Toni Smith, a fourtime All-American at U of Oklahoma, has the track team thinking big.
Former Mexico
President Vicente Fox says college students are key to the future.
Southwestern’s LBGTQ advocacy group said college supports the community, but much work remains
Dr. Mark Sanchez is not quite ready for the beach.
On a 3-1 vote the 51-year-old Southwestern College president received a two-year extension that will take him through June 2026. Trustee Corina Soto opposed and said he should get a one-year extension and be placed on a helping plan.
DR. MARK SANCHEZ
Soto also dissented on a largely positive review of Sanchez conducted by the governing board.
Sanchez’s new contract includes a 6.5 percent cost of living increase, raising his annual salary to $282,570. He earned $250,000 when the college hired him March 2021. His monthly vehicle allowance will increase to $1,700. His current contract expires this month.
Sanchez called the extension “humbling.”
“It made me very proud because when (the board members) did
SANCHEZ • PG 2
Southwestern College’s service area stretches from National City to the Mexican border, and from Coronado to…Abu Dhabi. SC is one of the 12 community colleges in the United States to host recipients of the Khotwa Scholarship, which offers students in Abu Dhabi a full ride to colleges in the U.S. and Canada to complete their Bachelor’s degrees.
In contrast to other Middle Eastern study abroad programs, this scholarship aims to help students in the United Arab Emirates who are
When the women’s basketball season was about to collapse in injury, illness and incompletes, the college soccer team tossed aside its cleats and broke in some new sneakers. The brave replacements went 0-12 but are undefeated in the hearts of Southwestern College fans Special Section Inside
Soto, Moreno say no data supports majority’s claim that three-minute limit will make meetings more ‘efficient’
BY YANELLI Z. ROBLESThree minutes on the clock and time ticking away. It is not crunch time at a basketball game that has some Southwestern College Governing Board members calling for a foul. A recent 3-2 decision to limit all speakers to three minutes has trustees arguing whether shorter meetings in the name of efficiency are unfairly limiting the Constitutional right to free speech.
Trustees Don Dumas, Kristine Galicia-Brown and Roberto Alcantar supported a new policy that reduced the time for all speakers – including the board – from five minutes to three. Board members Robert Moreno and Corina Soto voted against it.
“It’s about the efficiency of the meetings,” said Dumas. “A survey went out to every constituent group and we heard back in December of 2022 that the length of the meetings were too long.”
Constituent groups at SC include a small number of leaders of the faculty, classified and administrator unions and other interest groups. Alcantar said three minutes was time enough. “We don’t need time to speak that much,” he said. “We are limiting ourselves so that we can keep the meetings efficient.”
Alcantar said the time limit will allow trustees to focus on the “most important issues” and will encourage more people to attend meetings. “I’m a big believer in bringing government to people and having people more involved with government,” he said. “More people will come out to the meetings because the time commitment is a lot lower.”
Soto disagreed. She said there is no empirical evidence that shorter board meetings lead to
College employee unions are seeking a sizable raise retroactive to July 1 which they argue is fair because the state has issued an 8.22 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) to community colleges. Union leaders like Dr. Jeff Veal (r) make the case that COLA is provided by the state to help educators keep up with inflation. College administration and the governing board have offered a considerably smaller raise spread out over two years, which faculty negotiators rejected. The district argues that some of the COLA money is needed to fill a looming budget deficit. Faculty negotiators say the deficit is due to mismanagement for which employees should not be punished. Negotiations are ongoing.
Arizona State is likely the hottest university in America right now, and not because of its intemperate location in the Valley of the Sun. ASU is now the largest university in the United States with almost 75,000 students and home to nationally-ranked programs in business, psychology, biology and journalism. ASU claims to have nearly 146,000 students in online degree programs worldwide.
Southwestern College students may now earn an ASU Bachelor’s degree without breaking a sweat and enduing 115 degree temperatures. Starting in August, Southwestern students can study at ASU without leaving Chula Vista.
ASU has committed to Southwestern’s “University Center,” a brand new facility that will also house branches of San Diego State, Point Loma Nazarene and National universities.
