At the January 22nd, 2024 meeting of the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, the San Diego Mesa College Ethnic Studies Faculty Council was awarded the prestigious Exemplary Program Award.
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.
March 5, 2017
Following the grand opening for The Stand Feb. 9, San Diego Mesa College’s new food and clothing pantry has been successful in both collecting donations and helping students on campus.
Since its debut, The Stand, has served 227 food items to 118 individual Mesa College students. Donations from students, faculty and the community of San Diego have been pouring in; including a donation of $3,000 from one source and a widow from Vista who donated suits that belonged to her late husband.
“This is an opportunity for us to re-declare that we are the ‘Leading College of Equity and Excellence’ – The Stand is just one of the many examples that allows us to say that,” said Mesa President Dr. Pamela Luster, Ed.D., during the grand opening ceremony.
Mesa’s outstanding students continue to be a driving force for the success of The Stand. Repeat Boutique – an upcoming fundraiser for the Fashion Department at Mesa College – will be donating business attire to The Stand, and the Associated Students is planning a donation drive competition between the clubs on campus.
Other students have made individual donations or have inquired about possibly volunteering their time to The Stand, an addition to The Stand that will be incorporated in the future.
“One donor that we owe a lot to is the Mesa Foundation because they gave us our first mini-grant to get all the equipment for The Stand,” said Claudia Estrada, Transfer Center and Career Guidance Center Supervisor.
Serving an average of 30 students a day, The Stand is now seeking more donations to replenish the shelves. Individual items requested for donation include shelf-stable meals, yogurt and drinks, travel-size deodorant, applesauce packets, Progresso soup, mac and cheese, granola bars and snacks.
Items can be dropped off at The Stand in I4-204 or at the Office of Student Success and Equity in I4-401. Interested parties can now donate money to The Stand via PayPal online through the San Diego Mesa College Foundation.
For more information about using or donating to The Stand, visit www.sdmesa.edu/TheStand, or contact Johanna Aleman at jaleman@sdccd.edu or (619) 388-5940.
Tags: Equity and Excellence, The Stand
Jennifer Nichols Kearns
Director of Communications
jnkearns@sdccd.edu
(619) 388-2759
Johanna Aleman
Student Services Technician - Department of Equity and Excellence
jaleman@sdccd.edu
(619) 388-5940
At the January 22nd, 2024 meeting of the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, the San Diego Mesa College Ethnic Studies Faculty Council was awarded the prestigious Exemplary Program Award.
On Thursday, May 4, 2023, at the Shining Light on Generosity event, San Diego Mesa College debuted the naming of The Stand: The Pamela T. Luster Resource Center, in honor of former President Dr. Pamela T. Luster. Additionally, the event served as an intimate gathering that honored and recognized multiple donors who helped the Mesa College Resiliency Fund become a reality.
Looking to address equity issues on campus, San Diego Mesa College sought out advice and expertise from the Center for Urban Education (CUE) at the University of Southern California. “We needed to have someone hold up the mirror to us because it can be difficult to change from within if you don’t know what you need to change,” said Dr. Pamela Luster, President of Mesa.
