The Guardsman, Vol. 171, Issue 8, City College of San Francisco

JORGE SANTANA TRIBUTE

EDUCATION & GAMING

Page 4

Page 9

UNDEFEATED BASKETBALL TEAM

Page 13

Vol. 171, Issue 8 | May 12 – May 25, 2021 | City College of San Francisco | Since 1935 | FREE | www.theguardsman.com

By Ava Cohen

avaocohen@gmail.com

At an April 29 board meeting, Trustees Aliya Chisti and Thea Shelby proposed a resolution to offer City College students the option to return to in-person learning in the Fall 2021 semester.

This call to reopen is now on the ta‐ ble for debate, as Trustee John Rizzo and a few members of the faculty stood to express their reservations for the plan.

Although the college’s faculty union AFT 2121 supports the goal of moving back to in-person learning, the proposi‐ tion “feels like a copy and paste of the SFUSD plans” to Mary Bravewoman, AFT 2121 vice president. “It might have been a well-intentioned but mal-in‐ formed decision,” Bravewoman said.

According to this plan, the chancel‐ lor would be working with the mayor’s office, city agencies, and city officials to “identify and align resources, leverage existing structures and identify funding gaps in how the City can assist CCSF with school reopening readiness.”

In the resolution, City College would also pledge to allocate funding to mental health resources, counseling, and other student support, as well as working to create more educational and emotional support for marginalized student com‐ munities, including but not limited to students with disabilities, homeless stu‐ dents, and Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian and Pacific Islander students.

However, City College has so far been planning their schedule for remote learning, and so they are not fully prepared

Pictured are some current faculty who are actively protesting the City College budget cuts, alongside some AFT 2121 members. Pictured left to right: Juan Gonzales, chair of the journalism department, Malaika Finkelstein, AFT2121 president, Mary Bravewoman, AFT2121 vice president, and Misha Antonich, instructor of broadcast electronic media arts.

Top-left photo by Jennifer Hsu/The Guardsman, others courtesy of those pictured.

to return to in-person learning as they do not have proper plans for ventilation nor protocols to ensure that everyone is follow‐ ing safe guidelines. Students have already had difficulty maintaining attendance through online learning, as the pandemic has cre‐ ated housing, financial, mental health, and job instability, and many care for family members who may be immuno-compromised.

“We cannot jerk our students around to a point of saying, ‘Yes, we’re going to do it in person,’ and then quickly change our minds,” said Bravewoman. “If we switch that up we’re going to lose those students and our enrollment will drop even further.”

Bravewoman said that there needs to be full consultation with everyone, and more accommodations and flexibility in order to correctly return to in-person learning. Be‐ yond students and teachers, this also in‐ cludes janitors, receptionists, and others who would be on campus and therefore be put at risk.

Malaika Finkelstein, the AFT 2121 president, agreed that there needs to be more consultation. “The resolution needs to go through the PGC committee,” she said.

The PGC, or Participatory Governance Committee, includes representatives for stu‐ dents, staff, faculty, and administration.

Both Finkelstein and Bravewoman feel that there needs to be more physical space accommodations to return safely. They said there needs to be better ventilation, smaller class sizes, more flexibility, and that it can’t be done all at once.

Part time faculty Richard Baum agrees

Resolution continues on p. 3

By JohnTaylor Wildfeuer and Annette Mullaney jt.wildfeuer@gmail.com; amullan4@mail.ccsf.edu

It has been 10 months since the Board of Trustees approved the hiring of Dr. Rajen Vurdien as interim chancellor, and in that time he has overseen a critical period in City College’s history.

“It was an interesting experience,” the chancellor said, “very challenging, and very eye opening. I think I learned a lot … and I’m glad I came.”

The interim chancellor, who came out of retirement to take on the position, has likened addressing City College’s financial crisis to righting the ship. As he prepares to leave the helm, faculty, their union AFT 2121, and the Board of Trustees

continue to work to reconcile salaries, employment, and program offerings with his administration’s Multi-Year Budget Plan.

On June 30 the chancellor’s contract will expire, leaving the position vacant with no permanent chan‐ cellor to take his place until Oct. 1, as the Board of Trustees delay choosing a candidate while focusing on budget negotiations and faculty loss mitigations with AFT 2121, and to allow time to attract a larger pool of qualified candidates.

Vurdien, on whether he would consider extending his chancellorship if asked by the board, said, “I can‐ not speak about that.” Currently, there will be at least

a three-month gap until a permanent chancellor is hired, due to a pause in the hiring search from July 1 to Sept. 30.

Several administrators and assistants declined requests to provide comment on their year working with the interim chancellor.

For City College, the current moment is both familiar and unprecedented, and with it comes a heightened level of public and administrative dialogue over budget reconcil‐ iation, faculty cuts, and other items of public concern. Vur‐ dien instituted monthly open forums, in which he spoke directly to the college community and provided some space

Interim chancellor continues on p. 3

Vol. 171, Issue 8 | May 12 - May 25, 2021

By Samya Brohmi sbrohmi@gmail.com

After one year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and 10 years of financial insecurity, students and faculty at City College are not unaccustomed to seeing their certificate programs flourish and falter, or sometimes hang in suspense, their futures uncertain.

On April 26, Interim Chancellor Rajen Vurdien an‐ nounced that City College received formal notification from the California State Fire Marshal and State Board of Fire Services that the school’s Firefighter 1 Academy was accred‐ ited as a regional training program.

Jim Connors, department chair of administration of justice and fire science technology, said the notification of the program allows for five years of accreditation and for instructors to continue training 50 students a year to state standards.

Graduates of the academy will receive the Firefighter 1 “Educational” Certificate, granting them eligibility to work as fire professionals in California. Connors also shared that the academy will be moving from City College’s Airport

Campus to the John Adams Center once construction of the new training grounds finishes. “The move will allow us a lot of stability. We’re very lucky, very fortunate,” he explained.

The academy currently shares its space with the Aero‐ nautics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology Program, whose lease at the San Francisco International Airport ex‐ pired at the end of 2020 with only 75 students enrolled.

“Eight years ago, Aeronautics was on the verge of being shut down. It’s a real shame,” Connors recalled when asked how the neighboring program was faring.

In March of 2020, City College announced that the pro‐ gram would be moved to the Evans Campus. The decision was protested by faculty and their representatives, who in‐ sisted that the campus would not be able to accommodate the program’s needs and would compromise its eligibility for certification from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Now the program is at risk of being cut completely, months after the relocation to the Evans campus was indefi‐ nitely postponed. Students are left with no guarantee of whether they will be able to complete the certificate program or transfer to a four-year university.

In February, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton co-hosted a “Save the CCSF Airport Campus” public forum with the San Francisco Labor Council and City College Associated Students.

