Fresno City College leader speaks out for civil rights, educational opportunities

Our colleges and our communities are severely challenged in these uncertain times. We are in the midst of a pandemic, a looming economic crisis and extreme political divisiveness. On top of that is the realization that systemic racism has occurred far too long.

It is time for educators to re-examine our mission. We must ask ourselves, what kind of world do we want for our grandchildren? Now more than ever, we need to practice grace and civility with each other, in and out of the classroom.

Our nation is being tested like never before. These troubling times have challenged our fortitude and will continue to do so. The choices we make now will shape our country for several decades, and we will be judged for our actions by our children, grandchildren, and history.

The anguish of African Americans has been laid bare in the outrage around the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others. These crimes have left many of us filled with anger, frustration, and sorrow.

I feel for our African American students. While I do not profess to know how these senseless deaths are impacting them or fully understand what it feels like to be Black or brown, I have thought a lot about our role as educators and as propagators of the history of America and how oppressive we have been to many groups. It is time to profess that Black lives matter and should have always mattered.

Paul Freire, the great Brazilian educator and philosopher, wrote that the purpose of education is either to “facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity” or the “practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.”

Are we going to focus on turning out non-challenging, conforming adults or well-rounded citizens who can critically examine whatever situations they are faced with and choose what they perceive to be best?

Meanwhile, nationally, and locally, the political rhetoric is reaching new levels of divisiveness that is taking us into uncharted territory. Now, there is widespread disregard for science, history, and civil discourse, resulting in a decline of public trust in our country’s greatest asset — our educational system.

Our academic institutions, once revered as a “bastion of truth seekers,” are now tragically perceived as “promoters of a political agenda.” We now question the logic of scientists. We denounce the historians who account for our past. Our efforts as educators to encourage acceptance, kindness, collaboration, health, and safety are now derided as working toward a hidden agenda that turns people away from American values.

For example, the debate on wearing a mask. Public health officials have asked us to do so, yet there are many who debate the science, or claim their rights are being violated. As an educator, I support their right to speak out. As a parent, I want them to wear their mask as they speak.

We must continue to create opportunities through inclusive participation in appreciative inquiry to address barriers in attitudes and dispositions, politics and power, policies, structures, institutional culture, instructional and student services practices. My expectation is that we do so with civility.

The concept of a community college is uniquely American. The first word in our vocation is “community” and should not be taken lightly. For me, leading California’s first community college is laden with the responsibility to serve the public and to continually ask myself how we serve during these uncertain times.

My conclusion is community college leaders cannot be silent. We must speak out and stand up. We must ensure community colleges have a soul to nurture and improve the lives of people we serve. We must speak truth to power and convince our youth that their voice matters. We must stand against oppression and empower those who have been without voice to be part of the discourse. We must allow scientists to have the authority to speak and give historians the platform to tell our stories and guide our futures.