Felony record didn’t stop Fresno City College’s top graduate from succeeding

Staring at a lengthy sentence in 2019 after being stopped driving her boyfriend’s truck where police discovered a stolen gun, Angela Ray Grantham agreed to a plea agreement so that she could rejoin her two daughters.

However, having a felony on her record kept her from holding onto jobs once her employers discovered her past.

“Against the advice of my public defender, I signed the plea agreement,” said Grantham, a Latina. “I knew the strike would remain on my record, but my priority was getting back home to my daughters.”

She got back with her daughters, but couldn’t hold cashier’s jobs due to a single charge of residential burglary that stuck after felony charges including grand theft of a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm in public, and possession of metal knuckles were dropped.

Grantham spent 310 days in Fresno County Jail, and was given three years of probation. However, a change in state law cut her probation down to two years. It ended on Jan. 6, 2022.

Friday (June 19), Grantham will lead the Fresno City College Class of 2023 into Ratcliffe Stadium after earning the Tony Cantú President’s Medallion. She was the dean’s medallion choice from the Applied Technology Division.

“It means the world to me. I’m not used to getting recognized like that,” said Gratham, who was given the award from Fresno City College President Robert Pimentel at a May 11 ceremony.

“I’ve put a lot of hard work into these last couple of semesters, and I’ve had to tell my 5-year-old daughter, ‘No, you know mom is doing homework.’”

Pimentel said Grantham’s story of determination and resilience “is one that captured my attention because it makes me feel like higher education will impact her and her family for generations to come.”

“Her story is like those of many of our students, yet rarely gets told,” said Pimentel. “The reason we don’t hear about these stories is because we don’t always have the honor to have them join us at our graduation.

“Oftentimes, life gets in the way and we never see them walk across that stage.”

Pimentel called Grantham “a true inspiration” to her daughters. “I’m sure they are as proud of you today as we are,” he said.

“I was a rough teenager”

Dr. Becky Barabé, dean of the Applied Technology Division, said Grantham is providing her daughters with a “roadmap to success.”

“This is an exciting legacy she is leading her family into, and setting them up for a bright future,” said Barabé. “It has taken a lot to get to this place for Angela as an adopted child, a foster kid and an unwed mother.”

Grantham admits she led a troubled childhood. She was adopted at age 5.

“I was a rough teenager and then placed in a group home without a chance of coming home,” said Grantham.

She was 22 years old when her oldest daughter, Clarissa Burrill, was born.

“She brought hope into my life and I changed my ways and my lifestyle,” she said. “I struggled to make everything work out. Eighteen years later, I’m still struggling. I’m tired of it.

“Hopefully, I am showing my daughters how hard you have to work to achieve such things, and how much the sacrifices we are making are going to be worth it.”

Grantham, 40, will graduate with an associate’s degree in heating, ventilation and air conditioning. She hopes to open up her own business and perhaps teach others those skills.

“Taking those classes opened up a lot of doors for me,” she said. “I didn’t realize that I could do certain things. I found out that I’m really good with my hands, fixing things and figuring things out. I want to go back to school and perfect my trade.”

After she got out of jail in 2019 during the pandemic, she quickly was hired at a major retail store.

“It was going perfectly,” said Grantham. “They were going to move me to the meat department and other stuff. Then they ran my record and they fired me.”

She got another cashier’s job, but was fired within a month after another background check.

That’s when she figured Fresno City College was the answer.

She had started there 12 years earlier in hopes of going into social work, but dropped out to work as a cashier.

“I figured I could just make a living as a cashier for the rest of my life,” said Grantham. “But it didn’t work out because of my (felony) charge.

She had found out about Fresno State’s Project Rebound, which supports higher education for those formerly incarcerated, while in jail.

“When I had no other choice, I figured I’m going back to school,” said Grantham, who was referred to the junior college’s Rising Scholars program.

She had many hoops to jump through. She was on academic probation. She was on financial aid probation. Her counselor, Hugo Olague, guided her.

Grantham is the first Rising Scholar graduate to earn a dean’s or president’s medallion.

“The doors are wide open for me right now,” she said.