In attendance was Supervisor Gordon Mar who pro‐ posed that he and the Board of Supervisors could follow up with the airport to “try to find space for this important program” and promised allyship with City College stu‐ dents in overcoming issues with City College’s administration.

Despite attendees' calls to Chancellor Vurdien and other administrators to attend and answer their critical questions about saving the program, no administrators attended the forum. The administration instead sent Di‐ rector of Media Rosie Zepeda to share a prepared state‐ ment on their behalf. Zepeda was unable to answer ques‐ tions or stay for the entirety of the session.

In an interview with the San Francisco Examiner, Zepeda expanded on her statement to the forum’s atten‐ dees and shared that the administration had initiated a formal process called the “program revitalization, suspen‐ sion and discontinuation” process. Zepeda explained the process aims to root itself in policy, specifically concerning the Aeronautics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology Program.

A committee of faculty, administrators, and students has been formed to plan the program’s future. After re‐ view, the plan will be passed on to the Academic Senate for recommendations, who will in turn pass it on to the chancellor.

A final decision may be made by the Board of Trustees depending on the previous parties’ recommendations.

Zepeda added that the college is still looking at the possi‐ bility of relocating the program to the Evans Campus as a stable long-term location.

BRIEF

Student Council Election Results are In

By Garrett Leahy @leahygarrett

It’s official, the election results for 2021’s Associated Student Council at City College have been counted and verified by 2021 ASCO Election Commissioner Samantha Do. With this election, there is a new student vice chancellor, student trustee, president of the John Adams and Ocean campuses, and a slew of new student senators for the Ocean campus, nearly all of whom are students of color.

Newly elected Student Trustee Juan “Malinalli” Villalobos will provide an advisory vote on the Board of Trustees. Heather Brandt is Ocean Campus’ new president of the campus council. They will begin their terms, along with their new colleagues, on June 1.

The updated Ocean Codes also passed in a 201-53 vote, meaning that starting next term, students will be able to intern with the Associated Student Council, primarily by shadowing subcommittees, an opportunity for students interested in student government to learn about the duties of elected student government officials.

The full list of winners can be found on the City College website.

Illustration by Erin Blackwell/ The Guardsman.

Staff Editors-in-Chief Eleni Balakrishnan Alexa Bautista News Editor John Taylor Wildfeuer

Culture Editor Hannah Asuncion Opinion Editor Tim Hill Sports Editor Kaiyo Funaki

Photo Editor Carmen Marin Copy Editors Tobin Jones Sadie Peckens Design Director Manon Cadenaule

Social Media Editor Annette Mullaney Staff Writers Colton Webster Ava Cohen Angela Greco Garrett Leahy

Shayna Gee Casey Michie Samya Brohmi Illustrators Daina Medveder Koziot Erin Blackwell

Serena Sacharoff Photographer Melvin Wong

Vol. 171, Issue 8 | May 12 - May 25, 2021

City College Interim Chancellor Dr. Rajen Vurdien speaks to The Guardsman in a Zoom interview from his office at Ocean Campus on August 31, 2020. Photo by Emily Trinh/The Guardsman.

Interim chancellor continued from p. 1 for questions. To date he Vurdien has held 11 such events.

City College enrollment, and its 10-year downward trajectory, has been a recurring topic for debate in the chancellor’s monthly forums and Board of Trustees meetings.

“The college has a major fiscal problem. It is not something that happened overnight … it is something that has happened over the years,” Chancellor Vurdien said, “And it can‐ not be fixed overnight.”

At the forefront of these issues, according to the chancellor, is chronic under-enrollment caused in part by having too many course offerings.

“We are offering too many sections,” Vur‐ dien said, “and we are allowing sections to be half empty.”

On solving that problem, Vurdien said, “Next year’s schedule is going to be more effi‐ cient ... If we put a class there our goal is to have that class probably 96% or 97% full ...

Currently those classes are filling at about 70%.

You can’t continue like that.”

Vurdien partially attributes this decline to long-term demographic changes in San Fran‐ cisco, and general population stagnation. “In fact, it has been declining,” Vurdien said. “Not significantly, but there is a slow decline in that population.”

Specifically, Vurdien cited decreases in the number of K-12 students in the city’s public school district, and in the number of immigrants coming to San Francisco. Of the latter, he asserted that the “immigrants that are coming in don’t seem to need com‐ munity college instruction.”

As evidence, the interim chancellor cited low enrollment, saying, “In the ESL [English as a Second Language] programs we are running classes with 10 or 12 students.”

The chancellor went on to assert that, in addition to course consolidation, efforts are being made to increase enrollment in these programs. “We are doing everything we can,” he said, adding, “Right now, with a pandemic … even now we’re trying to do in-person registration for ESL and noncredit.”

Ten years from now, Vurdien would like to see City College “have a system where it will be able to pay for its expenditures.”

“Once in a while you may perhaps overspend,” he said, “but that should not be the norm.”

To this point Vurdien added a dire warn‐ ing, saying, “That’s a requirement to exist as an institution, for accreditation.”

The consequences of losing accreditation would be severe. “If the college loses its

accreditation, your degree is worth noth‐ ing,” Vurdien said.

Transferring students, too, will be affected. “The credits you get here will be worth nothing because the CSUs won’t ac‐ cept them; the UCs won’t accept them,” Vurdien added.

Last November, at his urging, the Board of Trustees approved Vurdien’s Multi-Year Budget and Enrollment Plan, which sought a 27% decrease in spending and targeted at least 600 class sections for elimination.

Three months later, instructors return‐ ing to class for the spring semester were met with news that the college would begin issu‐ ing pink slips to faculty. AFT 2121 presi‐ dent Malaika Finklestein, reacting to both the substance and timing of the news, sum‐ marized the message sent to staff as effec‐ tively saying, “Welcome back, maybe we’ll lay you off.”

Broadly, Vurdien and the City College administration’s handling of the institu‐ tion’s budget crises has provoked strong op‐ position and emotional public comment from labor and student organizations, as well as individual faculty and student com‐ munity members, who see these proposals as a deliberate reduction of the institution.

A March tweet from AFT 2121 said the

chancellor’s policies amounted to an attempt to “cut our college in half right when our city will need it most.” On Friday, after sev‐ eral weeks of protests and negotiations, AFT 2121 and the school administration reached a tentative agreement to rescind all full-time faculty layoff notices.

Asked if he had any advice for his as-yet unnamed successor, Vurdien demurred, saying, “I don’t think it is really appropriate for me to give any advice to any incoming CEO, because I wouldn’t be there. Situa‐ tions will change … the environment would be different.”