Elected officials in Chula Vista have been working off and on since the late 1980s to lure a University of California or California State University campus to Chula Vista. The city even established a 383-acre “innovation district” near the Lower Otay Reservoir and has reserved land for a major university campus. UC and CSU have both rebuffed Chula Vista, arguing that the area is too close to UCSD and SDSU. City leaders over the years have called on the leaders of both systems
financially challenged as opposed to wealthier students. Representatives from ICEF, the world leader in international education networking, claim the Khotwa Scholarships work toward United Nations Sustainable Development goals on equity.
Dr. Joel Pilco, SC’s Director of Binational and International Programs, said he saw an opportunity while attending the ICEF World Student Scholarship Programme in Dubai.
to adjust their thinking. Former Chula Vista City Councilmember Patricia Aguilar, an architect who helped to design UCSD, said Chula Vista is “no longer a sleepy border town” and “is now an international hub of commerce and technology” visible from the world’s business border crossing. Worthy South Bay students, she argued, are too often denied enrollment at SDSU and UCSD due to overcrowding and the sale of seats to foreign students who pay much higher tuition.
CV Mayor John McCann has been a long-time proponent of a UC or CSU Chula Vista and said is thinks a Southwestern College university center anchored by ASU is “a good start.”
Local students mostly said they were unaware of the ASU relationship with Southwestern, but thought it was a sound idea, including biology major Melissa Gomez.
“I think it’s great that Southwestern College students can transfer to a good university without having to move there,” she said. “A lot of us don’t have a lot of money or have to stay close to help our families. It’s great that we now have some other options.”
Ryan Jamison agreed.
“The (university center concept) seems like a good idea,” he said. “I’d kind of like to leave town for my Bachelor’s, but I can see where this might be a really good thing for some students. Plus you don’t have to live in Phoenix where it’s like a thousand degrees!”
“It was perfect timing,” he said. Pilco said he met a representative of the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) who introduced him to the KHOTWA Scholarship. He learned that ADEK had not yet chosen a community college in San Diego County. Pilco said he made his introductions and in short order Southwestern was accepted as a host college.
At the time SC had less than 50 international students. Pilco said diversity in a college student body benefits everyone on campus.
“We are giving domestic students the chance to interact with someone
• CONT FROM PG 1
that they basically affirmed they were pleased with my leadership,” he said.
Sanchez said his most important responsibility as president is to create space for students to feel welcomed on campus and to help ensure a pathway to their goals. He arrived at SC when former president Kindred Murillo unexpectedly resigned citing stress and mental health issues. The Coronavirus pandemic was in full bloom and economic insecurities had shrunk the district’s budget and enrollment, Sanchez said. A slice of college resources were diverted to help alleviate students’ food and housing insecurities, he said.
“We have 100 majors on five campuses to choose from and a great location. I am confident more Khotwa students will enroll. My goal is to have 300-500 students in coming years. We should eventually have at least 800 students.”
JOELPILCO
SC Director of Binational and International Programs
“I would not be in this position if it were not for my experiences,” he said. “The things that I learned here a Southwestern College set me up to go on and do great things.”
Sanchez said he understands that with great power comes great responsibility and second guessing comes with the territory.
“When you are a leader of a large organization there is no decision you are going to make making everyone happy,” he said. “There comes a time that as a leader you have to make hard decisions around what is in the best interest of the organization.”
Watching students walk across the stage at commencement is his favorite part of the job, he said.
When he was offered an extension Sanchez said he conferred with his wife before accepting. He said he would like to retire early, enjoy the beach and spend time with his family.
Sand and sun will have to wait,
who thinks and looks differently,” he said. “These students may see social, political and educational issues differently. That’s a huge gain.” Pilco said there has been a lull in international student programs at SC since arrangements with Qatar and Saudi Arabia ended. Nearly 200 Saudi students attended SC from 2015-17. It evolved into a graduate level program in 2018 and students stopped coming to Chula Vista. Qatar students left SC due to the program director’s disapproval of Southern California culture. Southwestern has accepted 10 Khotwa scholars so far and Pilco said he expects more soon.
“We have 100 majors on five campuses to choose from and a great location,” he said. “I am confident more Khotwa students will enroll. My goal is to have 300-500 students in coming years. We should eventually have at least 800 students.”
