Area A: Deanna Herrera-Thomas, College of the Redwoods
Herrera-Thomas, professor of psychology, was born
to an immigrant Latino father and a Jewish-American
mother. Growing up in a conservative, largely homogeneous,
suburb with this heritage, she faced prejudice
and oppression, as well as a lack of role models
for her advanced academic and vocational aspirations.
These circumstances first pushed her to assimilate,
dampening her cultural identity; but eventually,
she transformed her experiences and herself into
an activist, working toward a truly inclusive and
equitable pluralistic society. This she accomplishes
in a number of ways. She serves as a direct role
model to diverse students who might feel out of
place in academia, and she has established many
close mentoring relationships with such students.
She also raises consciousness of diversity in the
classroom by forthrightly presenting issues of
human variability, tolerance, and oppression. Also,
within the faculty and administrative spheres of
her campus, Herrera-Thomas continually makes strides
to ensure that curricula, policies, and procedures
include deference to the cause of diversity. Some
of her efforts to this end include: the creation
of a multicultural and diversity resource center;
providing consultation in faculty hiring to establish
interview techniques and questions that are culturally
equitable; and, spearheading the development of
the Multicultural and Diversity Committee, which
she now chairs, within her academic senate. This
committee has overseen the inclusion of multicultural
references in curriculum proposals, a proposal
to promote diversity requirements in degrees, a
bid to institute a women’s studies program,
and the creation of a website that addresses and
provides resources for multiculturalism in various
disciplines, among many other innovations. Herrera-Thomas
was also the greatest single contributor to her
school’s Student Equity Plan: she did a surpassing
amount of research, and drafted numerous solid
and detailed recommendations for recruiting students
from under-represented populations, integrating
disenfranchised students into mainstream campus
curriculum and society, and for incorporating multiculturalism
into the general education program. Beyond this,
she is regularly active in the surrounding community,
as well, giving lectures and providing consultation
on topics ranging from the mental health needs
of Latinos, to violence against women, homophobia,
and cultural competency. As her colleagues attest,
Herrera-Thomas has “been both inspirational
and catalytic,”making ground-breaking advancements
in fostering diversity throughout her campus – and
this in just the four short years that she has
been at College of the Redwoods!
Area B: Jonathan Brennan, Mission College
Brennan, an English instructor at Mission College,
primarily focuses on education to deal with
diversity issues. Opening a discussion about
diversity, he defines it as a reality which
is not necessarily a detrimental or a beneficial,
but it is an opportunity for learning, potentially
leading to tolerance and a unifying awareness
of human commonalities amongst differing groups.
He then seeks to intimate positive experiences
of diversity through his lessons and his promotion
of events that provide exposure to varying
cultural practices and historical backgrounds.
Toward this end, Brennan continuously pursues
myriad venues and an assortment of techniques.
He has composed several course outlines at
his campus that present content on diverse
cultural viewpoints, including Native American,
African American, and Asian American literature,
and often incorporating cultural histories.
In harmony with his belief that a diversity
of classroom materials enables broader discussions
which can encompass a broader demographic of
the student body, Brennan uses more traditionally
alternative texts as the foundation of his
lessons: books such as Ronald Takaki’s
A Different Mirror and Stephen Steinberg’s
Ethnic Myth present unusually multicultural
historical perspectives, and examine common
misconceptions that tend to emphasize the disparity
and difficulties of understanding between groups.
As the chair of Mission’s Student Success
Committee, he developed strategies to better
recruit students from under-represented communities;
and, in his work with the Chancellor’s
Committee on Faculty and Staff Diversity, he
likewise enhanced diversity in faculty hiring.
Additionally, for Title III and Title V committees,
Brennan prevailed in writing grant proposals
for projects that would bolster the Latino
student body on his campus. He has also served
as a Fund for Student Success and PFE project
director, launching a two extensive academic
mentoring programs to assist under-represented
students which have proven to increase their
retention and success rates. Similarly, he
brought forth a First Year Experience seminar
that links a counseling course with a basic
skills or ESL class; this seminar is led by
both counselors and instructors, and teaches
developmental students how to develop and sustain
positive commitments, goals, and study skills.
Beyond all this, Brennan regularly organizes
campus events and forums, speaks on topics
of diversity, and has even written a play for
African History Month which portrayed and examined
the American slave experience. His numerous
published writings – articles, essays,
plays, and books – all function to bring
increased multicultural awareness to much broader
audience, as well. In the words of a colleague, “His
vision, energy, persistence, and dedication
to the success of our diverse student population
are to be commended.”
Area C: Saadia Lagarde Porche, Citrus College
Porche, now a member of the counseling faculty
at Citrus College, came from a background that
would qualify her as one of the minorities
when she reached her higher levels of education,
and so she came to have first-hand knowledge
of how such groups may be made to feel marginalized
in the mainstream college culture. Early experiences
such as this sparked Porche’s initial
interest in issues of diversity and equity.