Instead, he hoped that the next chan‐ cellor would “come in and do his or her own evaluation.”

As a rationale for this stance, Chancel‐ lor Vurdien cited an interview with George H.W. Bush. “His son was elected president in 2000 … [and he was] asked that ques‐ tion, ‘So what advice do you have for your son?’” Vurdien said. “I thought it was bril‐ liant — he said, ‘I had my chance to run the country for four years, I did the best I could. It’s his turn now, he is president, he knows the issues, he knows what is going on.

I don’t have any advice for him other than well go ahead and do what you have to do.’”

Resolution continued from p.1 that it’s better to take a precautionary approach too, and feels that there would need to be a guarantee that everyone is vaccinated upon return, except for cases where people have health concerns that would disallow them from receiv‐ ing the vaccine.

“I don’t have the confidence that City College would be the safest and healthiest place right now,” said Baum.

Finkelstein mentioned the administration had an idea to have building monitors, which she thought was a good idea until they proposed that teachers assume that role.

“If there’s a student who refuses to wear a mask,” said

Finkelstein, “I cannot and will not be expected to address it. Faculty should not be expected to.”

This small interaction highlights the ongoing frustra‐ tions faculty members and union representatives have re‐ ported as AFT 2121 has been fighting for a resolution to the administration handing out pink slips to over 65% of fac‐ ulty. On Friday, the administration and the union finally reached an agreement to rescind all full-time faculty layoff notices, with salary reductions and other concessions expected.

“We are being asked to make wage concessions,” said

Finkelstein. Finkelstein acknowledged that faculty will likely have to make some sacrifices to reach a solution. “We need our college to survive.”

“The administration budget they’ve given us has some holes in it; there’s more money available to spend than they’re saying,” said Finkelstein. AFT 2121 is currently re‐ viewing the college’s budget to propose a more efficient plan that they believe would benefit everyone at City College.

The union is seeking a budget plan with sustainable solutions to budgeting problems, rather than what they see as short-lived solutions, such as cutting classes.

“A one time fix is not enough,” said Bravewoman.

Vol. 171, Issue 8 | May 12 - May 25, 2021

In partnership with Mission Arts 415, and painted by Mark Bode, the Santana Family Mural was commissioned by Annie Rodriguez and the Santanas. The mural debuted April 11, 2021, on a wall of the San Francisco's 24th Street BART plaza. Courtesy photo by Lisa Brewer/The Guardsman

By Tobin Jones

tobinjones@protonmail.com

When Annie Rodriguez approached her friend Jorge Santana about commissioning a mural in his honor, she never could have predicted that it would be a eulogy.

But after Jorge, frontman of the seminal San Francisco Latin rock band Malo, and younger sibling to the legendary musician Carlos Santana, passed away from a heart attack last May, in the midst of the painting process, the project took on an even deeper significance for Rodriguez.

“Jorge was a great friend of mine, and I want to make sure that his excitement about the mural came to fruition,” she said.

Rodriguez, an educator and photographer who helps run the organization Latin Rock Inc, first heard about the piece, La Familia Santana, as it was proposed to her and other neighborhood artists and activists by musician Michael Carabello. Carabello, who played congas with the Carlos Santana band from 1968 to 1971, wanted to commission a mural depicting Carlos, the late storied local music promoter Bill Graham, and himself, somewhere in the Mission District.

This vision never came to fruition, but it inspired Rodriguez to reach out to Jorge Santana and pitch him the idea of a mural in his honor.

Jorge was interested, but wanted the piece to be a tribute not just to him, but the entire Santana family, including Carlos, their parents José and Josefina, and Carlos's son Salvador, a well known keyboardist in his own right.

“Jorge said, 'I want my brother Carlos on this mural, I want myself in the middle, I want my mom and dad there, and I want my nephew Salvador,” said Lisa Brewer, a neighborhood gallery owner and co-founder of the nonprofit group Mission Arts 415, which commissions murals in the area. “And he picked out the color jackets they wore, the jewelry, the guitars they were playing — he picked out every detail of that mural's design.”

Rodriguez and Santana spent almost three years raising funds, securing the wall at the 24th Street BART plaza, and planning the piece. They Faculty Advisor Juan Gonzales

Follow us

Twitter @theguardsman Instagram @CCSFjournalism

theguardsman.com ccsfjournalism.com

Facebook @theguardsman

were assisted by Brewer and her partner and co-director Randolph Bowles, as well as Malo guitarist Dr. Bernardo D. Gonzalez, who now runs a dental practice in the Mission. To head the physical painting process, they recruited the well-known underground cartoonist Mark Bode.

BRIEF

A Family’s Journey

Both Jorge and his older brother Carlos were born in Autlán de Navarro, in the western Mexican state of Jalisco.

At a young age, the family moved to Tijuana, where Carlos and their father Jose earned money playing mariachi music on the streets and in the strip joints which dotted Avenida Revolución, the city's main tourist drag. In the early 1960s, they moved north to San Francisco, settling in the Mission District and attending Mission High School.

After finishing classes for the day, Carlos and Jorge would often head to the 24th Street BART plaza, where they would busk with friends.

Both would find success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with Carlos rocketing to mega stardom with hits such as “Black Magic Woman,” and a raucous, psychedelic rock rendition of Tito Puente's “Oye Como Va.” The Santana band's performance of “Soul Sacrifice” at the 1968 Woodstock Festival would become one of the event's most iconic.

Jorge fronted the band Malo, best known for their 1972 hit “Suavecito,” which some have called the Chicano national anthem. While Jorge never reached the same heights of fame as his big brother, Malo is regarded as one of the most important bands of Latin rock genre.

On April 11, the mural team gathered at the 24th Street BART station to bless the nearly completed project. As the Danza Xitlalli troupe and a duo of drummers performed, Rodriguez was unable to contain her emotion.

“The tears rolled down,” she said. “I felt that Jorge was present.”

For Rodriguez, despite the other figures depicted in La Familia Santana, the mural is, at its heart, a tribute to her friend.

“We're honoring Jorge Santana. We love Carlos, we love Salvador, we love his parents, but this is really in honor of Jorge Santana,” she said.

YouTube theguardsmanonline

By Angela Greco

a_greco511@yahoo.com

One of the Bay Area’s most historic works of art, Diego Rivera’s Pan American Unity mural, has officially begun its move from City College’s Ocean Campus to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) for free display and a temporary home. Meanwhile, the Diego Rivera theater that housed the mural since 1961 will undergo renovations.

Following the removal of the mural’s 10 “fresco” panels, Interim Chancellor Rajen Vurdien relayed that “the process to remove and protect the mural for relocation to SFMOMA for display has taken several years and luckily everything went very well.”