GLOBAL REACH
In 2022, the first year the Khotwa Scholarship was offered, the program received more 1,600 applicants. The program selected 140 scholars who scored the highest points in the assessment criteria.
Source: Abu Dhabi Media Office
he said. He hopes his legacy at Southwestern will include the creation of student housing on campus and more financial aid. He said he would also like to see additional Bachelor’s degree programs offered on campus for place bound students.
Sanchez said he is a fan of SC’s dual enrollment program that encourages talented high school students to take college courses. “I want to help build a system to help younger students so that by the time they graduate high school they are halfway through a Bachelor’s or have an Associate’s degree.”
Soto said she voted against a multiyear extension for Sanchez because he had “at times demonstrated poor judgment.” She said she favored a one-year pact and closer supervision by the board in part, she said, because “Southwestern College has a history of presidents who go off the rails once they get an extension.”
larger audiences. People frequently attend meetings to exercise their right to address their elected officials.
“We need to have as much speech as possible,” she said. “We need to have dialog and we need to have these conversations.”
Soto said she worked at Southwestern College for more than 30 years as a counselor and professor. She questioned why after three decades there is a new rule limiting the time for community members to address the board. Trustees also needed time to speak directly to the voters, she said.
Soto called the move “Machiavellian” and said three of the trustees are trying to silence her.
“There are going to be disagreements and differences of opinion because that’s the nature of an educational institution,” she said. “If you don’t have that, you have a Potemkin village.”
(A Potemkin Village is a reference to fake villages that were only facades built to fool a Russian Czarina into believing there were more people and infrastructure than actually existed.)
Soto, who was censured by the board last August, said Dumas and Alcantar do not appreciate her often-dissenting points of view. She accused them of “mansplaining” and other disrespectful behavior.
Dumas rejected the notion.
“There are all sorts of ways people can voice their concerns to the board members without speaking for an extended period of time,” he said. “The meetings and public comment are not the only way to get in touch with a board member. You can email a board member or meet with a board member (in private).”
Trustee Moreno voted to censure Soto but voted with her on the time limit issue. He said the board, in the spirit of the First Amendment, should not prevent or limit free speech and the Constitutional right to redress elected officials. He said some of his constituents in National City and low income communities may not have the technology Dumas described.
“Not everyone (in National City), unfortunately, has access to (the technology) to send emails or to telephones to get hold of me,” he said.
Attending meetings, Moreno said, is often the only way for him to dialogue with some members of the community he represents.
“ I don’t think our students should face time limits,” he said. “If (constituents) need to say whatever they need to say, they (should be able to) take as long as they need because we are here for them. Governing board meetings are my platform to communicate (with) the public and to let the community know what I’ve been up to as a member.”
Soto asked Tristan Sims, the college’s lawyer, to advise the board majority against the three minute limit based on previous court rulings that favored free speech rights. She said three minutes was not enough time for her to discuss and ask questions about important college issues such as bond expenditures, the conduct of commencement ceremonies and a proposal to build dorms on the grounds of the Chula Vista campus.
“When is the governing board (supposed) to govern?” she asked.
Khrystan Policarpio of the First Amendment Coalition, a free speech advocacy organization, indicated that the governing board likely adopted the proposal in a legal manner, but was less clear on whether a time limit itself is legal or advisable. The 1981 Parker v. Merlino case supports the concept of legislative bodies adopting “rules of parliamentary procedure to enable it to…function in an efficient manner.”
The 2009 Mobley v. Tarlini case added nuance to the issue. Mobley upheld the concept that Roberts Rules of Order permits a time limitation for speech by city council members, but also holds open the possibility that a legislative body may violate free speech rights if rules “amount(ed) to viewpoint-based discrimination” against a speaker.
Soto contents that her watchdogstyle of leadership attempts to hold the governing board accountable to the community. Attempts to limit her time to speak are not based on bettering efficiency, she said, but are instead “another effort to keep me quiet” about topics “we may not agree on.” She said Dumas, Alcantar and Galicia-Brown have taken control of the board and have “sidelined” her and Moreno.
“The three governing board members who currently run the district seem to have little if any desire to govern (at Southwestern College),” she said. “They seem to be content with rubber stamping and favoring the status quo.”
