Bringing our hearts to our work and each other

Support our Asian Pacific Islander community

CCC’s Academic Senate Council is absolutely committed to anti-racism, and these recent events directed against the API community remind us of the need to stay committed to this and how essential it is to be supportive of each other.  I cannot know how it feels to feel targeted as an API person, but I can know that I care deeply for my API friends and colleagues and I don’t want them to be in pain.  

On February 1, the ASC asked us all to “take steps to not only strive for a greater knowledge about and the celebration of diversity, but also to support deeper training that reveals the inherent racism embedded in societal institutions, including the educational system, and asks individuals to examine their personal role in the support of racist structures and the commitment to work to dismantle structural racism”.  The thoughts and ideas expressed among our campus community in email messages in the last few days show us concrete ways to put one foot in front of the other to combat racism.

 We must put these sentiments into action, both in our immediate response to hateful events in our country and also in our long-term work to make our college and our community the just environment we want it to be for our students and for ourselves.  If we don’t act, this type of radicalized violence will continue.

Release time as a way to use your strengths and expertise for our college

There are many release time opportunities starting next fall! Both full-time and part-time faculty are encouraged to apply. Remember that the deadline to apply is Monday, March 22. Please consider how you can be part of our campus life outside of your instructional and counseling duties.  Let’s be sure our committees have faculty leadership in place so that we can start the fall semester with smooth and strong participatory governance.  This is one way you can help ensure that our college truly shifts the way it does business.  If taking on one of these release time roles does not fit in your immediate plans, please be sure to actively support the folks who do by participating fully in the work of the committee(s) you belong to.  We are all in this together and everyone has an important perspective to contribute!