Since then, she has developed into an active
and determined proponent of cultural competence,
which she defines as a dynamic state of understanding
and profound respect for the richness of cultural
differences, as well as an awareness of the
common elements shared by all peoples. Ever
since her beginnings at Citrus College, Porche
has sought out avenues in which to be a role
model to students and faculty in creating a
campus climate that is tolerant and supportive
of all. She has been involved with the Student
Equity Committee on her campus since its infancy,
and she served as faculty advisor to the Black
Student Union/African American Alliance Club
for five years; she is also regularly enlists
appropriate authorities to speak at Women’s
History and African American History months,
as well as supports activities for the annual
Disabled Students Programs and Services Day,
to name just of few of the more social and
over-arching ways that Porche works to advance
cultural competence. Additionally, for all
13 years of her full-time status at Citrus
College, she has been a member of the Institutional
Diversity Committee (previously the Affirmative
Action Committee), a group that advises on
revisions to the school’s employment
practices and policies in the interest of equity,
arranges for sensitivity training for diversity
monitors serving on faculty hiring committees,
and makes diversity training and education
available campus-wide. Furthermore, she has
been intimately involved with Extended Opportunity
Programs and Services (EOP&S) for eight
years – four as a counselor and four
as the Director. EOP&S is a counseling
and retention program for disadvantaged students
of all sorts. In addition to generally working
toward increasing inter-cultural understanding
for all, during her time there, Porche instituted
a student outcomes tracking database, implemented
support groups to enhance student confidence
and success, and developed a program to increase
transfer rates for underprivileged groups.
One of Porche’s most recent and remarkable
activities is her role as the Student Services
Team Leader for the work of her campus’ Title
V Hispanic Serving Institutions Grant. This
grant supports the Growth in Outcomes and Academic
Learning program, which aims to increase retention
and academic success in Hispanic and low-income,
first generation students entering at the basic
skills level. Plainly, Porche has devoted herself
and her passion to issues of social justice
and pluralistic community, and her success
in these areas has been outstanding.
Area D: Ruth Dills, Coastline College
Dills has been a reputable community college
faculty member for 30 years, the last 18 of
which she has been employed at Coastline College
as a counselor and EOPS coordinator. She asserts
a basic belief that “as a society and
a people we have an obligation to work to eliminate
poverty and discrimination.” It is Dills’ philosophy
that diversity must be acknowledged and valued
as being in conjunction with the awareness
of the commonalities of being human regardless
of interpersonal distinctions. To this end,
Dills has made herself a champion of the community
college mission to extend the opportunities
and benefits of higher education to all, and
as such, she is an especial asset to Coastline
College, the student population of which is
especially non-traditional, largely made up
of older adults and others facing additional
obstacles to their education. Upon arriving
at Coastline, Dills found their EOPS program
to be in rather deteriorated and ineffectual
condition; through her efforts since then,
she has managed to transform it into a strong
and competent resource for underprivileged
students. Under her leadership, her department
has gone from serving 53 students to serving
325, over 80% of whom are from traditionally
under-represented populations. She has managed
to put together a multicultural EOPS staff
that reflects the proportion of diversity within
the population that it serves, and which has
been so successful in welcoming and serving
students that there are now more participants
than State funding can support. In response
to this, Dills is also active on the State
level of EOPS, and was one of the advocates
that successfully procured exemption from proposed
funding cuts to that program in 2003. Beyond
EOPS, she directly drove the evolution of the
ACCESS Program, which makes a full-time course
of study available at convenient times and
locations so that transfer to four-year institution
is possible in timely manner for the greatest
number of students. She is also a consistent
member of various college committees, including
the Matriculation Committee, the Professional
Development Institute, and the Student Equity
and Diversity Committee. In addition, Dills
continuously works to support a variety of
distinct groups, both on campus and off: she
maintains programs that ensure practical access
to higher education for welfare mothers and
that reach out to the Latino community; she
organizes food drives and special events for
the poverty-stricken; she works with halfway
houses; and she collaborates with city councils
to seek out myriad assistances to diverse populations
of the local community. Dills’ “unwavering
devotion and compassionate direction” is
broadly recognized by students and faculty
as an extraordinarily positive influence on
all around her, realizing her modest aspiration
to make life in the world around her at least
a little kinder and more accepting.
History
In Spring 1998, the Plenary Body adopted a resolution (3.03 S98) to create
a diversity award to recognize faculty in California community colleges who
work to promote the success of our diverse student population. The Stanback-Stroud
Award was developed to acknowledge the work of faculty making special contributions
in the area of student success for diverse students. Each college may nominate
one faculty member to receive this prestigious honor that includes a cash
award of $500. All faculty, both inside and outside of the classroom, are
eligible for consideration. Four recipients, one from each area of the state,
will be chosen and honored at the Spring Plenary Session.
Each college academic senate
may forward one faculty nominee for the Academic
Senate for California Community Colleges Diversity
Award, sponsored by the Foundation for California
Community Colleges. The following are guidelines
to be used in making the final selection of one
nominee from each of the four Academic Senate
areas (see college directory for designation
of areas).
1. The candidate must have
contributed to the creation of a campus environment
friendly to student of diverse backgrounds and
interests.
2. The candidate must have
demonstrated success in addressing diverse learning
styles.
3. The candidate must demonstrate
assistance to students from underrepresented
groups to encourage their retention and success
in classes as they move toward their goals, whether
they be occupational, transfer, or other.
Criteria
1. Demonstrated sensitivity to diverse learning styles as shown by specific
examples
2. Demonstrated help to students to encourage retention and success in classes
3. Demonstrated help to students to reach their goals, whether they be occupational,
transfer, or other
4. Demonstrated encouragement of students in encouraging them to become part
of campus life and activities
5. Demonstrated sensitivity to create a campus climate and environment friendly
to students of diverse backgrounds and interests
Regina
Stanback-Stroud
The award was named after the past president of the Academic Senate for California
Community Colleges Regina Stanback-Stroud. In her many roles she has originated,
advanced, and implemented many programs and policies that have significantly
increased the ability of the California community colleges to serve the diverse
population of the state, including student equity and affirmative action in
faculty hiring.