“Education is for a lifetime. It is a process that starts at birth and carries on through all phases of life. Intelligent, ambitious students need a safe, inspiring space that encourages exploration. We want students to feel they can go for the big prize.”
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said the United States and Mexico are like an old married couple. An occasional disagreement cannot negate the fact that they love each other. For better or worse, they are together forever.
“Mexico y los Estados Unidos casados para siempre,” he said.
Fox and former First Lady Marta Fox hosted a breakfast for faculty and students who attended the Centro Fox binational conference in Guanajuato, Mexico. They reinforced their message that binational, bicultural students are the key to a better future in both nations.
Centro Fox was established by the Foxes in 2006, one of the three non-profits they created after Fox’s term as president. Its stated mission is to shape and support compassionate and responsible leaders for the 21st century.
Its mission is to encourage marginalized students to continue in higher education by creating ties with UCSD, UCI and Southwestern College. Centro Fox Experience featured workshops called “Musica y Raza Cos(z)mica,” “Ni de aquí, ni de allá,” and “The Binational Experience.”
Students were encouraged to share their experiences and explore colorism, obstacles they face as Mexicans in American society and what it means to be a binational student.
Fox said knowledge and wisdom transcend the walls of the classroom.
“Connections add to our life experiences because life is part of education,” he said. “We need to build bridges, not walls. We need to break down those barriers.”
Fox said Mexico’s culture is often too pragmatic and needs to be more idealistic like the United States.
“We often settle (for less) as long as we make enough to get by,” he said. “Regardless of what side of the border you
live on, that is not the only option. We should aspire to be more.”
Marta Fox said the relationship between Southwestern College and Centro Fox is important because the college is the world’s transfronterizo (transborder) institution, an international hub of learning six miles from the border. She said Southwestern and Mexico are intertwined like no other college in the world because so many Mexicans attend and so many American students live in Mexico.
Centro Fox, she said, wants to strengthen the connection and raise the sights of students on both sides of la linea
Her husband agreed.
“Education is for a lifetime,” he said. “It is a process that starts at birth and carries on through all phases of life. Intelligent, ambitious students need a safe, inspiring space that encourages exploration. We want students to feel they can go for the big prize.”
Guests from the United States were treated to a visit to the Guanajuato Museum of Art and History as well as shopping at Mercado Hidalgo. Following a rooftop dinner, Southwestern visitors were treated to an inspiring late night callejoneada (“a walk about town”) through the cultural heart of Guanajuato.
Fox said he awaits future visits by Southwestern College students and faculty.
“Our relationship must continue for years to come,” he said. “There is much work to be done.”
Chris Garcia, Southwestern’s Binational and International Student Ambassador, agreed.
“The alliance between Centro Fox and Southwestern College will help expand the binational experience and educational opportunities between our nations,” he said. “Southwestern College is one of the first community colleges to connect with its binational region.”
Estudiantes Fronterizos are starting to gain the attention of Southwestern College administrators. In recent years the college has worked to lower tuition for students living in Mexico, host a binational graduation in Tijuana and improve MexicanAmerican/Chicano curriculum at it Chula Vista campus.
The marriage rolls on.
Had the Feb. 23 women’s basketball game between the Southwestern College Jaguars and Mira Costa Spartans been a typical community college contest it would have been forgotten by St. Patrick’s Day.
Instead, it will live in the annals of Southwestern College history as long as this college stands.
Southwestern is justifiably criticized for its lack of school spirit, but the women’s soccer team demonstrated a selfless love for our institution and its athletic program that will span generations.
As 2023 wound down the original ‘23-24 women’s basketball team fell apart like papel picado in a thunderstorm. Illness, injuries and incompletes led to the forfeiture of five games.
Athletic department leadership was about to call off the season and surrender the rest of the schedule when an inquisitive soccer player asked the basketball coach if members of the women’s excellent equipo de fútbol could fill in. Coach Janet Eleazar said she was open to the idea.
Like a true champion, All-PCAC striker Gialli Francisco, the captain of the soccer team, overdelivered. She signed up 12 teammates to give basketball a try. Soon they stopped dribbling with their feet and started using their hands.