The mural will reside in the Robert’s Family Gallery, on the ground level of the museum, free of charge from the summer of 2021 until the fall of 2023. The display will eventually coincide with Diego Rivera’s “America” exhibit which will open in 2022.

Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI), a non-profit organization that develops digital tools to preserve cultural artifacts, received a grant last year to document the mural before its move. According to CHI founder and director Carla Schroer, they are currently working with Stanford Libraries to have the high-resolution imaging available for public viewing by June, also in sync with the opening at the SFMOMA. The mural will eventually be housed in a new theater, the Performing Arts and Education Center, for which construction is projected for completion by 2026. Where the mural will be stored following the SFMOMA display and while awaiting the new theater is still in discussion.

Contact Us

advertise theguardsman.com info@theguardsman.com (415) 239-3446 Mailing Address

50 Frida Kahlo Way, Box V-67 SanFrancisco,CA 94112 Bungalow 615

Vol. 171, Issue 8 | May 12 - May 25, 2021

By Shayna Gee

sgee23@mail.ccsf.edu

The Whales fountain sculpture by Robert Boardman Howard sat under tarps in a fenced lot for almost a decade and half at City College’s Ocean Campus before it was moved to a fine arts storage facility in Oakland in 2019. The 80-year-old, 13-foot high sculpture remains secure along with other works from the Civic Art Collection.

For half a century, the sculpture was admired at the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences until the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) purchased it after the renovation of the Academy of Sciences in 2004.

It needed a place to go and was eventually stored at Ocean Campus behind the now-demolished bungalows, where the whales bondaged by straps could be seen by passersby.

Born in New York City on September 20, 1896, Howard shortly after moved to the Bay Area where he grew up to become a prominent artist of many San Francisco paintings and sculptures. In a Sept. 16, 1964 oral history interview with Howard from the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, he talked about his background, federal support for the arts, and early paintings including The Whales, which are commonly mistaken for dolphins.

“They are really killer whales,” Howard clarified.

Over 1,200 engagements were made on a March 8 post of Sunnyside History Project’s article “The Whales: Yet to be Saved,” in the Facebook group San Francisco Remembered.

Sunnyside recounted a brief history of The Whales, initially built for interior viewing at the Golden Gate International Exposition at Treasure Island in 1939, and their journey around the city. The article also highlighted Howard’s other San Francisco works of art including The Phoenix at Coit Tower and Power and Light at South of

Market’s PG&E. Facebook commenters reacted to the shared article. “I have many childhood memories of getting off of the 10Monterey bus in front of the De Young Museum and making a beeline towards those whales to enter the Planetarium and the Steinhart Aquarium,” said Maria Iclea Kava in response to the article, sharing a black and white photo of The Whales.

“Right now it resides under wraps a few blocks from my house. I sincerely hope that it will be installed where it can once again be a source of beauty and inspiration for our city’s citizens,” commented Jane Solis Schafgans.

Many commenters expressed their wish to see the sculpture restored in the concourse of Golden Gate Park.

Others suggested placement near the Maritime Museum or the Exploratorium, while dozens simply left hopeful notes that it finds a home, having been in storage for more than a decade.

With recent demolition and construction at the Ocean Campus, anthropology professor and City College’s Works of Art Committee member, Barbara Lass said, “The Arts Commission has now moved them to an off campus storage site pending installation at CCSF, but the Works of Art Committee does not know where or when that will happen.”

Lass noted that the Works of Art Committee is only an advisory committee and does not have decision making power on the sculpture owned by SFAC. While many San Franciscans have fond memories like sharing lunch under the iconic sculpture or playing around during field trips, it is unlikely that The Whales will be restored within the Golden Gate Park area.

According to public records from SFAC, numerous City College staff, faculty, and administration and the Works of Art Committee have been in conversation with Senior Registrar, Allison Cummings at SFAC discussing options for a permanent location and restoration of the piece.

“The sculpture was initially damaged during the move to City College because the relocation protocols that the Arts Commission prescribed were not followed by the Academy of Science’s general contractor,” Allison Cummings wrote in a 2018 email.

Since the pandemic, SFAC’s Civic Art Collection and conservation projects budget has been severely impacted.

“Our budget was cut by 90% and our focus remains limited to emergency response and vandalism,” Cummings said.

Cummings estimated that the cost of restoration and installment would total $400,000. With the slashed budgets that support conversation projects such as The Whales, “We believe the $400,000 budget is still viable. Should the project move forward, we would evaluate it more closely,” Cummings said.

Where are The Whales now? The exact location remains unknown for security reasons, but Cummings said the sculpture is secure in the Oakland storage facility. While Cummings and Lass had discussed making the sculpture a permanent installation at City College’s Ocean Campus after restoration, “these plans are currently on hold along with other collection restoration projects until budgets are stabilized,” Cummings said.

Long time San Franciscans who miss The Whales will have to hold on a little longer before the sculpture emerges for public enjoyment again.

One of many homes of "The Whales" prior to City College was in front of the Morrison Planetarium. Photo taken in 1960, courtesy of OpenSFHistory / wnp27.5859

Vol. 171, Issue 8 | May 12 - May 25, 2021

Illustration by Manon Cadenaule/ The Guardsman. Instagram: @cadenaulem

By Jen Balderama Originally published in the Washington Post

W

hen I was 18 years old, community college saved my life. It was the mid-1990s, and I was a ballet dancer — or had been, until a series of injuries, exacerbated by an eating disorder, made it clear that to continue dancing would mean years of struggle and pain.

So I quit. But quitting didn’t end my problems. I still had bum ankles, and a damaged sense of self. Having for years devoted almost every conscious hour outside school to train‐ ing and performing, I found myself rootless, grieving and dangerously depressed.

Then in the mail one day, a catalogue: City College of San Francisco, it said. Its pages were filled with information on something called “matriculation” and mysterious capital letters in teeny-tiny print: ANTH, ASAM, ECON, IDST. I read that catalogue with curiosity — and then, for the first time in months, with hope.

I would eventually learn that hope is fundamental to community college’s purpose. On campus — on the southern edge of the city, on a site often shrouded in bone-chilling fog — I sat alongside students of diverse origin and motive, young, old, ambitious, ambivalent, razor-focused, confused.

Few of us had much money. All of us were searching.

Before the covid-19 pandemic, nearly 5.4 million stu‐ dents were enrolled in such public two-year colleges, accord‐ ing to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

By last fall, that number had dropped by 10 percent — a troubling decline in a nation that relies on these colleges as a training ground for workers in a range of essential trades, without which America could not function: health care, in‐ formation technology, mechanical engineering, firefighting, early childhood education.

