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Read more to find out the details about Rio Hondo Women’s Volleyball’s victory against ELAC on Wednesday, September 27. Thursday
FOLLOW US! @elpaisanomedia Vol. 67 Issue 2
October 5, 2023
ROADRUNNERS, YOU ARE NOT ALONE DEFERRED DREAMS TO DEAN THE SUPPORT GROUP “YOU ARE NOT ALONE” ON CAMPUS IS AVAILABLE TO ALL ROADRUNNERS DURING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH SIERRA URIBE @s3erra
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s October begins, many jump start to the excitement of the holidays beginning with Halloween. But in October many around the world honor the beginning of a month filled with awareness surrounding Domestic Violence. At Rio Hondo College, the You Are Not Alone Support Group is one of the many programs offered at the campus. This program is partnered with the East Los Angeles Women’s Center. It is a non profit organization that has been a great resource for survivors of both domestic violence and sexual assault. They provide counseling, peer support as well as therapy. The East Los Angeles Women’s Center started as a response by female latina community members who saw there was nothing that could be offered by victims besides law enforcement,” Daniela Herrerra, Rio Hondo Campus advocate, said. The non-profit Women’s center created the first bilingual crisis hotline that has been continuously running for 47 years. People are allowed to connect 24/7, one on one with trained advocates through a completely anonymous call. Callers are not asked to reveal any personal information such as their name. If callers seeking help want to mention that they go to Rio Hondo College they can and become linked to the support group on campus. “This is a place for them to talk if in crisis, victims can use it to get information or refer-
GIOVANNA HERNANDEZ @giovannahernandezofficial
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rals if needed” said Herrerra. The crisis center helps in other areas such as human trafficking and guides other groups such as youth, males, mothers or abusive families. The You Are Not Alone Support Group provides both sexual assault and domestic violence resources. “They are usually separate but here we put the two together, ‘we are unique’” said Herrerra. The workshops and events on campus are held in room SS207 and is led by East Los Angeles Women’s Center Therapist Madelin Melara. During every session, paintings and artwork are provided as topics discussed can be very harsh.
“We understand that everyone is diverse and we feel that art is universal and it allows a transfer of an energy onto a medium which can be produced into something beautiful”
- Herrerra.
This therapy can allow
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Monday, October 2. The Rio Hondo Source Room located on the upper quad of campus provides information for housing, food and referrals.
individuals to feel as if they can turn something so ugly into something beautiful or vice versa. The support group will meet every first and third Tuesday of every month for the rest of the semester. The You Are Not Alone Support group is in partnership with the Violence Intervention Program. They are under a federal grant called the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services which helps colleges provide services for students who have been impacted by sexual assault or domestic violence. With both the grant and the Violence Intervention Program coming into play, services become added such as basic needs support and extended to not only students but faculty on campus. “We know that individuals are going to be facing other challenges as well,” said Herrerra. The support group is open to any student on campus. “We want to make sure every student feels comfortable sharing their experiences before entering the support group,” said Herrerra. The group is “super trauma informed, incredibly inclusive and we do not just service women but all genders” said Herrerra. It is a safe space where students are welcomed to talk about their experiences or release traumatic experiences if they choose to. With the data and research showing that the numbers of domestic violence and sexual assault cases are extremely high for college students, the group was started with the hopes that students can bring their experiences to a judg-
hen you think of your school’s Dean, you think of the person who runs the division, your professor’s boss, but who are these people? Not their name or position, not even what their job description tells us who they are or how they got to where they are today, but, who they are? What is their story? Rio Hondo College’s Dean of Communications and Languages, Dr. Alice Mecom doesn’t only run the largest division on campus, she resembles what a true educator and now leader is, however, her story to success has been quite the journey. Dr. Mecom was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She’s the oldest of three children living with her. Both parents were educators. Her father was a high school art teacher, and her mother was a thirdgrade teacher. She attended Saint Joseph’s Academy, an allgirls high school that led her to continue her education attending Louisiana State University. Dr. Mecom said, “When I was young I didn’t want to be an educator because I wanted to be different and my parents were already teachers.” She found her own, true passions at a young age, being acting and cultural diversities. She mentioned, “I wanted to be a stage actress and study French so I got a bachelor’s in French and Theater.” During her college career, she was in plays, learned the language of French, and even studied abroad in France, there having no type of technology. With that, many life-changing opportunities arose including one that would have shifted the course of her life but was declined to pursue her relationship with her then-boyfriend. Dr. Mecom decided to get a Bachelor’s in ESL, saying, “Since having kids, I wasn’t planning on traveling to France or doing any acting on stage, so I completed my ESL career and pursued that with all my
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heart”. Dr. Mecom mentioned her love for traveling saying,“It’s so fun meeting different people and cultures from around the world”. Her dream location would be Montreal, Canada. She graduated college in 1994 and moved to Dallas, Texas, working as a community college instructor there as well. Then, in 1997 she and her then-husband packed and moved to Los Angeles, “it was extremely exciting in 1997 it was such a big spontaneous change” she said. After landing her first job at Los Angeles City College, Dr. Mecom found out she was pregnant with the first of two beautiful boys, Luke and Michael. After a divorce at 34 years old, she took a step starting her long-term job at Glendale Community College as a professor, working there for 15 years. “I really enjoyed working there, but I used to think my boss could do a better job so I went back to school to get my Doctorate and become the boss”, she said. Instead of complaining about how she could do a better job, she decided to go to school and do something about it. Dr. Mecom believed she was able to be a good leader so she used that and achieved her doctorate degree in 2011. Shortly after, she got her first big job with her degree at Pasadena City College. After conflicts with the job, she applied to her current post at Rio Hondo College in October of 2016. “My favorite thing about my job is being a part of a leadership role, a team, helping students, in a positive and productive way”, she said. Dr. Mecom is in charge of supporting the faculty here at Rio Hondo College. She creates schedules, hires and evaluates faculty, solves any issues, or anything that needs attention, and resolves any sort of conflict. She is responsible for the largest division on campus which is anything related to, communica(continues on page 4)