Perhaps Francisco realized the enormity of what she had done, maybe not. She and her friends may have saved the women’s basketball team from oblivion. Teams at Southwestern College that go on “temporary sabbatical” usually permanently vanish. Gone are the Southwestern wrestling team, golf, men’s volleyball and men’s tennis. (Women’s tennis survived thanks to tenacious coach Susan Reasons and the late, great Athletic Director Jim Spillers.)
Southwestern’s soccer rockers were Pacific Coast Athletic Conference champions in 2022 and narrowly missed repeating in 2023. They are fast and furious on the pitch.
They were fish out of water on the hardwood. Opponents routinely beat them by more than 100 points. They were shown no mercy and offered no quarter. Night after night they got their butts kicked, then handed to them.
Watching them play you would never know.
Each player – like their effervescent captain – radiated the joy of little girls first learning the game on a weathered South Bay playground. Francisco reminded her friends that if they were doing their best, that was all they could do.
It was all they had to do.
The Dutiful Dozen modeled resilience, integrity and courage by playing a foreign sport the very best they could every minute they were on the court. Like the non-violent protesters in Gandhi’s India and King’s Birmingham, the young women showed courage by intentionally marching into basketball beatdowns night after night after night.
They were the embodiment of grace and the epitome of class.
There may never be a more important meaningless game than the Feb. 23 season finale against Mira Costa. When they played on the Spartan’s home court earlier in the season the Lady Jaguars absorbed an excruciating 112-4 trouncing.
Again, you would never know.
Southwestern’s lineup of five-footers looked tiny lined up against Mira Costa’s core of six-footers, but the Jaguars played the game the right way even if they did so many things wrong. A raucous crowd packed the bleachers and the support was thunderous. It was a perfect community college moment. Eager, if underprepared young members of our community doing their very best while caring adults support them.
Thank you, ladies, for what you did for our college by showing our region that we are not quitters. We are proud of you and grateful that you are proud enough of us to represent all of us with joyfulness and integrity.
We will never forget you.
“Since I was 12 years old, I knew I wanted to do this. I want to own my own restaurant. Since I love cooking, I also want to be in charge of the kitchen.”
“I am 100 percent sure. Everything I like has to do with the justice system. I want to focus on forensics. Ever since high school I knew I wanted to do this.”
“I am very sure. One important part of theater is being competent in what you do and being confident you will be able to do it. The key to my major is confidence.”
“1,000 percent sure. I am an entrepreneur and own a moving company business. I have always loved business and here at Southwestern I can get the credentials needed for my businesses.”
Arecent 3-2 vote by the governing board to limit elected officials, employees and members of the public to three minutes of speaking time has raised concerns about the possible chilling effect on the First Amendment rights of free speech and the ability to petition government. Trustee Robert Moreno, a former journalist, opposed the measure because he said it abridged free speech. Trustee Corina Soto said it limits voters rights to redress grievances.
“This is my first semester as a Liberal Studies major. Because of past experiences (changing my major from) Pre-Med, I am not going to say this is my definitive major, but I (believe) this is the right major for me.”
“For my declared major I would consider myself fully guaranteed. In the future (I hope to) expand my studies. From a young age I knew I wanted to (study) business.”
“I am positive this is the career path I want to pursue. In high school I wanted to do film, but I had a gut feeling something major was going to happen.
Guess what happened? Covid happened. And then A.I. happened.”
Students
Students
BY REBECCA ESPARZAEOPS may be a student’s favorite four-letter word.
Members say it is a program to swear by. Extended Opportunity Programs and Services is a muti-pronged assistance program that officers priority enrollment, tutoring, book support, transfer counseling, emergency loans and student employment. Members can also get help with student employment, calculators and a cap and gown for commencement. To be eligible students must be residents of California or classified as AB 540, carry at least 12 units or be considered “educationally disadvantaged.” The state’s definition of educationally advantaged includes no high school diploma, a high school GPA less than 2.50, enrollment in basic skills courses, first-generation
college students or speaking a language other than English at home.
“We serve more than 2,000 students annually,” said Benjamin Nahoum, the EOPS Senior Project Clerk. “We offer career, academic and personal counseling. One of the major things we do is book and supply grants.”
EOPS students also receive help creating a Student Education Plan (SEP) during counseling sessions. A SEP serves as a guide for course selection. EOPS students go to the front of the registration line.