This is one reason to cheer President Biden’s $1.8 tril‐ lion American Families Plan — which proposes, among other initiatives, to pay for two years of community college. This “down payment on the future of America,” as the adminis‐ tration describes it, will no doubt be crucial to driving enroll‐ ments at community colleges as the country reopens and rebuilds.

First lady Jill Biden, herself a longtime community col‐ lege professor, has said these institutions are “our most pow‐ erful engine of prosperity.” They’re also a significant force in the movement for economic, racial and social equity. They frequently serve immigrants, communities of color and lowincome students, putting higher education — and thus the opportunity to rise — within reach for those who might oth‐ erwise be forced to choose between taking that biotech class or putting food on the table.

My community college experience wasn’t free, but it felt

“

And soon, sure enough, two things happened that changed the course of my life.

”

Illustration by Manon Cadenaule/ The Guardsman. Instagram: @cadenaulem

close — $13 a credit, manageable on barista pay (my first post-ballet job). It was also a safe, stable haven, just as it is for many students who might otherwise endlessly drift.

People who had terrible high-school grades and are trying to get back on track. Who can’t afford tuition at four-year institutions. Who need the counseling, career guidance and additional support services the colleges offer to home‐ less and other at-risk students, to veterans, to foster youth.

Or who simply seek the structure and inspiration an edu‐ cational environment can provide.

I bounced from psychology to gender studies, philosophy to astronomy. I fretted about being objectless, but a counselor said take your time, it’ll fall into place. And soon, sure enough, two things happened that changed the course of my life.

One: In an English class, my professor inserted a hy‐ phen into a word in an essay I’d written, in red pen. When I asked why, she said, “Because it’s correct. Hyphens are as integral to clear writing as anything else.” A hyphen mat‐ tered that much? Maybe I wanted to be like her when I grew up.

Two: I enrolled in a newswriting course, thinking it would teach me basic interviewing skills, important to my career as . . . maybe . . . a cultural anthropologist?

Thanks to that class, I picked up the student newspaper — strong, though I noticed quite a few errors that would have given my English professor a stroke. Armed with my new‐ found hyphen skills, I took the paper to my journalism professor and asked, “Could you use some help?”

I ended up as a volunteer proofreader on that paper.

In subsequent semesters I joined the staff, learned to copyedit and compose headlines. In short: I was on my way to acquiring a trade — one the Founders, in conceiving our nation’s democracy, had happened to deem essential.

I rode that trade to a summer internship, to starter jobs in small newsrooms, to bigger jobs in bigger newsrooms — all without having earned even an associate’s degree. Com‐ munity college set me on that path. It also, thanks to a ballroom class populated by impressively nimble senior citizens, got me back into dancing. It gave me community — and gave me back myself.

Vol. 171, Issue 8 | May 12 - May 25, 2021

Rewarding the right things.

By Matt Reed Originally published in Inside Higher Ed

If you haven’t seen the piece by Jen Balderama in The Washington Post this week, I recommend it. It’s an autobio‐ graphical account of how the City College of San Fran‐ cisco, a community college, saved her from drifting and put her on the path to a successful career. (She’s currently an editor at The Washington Post, having previously been one at The New York Review of Books.)

The kicker, which she is gracious enough to imply without saying, is that she didn’t graduate. In current “accountability” or “performance-based” metrics, she’d count as a dropout. She’d be a statistic held against the college that, by her own account, changed her life for the better. The college would be punished for the outcome she celebrates.

We all know students like her. They didn’t graduate, or they didn’t graduate within the allotted time, but they look back with gratitude on their time in community col‐ lege. It provided stability, safety and hope at a time when none of those could be taken for granted.

The secret ingredient, I think, is respect. Students who show up at community colleges have frequently been kicked around in other places. They’ve had checkered high school experiences, or difficult family circumstances, or maybe they’ve been working low-wage jobs for years.

Highly rejective colleges often wouldn’t look at them, and for-profits would try to fleece them. Maybe they have com‐ plicated family lives. Maybe they just haven’t figured out what they want to do yet.

At their best, community colleges meet students where they are and help them discover much more. And they do it without passing judgment on the paths that brought stu‐ dents there.

Parts of Balderama’s piece feel like artifacts from a time capsule. She mentions tuition of $13 per credit, which is no longer true even in California. (California has long had some of the lowest tuition in the country.) Decades of disin‐ vestment have forced tuition higher, to students’ detriment.

She also mentions the late, lamented paper catalog. Paper catalogs have largely been replaced by online course listings.

That makes sense in a few obvious ways -- it saves printing and postage costs, and it’s much easier to update online listings in real time -- but there’s something to be said for poring over a paper catalog at one’s leisure. I have to wonder if we lost something when we made the shift.

I had to smile a bit wistfully at the mention of a coun‐ selor who told her to take her time. That’s the opposite of the advice we’re supposed to give now. Now, it’s all about identifying a goal early and avoiding any “unnecessary” classes. That’s understandable, given how much more ex‐ pensive the world is now, but sometimes it’s those oddball diversions that generate unexpected sparks.

Given decades of disinvestment and an increasingly polarized political economy, community colleges have had to become much more efficient, which is good and bad.

Efficiency is great when the goal is clear: for example, new LED lighting is both cheaper and lower-maintenance than the previous generation of lighting, and it’s just as bright.

That kind of efficiency is a pure gain. But efficiency in reducing exploration is more of a mixed result. More stu‐ dents finish, which is good. Possibly fewer have those posi‐ tive surprises that Balderama notes changed her life. That’s less good.

Still, the core of her story remains true. Retention and graduation matter, but reducing a college’s performance to those numbers erases stories like hers. Stories like hers are why we do what we do. She’s a successful journalist with a national profile; CCSF shouldn’t be punished for that.

In a more egalitarian economy, one might object, it would be reasonable to take a more holistic view of student success, but this is economic war: man the battle stations!

And there’s some truth in that. Ultimately, colleges exist in a much larger society over which they have little control, and to which they need to adapt. But stories like hers should remind us not to cut down the future to the size of the present. Education is inherently idealistic; by definition, it puts faith in what has not yet been seen. If we lose sight of that, we will have lost something crucial. I don’t want to shortchange the next Jen Balderama.

Illustration by Manon Cadenaule/ The Guardsman. Instagram: @cadenaulem

Casey Michie

cmichie1@mail.ccsf.edu

The rollout of vaccinations is slowly bringing the COVID-19 pandemic to an end, and as we make our march towards a return to normalcy, we must not forget the shortfalls of U.S. social policy that the pandemic has made glaringly obvious. Similar to the Great Depression in the 1930s, which catalyzed policymakers into action with the eventual signing of the Social Security Act, lawmakers must once again create and reform legislation to better protect the citizens of America.

