heart.”
Having worked at Mesa over a 23 year span, Romero took a break in the early 2000s to work in private industry as the Director of Operations for a strategic planning consulting company. She returned after six years, having realized that she wanted to be back in the field of education.
“I love working with students and I love education – I didn’t like working in corporate, which was kind of greedy,” Romero said. “It’s not about money, it’s about people.”
In her free time, she takes her 17-year-old son to Padres games and enjoys checking out new foodie-loving restaurants around town. Her son is a junior at Kearny Mesa High School who will be taking a dual enrollment class from Mesa during the spring semester.
The love she has for the Mesa family is apparent to those who work with her. In an email honoring her as the latest recipient of the “Salute a Smile” recognition, Committee for Diversity, Action, Inclusion and Equity Chair and Professor Judy Sundayo said that Romero has “discovered a deep sense of purpose” at Mesa College.
According to Sundayo, that purpose, “motivates her to continually learn, grow, connect, share, and empower others to succeed in their goals and aspirations.”
“Monica’s love for ‘everything Mesa’ comes through in her wonderful smile,” Sundayo said. “Monica sees Mesa College’s diverse campus community as her home. Like so many others, she has a profound commitment to the campus and for everyone who makes up the Mesa College family.”
Mesa hasn’t just been a family-like experience for Romero, her family has been connected to the college for years. Late husband Octavio Pierre Romero helped her get her first job at Mesa College, according to Sundayo, and Monica said their son is considering attending Mesa after graduating from high school next year.
For more information about the Committee for Diversity Action, Inclusion, and Equity and its “Salute a Smile” honor, contact Judy Sundayo via email at jsundayo@sdccd.edu.
Tags: Committee for Diversity Action Inclusion and Equity, CDAIE, Salute a Smile
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
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.