“Priority enrollment helps students get a crack at the classes they might need for their major,” Naholm said. “It can be advantageous and help them get into those hard-to-get classes.”
EOPS is not all work, no play. Counselors host social events as well as academic activities. Transfer workshops are a big draw.
They help walk students through the sometimes-tricky process of transferring. It also offers tours of major California universities like UCLA, Berkeley, Santa Barbara and others.
EOPS is a godsend for thousands of low-income students according to Assistant Professor Angela Brammell. “There are a lot of students that would not be able to attend college successfully without EOPS funds,” she said. “It makes Southwestern College possible for so many students who go on to do great things.”
Professor of Reading Dr. Sylvia Garcia Navarette said EOPS can “be a great equalizer” for disadvantaged students. “EOPS is such a bargain, such a great program,” she said. “It can help students in so many ways. Every student that is eligible should apply. There is nothing to lose and so much to gain.”
America’s LGBTQ citizens have made considerable progress in the 21st century. PRISM is working hard to make sure LGBTQ employees of Southwestern College enjoy similar progress.
PRISM is an advocacy group for LGBTQIA+ employees and students. PRISM co-chair Ryan Lennon, faculty coordinator for the SC Assessment and Prerequisites Office, said the college is generally a good place for LGBTQ employees, but challenges remain. Fear is a lingering problem.
Among issues that still cause anxiety, Lennon said, are the unintentional outing of students during roll call, outing employees on the college website and the lack of a campus Pride Center. PRISM is working to change those things.
“PRISM was created to be a place for employees to gather socially and to talk about issues we face as LGBTQ employees,” he said. “We want to try to make this a better place for all of us to work and to help support students and their communities.”
Lennon said the Southwestern College administration is very supportive of LGBTQ issues, but work remains. He said cases of harassment based on sexual orientation have stung LGBTQ employees in the recent past, but the college is more proactive than colleges and universities in other parts of the nation.
PRISM’s founders had to take care when forming the group, Lennon said. Some members are allies and attend general meetings open to everyone. Other meetings are exclusively for people who identified with the LGBTQ community.
Nish said there was no place on campus to house such a space and Murillo said it was “not healthy” for segments of the campus community to “split into their own little groups.” Murillo said all members of the Southwestern College campus need to blend.
Lennon disagreed. “There are times issues need to be discussed within communities,” he said. “There needs to be a space where people know that there are only members of their (interest group) community there.”
“PRISM was created to be a place for employees to gather socially and to talk about issues we face as LGBTQIA+ employees. We want to try to make this a better place for all of us to work and to help support students and their communities.”
RYAN LENNON PRISM co-chair Ryan Lennon, faculty coordinator for the SC Assessment and Prerequisites Office
“We want our leadership to be gender balanced and balanced among people of different identities,” he said. “We try to be as representative as we can in race and ethnicity to be as balanced as we can in our leadership.”
One of the expressed goals of PRISM is to actively support and integrate people from communities of color and communities that may not feel included. Safe spaces are a priority, Lennon said.
Earlier efforts by a previous Southwestern College LGBTQ advocacy organization to establish a safe space for LGBTQ students and employees were rejected by former college presidents Melinda Nish and Kindred Murillo.
PRISM holds meetings in person and hybrid using Zoom. Hybrid and remote meetings allow a degree of privacy for people who would like to attend but fear being seen walking into a meeting of LGBTQ people and potentially outing themselves. Lennon said PRISM pushed for the raising of the Pride flag last summer and a college declaration supporting LGBTQIA+ History Month in October. PRISM continues to work updating the SC admissions and enrollment system to allow students to use their preferred names while maintaining their legal name in the system when needed for grades and transfer. A recent accomplishment was bittersweet, Lennon said. PRISM was successful establishing a page on the college website, but it had to be careful deciding what photographs to use because some members feared being outed. Lennon said an LGBTQ person’s decision to out themselves or not is private and needs to be made on their own terms for their own reasons.
“Outing can be dangerous for some people,” he said. “Some people do not feel safe letting others know their identities as members of the (LGBTQ) community.”
Despite the South Bay’s reputation as a generally progressive region, pockets of hate and intolerance linger, Lennon said.