According to research by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, unemployment rates during the pandemic hit a

peak of 14.7%, with one in five Americans reporting difficulty paying rent. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that of those that have applied for unemployment insurance, less than 60% have actually received any benefits. While the unem‐ ployment figures are an inherent cost of shuttering business to slow the spread of the pandemic, the failure of getting benefits to people in need is a clear sign that updating social security for the modern era is necessary.

Further compounding the woes felt by the unemployed, an estimated 12 million Americans lost health coverage along with their jobs. While healthcare has been a controversial topic in Washington, the fact that millions of Americans have lost access to healthcare amidst a pandemic is a dire issue in need of

address. Lawmakers must learn from the failures of the current system and prioritize health reform to ensure affordable healthcare as a right to all Ameri‐ can citizens.

Critics will often point to a common counterargument, namely the government cost of funding new social programs. While fiscal responsibility is an important consideration, improved social policy does not necessarily equate to higher costs. A research study published in PLOS Medicine Journal found that all 22 single-payer health systems that were ana‐ lyzed in their research resulted in long-term net

Social policy continues on p. 8

Vol. 171, Issue 8 | May 12 - May 25, 2021

By Loretta Bonifacio datubonifacio@gmail.com

Picture this: a masked crowd of overworked, un‐ derpaid janitors picketing for fair pay and access to healthcare in front of the Salesforce Tower, San Francisco’s tallest building. Salesforce is the leading customer relationship management software com‐ pany valued at $180 billion; the very same company that paid zero dollars in federal income taxes in 2020.

Salesforce’s reimagined ivory tower has equally affluent neighbors in the SoMa district; Google, Facebook, and Twitter occupy nearby offices. What do these tech giants have in common, aside from their profit margins?

These companies contract with the building ser‐ vice providers, Able Services and ABM Industries, who employ janitors from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 87.

Many of the janitors were furloughed when the pandemic prompted office closures, but they are now seeking to return to work as the city’s reopening efforts continuously improve.

The union reports that the majority of workers on strike are over 3,000 immigrant women of color fighting for equitable contracts that feature sick pay, wage increases, comprehensive health coverage, sex‐ ual harassment protections, and improved ventila‐ tion in the workplace.

Local 87 was one of the first SEIU locals estab‐ lished in the 1930s by George Hardy to represent janitors who worked in San Francisco office build‐ ings. Today, Local 87 prioritizes immigrant justice through political mobilization, legislative action, and member education.

The singular scene depicted above from March 24 was part of a three-day strike orchestrated after eight months of ongoing contract negotiations with Able Services and ABM Industries. The struggle is characteristic of a modern-day, COVID-era San Francisco, where janitors must crusade for protec‐ tions that should be inherently provided to them.

Since March 2020, janitors across the country have worked without sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE), like a regular rotation of masks and hand sanitizers.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 has devastated vari‐ ous workers in the service industry. In January 2021, UCSF found that 40% of workers in agriculture and food service doubled their risk of fatal infection. Lati‐ nos in those industries saw an increased chance of death at 60%.

Similarly, the Local 87 reported that at least 26

members died from COVID-19. The death of jani‐ tor and union member Alvaro Ruiz was a sobering loss that echoed Local 87’s motivations.

“We are essential, not expendable,” said janitor and Local 87 executive board member Ramiro Ro‐ driguez. “We’ve risked our health to keep our coun‐ try as clean and safe as possible. But who is looking out for us?"

The San Francisco Maintenance Contractors Association, which represents Able Services and ABM Industries, said that negotiations with Local 87 are ongoing. A compromise has yet to be reached.

San Francisco is not terribly old and its organized labor struggles are anything but new. Instructor of Labor and Community Studies Fred Glass, cited the Gold Rush of 1849 as a catalyst for California’s storied labor movement.

In his 2016 book, “From Mission to Microchip: A History of the California Labor Movement,” Glass noted that groups of workers understood, even then, the power of collective action.

When the cost of living reached exorbitant heights in November 1849, San Francisco carpenters lobbied for a daily wage increase of $12 to $16. After their employer rejected the increase, the carpenters mobilized in what would become the first recorded California labor strike. Their efforts landed on a compromised $1 increase of $13 and later, $14 per day.

One year later in 1850, newspaper printers founded the San Francisco Typographic Society.

This would be the first union local founded on the West Coast.

Currently, there are 37 unions that represent employees in the City and County of San Francisco.

From bricklayers to dentists, the employees under these unions enjoy the benefits of collective bargain‐ ing to leverage a safer, more democratic working environment.

The Local 87’s latest endeavor is to have all mem‐ bers vaccinated. When vaccine eligibility opened statewide for individuals over 16 on April 15, the feeling of optimism has never felt more palpable.

Upon reflecting on this piece and other journal‐ istic writings this past year, a common theme that’s emerged is reckoning with loss, namely death. Death should never precede action, but we’re a country and state of extremes. Action is our ultimatum, our go-to tendency when pressure is applied and the center can no longer hold. But inaction, the state of convenient tolerance, might be worse. We could all learn from Local 87’s optimistic pursuit of a more ethical, promising existence. Our greatest work can’t happen without it.

Illustration by Serena Sacharoff/The Guardsman

Social policy continued from p. 7 savings versus the current health system in the U.S..

Similarly, while unemployment insurance is a burden to the budget in the short term, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes that allowing people to fall further into poverty would inflict a greater toll on the economy in the long run.

And while cost is a significant factor to consider, perhaps a more important question to ask is a moral one: Shouldn’t the U.S., the wealthiest country on Earth, allocate resources to provide all of its citizens with security and a comfortable standard of living?

If the answer is yes, then we should strive to enact legislation regardless of the number of people facing adversity.

Pandemic or not, the truth is disaster strikes every day. Often the misfortunes of fate happen to a stranger we’ve never met; sometimes to an acquain‐ tance we barely know. Other times it creeps into our close circle, affecting friends, family, and even our‐ selves. We must internalize the idea that even if we Many restaurants are starting to transition back to indoor Even with the revised and less strict CDC mask guidelines, are not personally affected, we are not absolved of a dining with limited guest capacity. San Francisco, CA. May 7, patrons attending grocery stores are still required to wear a 2021. Photo by Melvin Wong/The Guardsman mask. San Francisco, CA. May 7, 2021. Photo by Melvin moral obligation to shepherd in policy that protects Wong/The Guardsman everyone. In doing so, in caring for our neighbors, we can weather the disasters the future will inevitably bring as a united people, and create a prosperous society for all.

Vol. 171, Issue 8 | May 12 - May 25, 2021

By River Bradley

riverbradleyca@gmail.com

Even amidst a pandemic-fueled boom in video gaming, social stigma still surrounds those who play them. But it doesn’t have to. The growing popularity of video games gives educators even more reason to harness the benefits of video games to provide tailored support to their students. Let’s take advantage of the opportunity to throw away the shame and learn from gamers instead of mocking them.