“We are a governmental organization and there are some people (in the college district) that get mad that members of (the LGBTQ) community (work at Southwestern College),” he said. “(LGBTQ employees) may get harassing emails on (our) work email if our face is on this page. So putting your face and information on that page is accepting the risk. It needs to be a choice.”
PRISM launched with about 20 people and has grown to about 40, said Lennon.
“Our community has a lot of support on campus and there’s a lot of people that want to know what’s going on and how to support (LGBTQ) faculty and students,” he said.
A safe, welcoming, affirming space signals that facilities and resources are available to everyone of any sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. It is a space that celebrates LGBTQ people and respects the culture of the community. It is a judgment-free zone of inclusivity, compassion and love.
Source: San Diego Pride
PRISM co-chair Ryan Lennon said Southwestern College is generally supportive of its LGBTQ community but cautioned that work remained. Some recent successes:
n The raising of a Pride Flag during a public ceremony.
n A college declaration supporting LGBTQ month.
n Ongoing modifications to the enrollment system to allow students to use preferred names.
n Establishment of a PRISM page on the college website.
Out @ SWC is a directory of LGBTQIA+ faculty, staff, and administrators, along with allies and supporters of the LGBTQIA+ community at Southwestern College. We are your professors, your counselors, your baristas… in short, we are your SWC community!
This is, in no way, a complete list. It serves as a reminder of the breadth of representation among LGBTQIA+ community members at our college, the importance of visibility on campus, and the support for Southwestern College’s queer-identifying students in their morale, safety, and, importantly, their academic success.
If you are a member of SWC’s LGBTQIA+ community, or an ally/supporter, and would like to add your name to the OUT @ SWC list, please contact swcprism@swccd. edu for more information.
Source: Southwestern College
A Partial List
Flip Wilson writer/comedian/ TV host
Nat King Cole recording artist/pianist/TV host
James Baldwin writer Nichelle Nichols singer/actor/dancer
Misty Copeland prima ballerina
Ronnie Spector recording artist Paul Robeson actor/singer Otis Redding recording artist Robert Johnson guitar virtuoso/songwriter Cicely Tyson actor David Ruffin recording artist James Earl Jones actor Spike Lee film director Tracy Chapman recording artist Langston Hughes playwright Billy Preston recording artist/pianist Denzel Washington actor Ben Vereen actor/singer/dancer
James Brown recording artist Octavia Spencer actor Thelonious Monk jazz musician
Louis Armstrong singer/trumpeter Mahalia Jackson recording artist
Janelle Monae actor/singer Whitney Houston recording artist Butterfly McQueen actor Sam Cooke singer/songwriter
Alvin Childress actor Bob Johnston producer of Bob Dylan Ray Charles recording artist
August Wilson playwright Sapphire Stevens actor Harry Belafonte actor/ recording artist Patti LaBelle recording artist Jimi Hendrix guitar virtuoso
Billie Holiday jazz singer Gordon Parks photographer/writer/musician/ painter/filmmaker Diahann Carroll singer/actor Aretha Franklin recording artist John Singleton writer/director Miles Davis jazz trumpet virtuoso Minnie Ripperton recording artist Merry Clayton singer
Darlene Love recording artist
Quincy Jones music producer
Fayard and Harold Nicholas
tap dance virtuosos
Lionel Ritchie recording artist
Danny Glover actor Roberta Flack recording artist
Historian, violinist Yale Strom loves European ‘oldies’
BY ALFONSO JULIÁN CAMACHOMusician Yale Strom enjoys playing oldies but goodies.
Like 4,000 years old.
A charismatic singer and violinist, Strom put on an uplifting concert of Jewish music at the PAC featuring his transcendent musicianship and charming personality. Much of the music had roots in the 19th and 20th centuries, though some may have its genesis in the times of David and Solomon.
Strom, a second generation American whose parents fled Eastern Europe, is working to resuscitate Jewish music largely lost to the Holocaust. The Shoah took the lives of nearly 6 million Jews and an estimated 75 percent of Europe’s talented Jewish musicians.
Trained as an ethnographer, Strom has music in his blood and bloodline. Raised in Detroit and San Diego, his family practiced Jewish traditions and holidays. His father’s Hasidic Judaism influenced Strom’s musical upbringing. “Singing is part of how we express ourselves,” he said.