Being a gamer doesn’t come free of social cost. Long-held beliefs about the negative effects of gaming persist, even though the commonly held myth that playing violent video games is linked to real life violent behavior was disproven in 2014. The World Health Organization added “gaming disorder” to the International Classification of Diseases in 2018, but in March 2020, they supported an initiative to “encourage people on how to entertain themselves and also practice physical distancing,” according to this article in USA Today.

Gaming culture has evolved. It still has a long way to go to become truly inclusive, but increasingly, creators are releasing games that depart from classic sexist tropes, like the action roleplaying game Horizon Zero Dawn or the pastoral, communityoriented Animal Crossing. And it turns out that, regardless of the content, video games offer learning benefits that cannot be ignored.

Video games “may strengthen a range of cognitive skills such as spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception,” a re‐ view from 2014 found. Add to that better visual attention, atten‐ tional control, (“the ability to flexibly switch attention as time demands,”) and problem-solving, and it becomes clear: gamers make good learners. Forbes outlined four lessons that educators can take from the ways game designers keep players engaged: Give students agency over their learning process, provide step-bystep increases in difficulty, offer feedback quickly and steadily, and provide students opportunities to connect with and learn from their peers. Each of these methods offer invaluable avenues to master the material at hand.

Specific study strategies have marked similarities with gamers’ approaches towards improving their playing. Mental health researcher Dr. Natalie Coyle offers some links between the two. One example is how gamers give advice to each other gen‐ erously, which reinforces learning through a process called elab‐ orative interrogation. Coyle says “elaborative interrogation

involves testing ourselves on the material and explaining why something may be true.” Educators can apply this strategy to help students bolster their learning and build community in the classroom.

Studying, just like any other skill, can be sharpened through repetition. According to Coyle, “Distributed practice”— spac‐ ing out studying — boosts memory consolidation, particularly with sleep between sessions. Learning from failure is also something gamers do well, and Coyle recommends teachers encourage their students to shift their attitudes to see feedback as a learning opportunity. Without input, we humans won’t know what we’re doing wrong or right, and without the oppor‐ tunity to integrate new knowledge and try again, how does learning happen?

These commonalities notwithstanding, there are major differences between gaming and school work. For example, gaming allows the player to retry a level as many times as it takes- it's rare to be able to revise an essay or retake a test to get a better grade. Instructors might reconsider tweaking their grading practices and class structures to offer more opportuni‐ ties for improvement.

The benefits of playing video games are unfortu‐ nately accompanied by significant downsides. The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry identified draw‐ backs such as time away from family, school work, reading, exercise, and sleep. Many gamers lack the skills to balance gaming with other aspects of their lives.

These problems are not insurmountable, however. Re‐ search has shown it is possible for gamers to improve their time management. City College’s website provides some tips and resources for “succeeding as a remote learner,” but courses in executive functioning to develop skills like time management and organization could greatly benefit students.

We can reduce gamers’ shame by translating their skills to a classroom and study setting.

Why not use a video game to illustrate a concept or dive into an idea as we do with films? Use gamified tools and edu‐ cational games in the classroom to engage students’ interests and give them opportunities to utilize their abilities. Incorpo‐ rating the lessons and benefits of gaming may present hurdles for instructors accustomed to traditional teaching methods, but jumping those hurdles could prove to be a valuable learn‐ ing opportunity in itself.

Vol. 171, Issue 8 | May 12 - May 25, 2021

Vol. 171, Issue 8 | May 12 - May 25, 2021

Vol. 171, Issue 8 | May 12 - May 25, 2021

By Casey Michie

cmichie1@ccsf.mail.edu

City College’s looming budget crisis has now taken its toll on the athletics department with the dismantling of both the cross country and track and field teams this past spring.

The administration cited low participation rates as a contributing factor to the cuts, according to former athletes familiar with the decision. However, this reasoning is contro‐ versial as participation on both teams was not influenced by a lack of interest, but instead a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former team captain of the track and field team Enzo Greco states that “[The administration] wants to say they are cutting for participation, however during the pre-2020 season leading up to the pandemic, we actually grew the team a lot.”

Greco notes that the increased participation numbers were primarily attributed to student-athletes recruiting new mem‐ bers from local Bay Area high schools.

The notion of a rising interest in the teams is supported by a large number of freshman athletes, an indicator of a growing program. A news release from the athletic depart‐ ment regarding the 2019 season states that “with a large freshman presence on the team, [the track and field program] should be strong coming back into their second season.”

This second season, however, was cut short due to guide‐ lines implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19. And now, any ambitions of returning the program back into its former self have been slashed by the administration.

While tough decisions must undoubtedly be made to balance a severe budget deficit, the decision to cut the pro‐ grams jeopardizes another concern the administration and Board of Trustees have been grappling with at recent meet‐ ings: low enrollment numbers at City College.

Former freshman athlete on the track and field team Conner Kincaid, notes that the program was the only reason he chose to attend City College. “My track coach in high school talked highly of [City College Coach] Bianchi and the team here. So, I chose not to attend my local community college in Castro Valley, and instead decided to commute to San Francisco City College to be a part of the program,” Kincaid states.

Former coach of both teams Nick Torres notes that while it is unclear how the cuts will directly affect enrollment, it will no longer be a draw for athletes looking to compete after high

By Kaiyo Funaki

kaiyo.funaki@gmail.com

The men’s basketball team sat anxiously in the film room, their undefeated record and championship aspirations hang‐ ing in the balance. There was nothing they could do to pre‐ pare—no game plan to execute, no half-time adjustments to make.

Consider it cruel fate that the team that had consistently imposed their will with an unrelenting offense and stifling de‐ fense now too had to experience what their opponents felt every game. For the first time that season, the players were completely and utterly helpless.

It was March 12, and the 30-0 Rams had just concluded their morning walkthrough in preparation for their Elite Eight matchup against Riverside City College. They were coming off of a 44-point drubbing of College of the Redwoods in the NorCal Regional Final, with just three more victories at the California Community College Athletic Association state championships standing between them and the college’s fifthever title.

However, there was a sense of impending doom amongst the team that the bags they packed for their road trip down to Lemoore were done so in vain.

As the coaching staff awaited an official decision from the CCCAA regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the players couldn’t help but notice the dominoes falling in their direction.

The Ivy League took initiative two days earlier when they shut down their tournament. The next day, it was the NBA

Illustration by Serena Sacharoff/The Guardsman

school. “The cuts affect incoming high school track and cross country students,” Torres said. “Since most of our students are local, many of them will stop running track and cross country after high school.”

The cuts have also adversely affected current athletes.

Janice Conley, a former track and field athlete notes “I have been running track since I was young; it was my dream to pursue track and become a pro. I was devastated when I found out the team was cut because the program was my stepping stone to a four-year school.”

that discontinued their regular season. Each of the Power 5 conferences followed suit that Thursday morning, and by then, everyone knew that the writing was on the wall.

Yet, when head coach Justin Labagh and his staff finally walked in and confirmed what the players had already expected, it didn't make the harsh reality any easier to accept.

“We wanted to end all the relationships that had been built... with a bang,” small forward Seyi Reiley said. “I can't tell you if it would have been worse to have lost or to have never played at all.”

“I think everybody, including our coaches, we’re all heartbroken,” point guard Kyree Brown said. “There was a lot of tears, a lot of frustration, and a lot of anger. It's something that we couldn't control.“ For a team that dictated nearly every second of play en route a perfect record, that feeling of vulnerability was an unfamiliar one.

The Rams started the year atop the preseason Coaches Poll as the No. 1 seed and never once relinquished that position for the ensuing four months. They crushed San Diego City College, the preseason No. 2, by 36 in just their second game and swept Bay Valley Conference powerhouse Yuba College by an average margin of 28 points in their two matchups.

Rival Las Positas College came the closest to defeating the Rams, but that seven-point margin was the only victory within single-digits and just one of three games that didn’t

“The 2020 CCSF Track Team was a rapidly growing program that allowed students to represent the school in athletics and also provided a community for those who were looking for one,” Greco said. “The team trained together, competed together, studied together, spent time together outside of school. Many bonds and friendships have been formed through this program, and it was a great disappointment when the team received the news. We all hope that in the future, there is a return of the program for others to experience.”

come by 25 or more points.

Associate head coach Adam D’Acquisto highlighted a quality that separated this team from the ones in years past.

“Sometimes, teams need a loss to kind of reset and refocus, but that was kind of the maturity level of last year's team. We didn't need that loss. The guys never stopped listening to us,” he said.

The players were aware of their growing win total but remained disciplined with approach, no matter the opponent. They knew that if they put in the work, every‐ thing would come together.

“We watched film daily on either our practices or the other opponent's game,” point forward Mek Udenyi said.

“We were always trying to find ways to get better, even though… we're winning a lot of games, scoring a lot of points, we were still finding weaknesses.”

That their hardest-fought battles came during in‐ trasquad scrimmages at practice only contributed to their success.

“Our practices were a lot more intense and even more competitive than our games,” Brown said.

Their unparalleled combination of talent, competi‐ tive fire, and chemistry led to some video-game numbers.

The Rams dropped a season-high 126 points against College of San Mateo and obliterated Cañada College by 77 points. They scored 101.7 points per game, which

Basketball continues on p. 13

Vol. 171, Issue 8 | May 12 - May 25, 2021

Basketball continued from p. 12

Labagh considered to be “dialing it back a little bit,” and beat opponents by an average margin of 39.2 points each game.

City College led the state in scoring and assists, with seven players averaging double-digits in points, a testament to the depth of the squad and the willing‐ ness to cast aside individual pride for the sake of the team.

“I knew that our team was so deep that even if someone didn't show up, someone else would,” Reiley said. “Even if five guys were having a horrible night, the next five would step up.”

Labagh, he of 486 wins and three state titles in 17 years as the Rams head coach, considered the 2019-2020 team to be the greatest of his illustrious career.

“It was the best team that we've put together,” he said. “Not by much; we've had some other great teams, but if I had to say, I'd give this one a nudge.”

It was this confidence that led many of the players to believe that had the circumstances gone differently, there would be a banner currently hanging in the rafters commemorating their season.

Instead, many have since departed to play at Division I programs, and the missed opportunity to conclude their time at City College with a champi‐ onship still lingers in the back of their minds.

“Every time I go out there, I'm play‐ ing for that City College state champi‐ onship, kind of like a chip on my shoul‐ der,” combo guard Nate Robinson said.

“Because I never got the chance to do that, I gotta do it somewhere else now.”

With time, though, they have come to appreciate the greatness their team achieved and understand that their bril‐ liant campaign was not defined by that missing banner but rather by the per‐ sonal growth they made, the bonds they forged, and the memories they created.

“I went for two years, changed my life, helped me get into a four-year school. I got better as a player and ma‐ tured as a man,” Udenyi said. “[City College] understood how bad I wanted to win and how bad I wanted to play at the next level. All a

BRIEF

By Colton Webster

cwebster1963@gmail.com

Miles Norris of the City College Rams taking a shot as the Redwoods team try to block him in the Northern Regional Finals, on March 7, 2020. Photo by Eric Sun/The Guardsman

kid can really ask is to have people believe in you and love you, and that's what City did,” Brown said.

And for Reiley, who is just one of two players from this undefeated team to return next semester, there is a sense of pressure to finish the job that his former teammates didn’t get the chance

to.Nonetheless,wherepainandfrustration once existed emerged a revitalized ap‐ proach to the game he loves.

“I'm not mad at COVID. I'm glad it gave me a deeper appreciation for the game of basketball,” he said. “Now every time I step on the court, I feel blessed.”

After a season filled with uncertainty, City College athletics department is gearing up for a full return instead of the field this fall.

Department chair Dan Hayes said that “there’s no question we’re gonna be playing. Will there be fans in the stands? Hopefully.” Playoffs and state championships are additionally likely to resume this fall.

Currently, Hayes said, the department is focusing on getting the incoming freshman class ready to compete for the upcoming season. The department is planning on all teams playing a full season, with the exceptions of cross country and track and field, which were eliminated in recent budget cuts due to a “lack of interest and participation,” Hayes said.

City College athletes are not presently required to be vaccinated to be eligible for competition.

Hayes said the decision to mandate vaccines will be made by the college in collaboration with the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

It’s unknown at this point in time if COVID-19 protocols will remain in place for athletes during the fall season. However, Hayes said that there has yet to be a positive case since the department started testing in February of this year.

Up to this point, the City College athletics department has navigated the pandemic in a similar fashion to much of society at large – Through trial and error, loosening and re-tightening restrictions as case counts have risen and fallen. Hayes credits the planning of athletic directors, coaches, and trainers with enabling teams to play in person during the spring semester.

Hayes said in closing that, “the teams and coaches have had a very productive spring … the real goal [of the spring semester] has been to start training and developing to go line up and play in the fall.”

A few of the men's basketball players celebrating their 108-64 win against the Redwoods at the Northern Regional Finals. March 7, 2020. Photo by Eric Sun/The Guardsman