Young Strom had planned to attend law school until the evening he stumbled upon a bar where 12 musicians played Jewish instrumental folk music typically heard at weddings and parties. Smitten, he approached the band about joining but was turned down.
“If you can’t beat them, form your own band!” he said. His passion ignited, he was motivated to learn and improve. He bought a one-way ticket to Eastern Europe to search for his musical heritage, combing archives and seeking out older Jewish musicians. Then he went 75 more times. His exhaustive research helped him create a vast reservoir of traditional Jewish music.
“It opened my eyes up to this world that still existed in Eastern Europe,” he said. “When I came home I formed a band with (great musicians) that I still play with today.” Holocaust survivors were his best sources for traditional Jewish songs. In the town of Košice, Slovenia he met Eli, the caretaker of the synagogue. As they chatted, Strom found a violin on top of a cabinet. He asked Eli if he knew any songs he could share. Eli recounted that his father taught him the musical prayers and songs he sang at the synagogue, and his mother sang folk music. Eli said his mother often lost herself in the music to the point of burning the ironing and dinner. The last time Eli saw his parents, he said, he turned left and they turned right to their death at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland.
Strom said he and Eli cried, then Strom sang a lighthearted folk song about potatoes he had learned from his grandmother. Eli laughed along with Strom because he knew the song. “That is a story that will stay in my memory forever,” he said. Jewish culture is at least 4,000 years old and its music pre-dates the Old Testament. “Klezmer is a Hebrew word,” Strom said. “Kle means utensil or tool, and zmer means music. This music generally comes from Eastern Europe (mostly) east of the Danube.”
Weird can be hard to watch.
Or it can be the foundation of boundless creativity.
Mojalet Dance Collective weaponizes weirdness by embracing it to create compelling performances that are a thing of devious beauty.
Faith Jensen-Ismay brought her talented team to the PAC for a wonderfully weird master class in the possibilities of expressive dance. Its trio of long-form dances were far-out fun.
“Radio Hour” tuned into the collective’s experimental vibe and its talent for dialing the routine into the sublime. Inspired by radio advertisements from the 1940s-60s, overt and expressive dancers transformed past into pallet, painting their own colors over the black and
white era of Eisenhower. “Radio Hour” was extravagant, edgy and lovely as a homecoming queen with a few too many tattoos.
“It has nostalgia and a little bit of absurdity,” Jensen told the audience. “It’s funny and a little witty. I found an album of radio commercials that is a montage of spoken text and music, and that’s really fun.”
Extra credit awarded for finding the fun in a radio message about what to do in case of a nuclear attack. Rather than hide under their desks, the Mojalet dancers found beauty in the unthinkable, frolicking in the fallout. “Tainted,” on the other hand, cloaked itself in a darker tone. Lights faded, music quieted, and themes became somber like dusk in a dicey part of town. Atonal “music” teased emotion from the dancers who volleyed between loving embraces and throwing each other like discarded rag dolls. It was discomforting but arresting, and audience members leaned forward in their seats, pupils dilated, hearts racing with expectation. Robby Johnson, the assistant director and a lead dancer, said the piece is a reaction to world events and how conflict brushes even those of us on other continents.
“It originally started with politics and (expectations), then it gets all weird with corruption,” he said. “You can become tainted.”
Mojalet stands for (Modern Jazz Ballet), a nod to Jerome Robbins’ athletic “West Side Story” innovations and Bob Fosse’s snappy sensuality in “Chicago.” Founded in 1991, Mojalet has been popular for four decades in San Diego County and has toured Switzerland, England, France, Germany and Mexico.
A grand show required a grand finale and an homage collage to the midcentury Las Vegas Rat Pack was just the right number, baby. Channeling the strutting spirit of Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford et al, the Mojalet team’s emphatic “My Way” drove home the message that weird is where it’s at, dig?
Jensen-Ismay, a valued adjunct instructor at Southwestern since 2020, has danced for 40 years and kicked up magical dancing dust on stages in our region for more than three decades.
“I think Southwestern has a really cool energy,” she said. “I enjoy inspiring people, especially the students who train with me here.”
Mojalet, her brainchild and passion project, demonstrated once again why it is an essential San Diego County dance company. Its boundary-pushing fusion of technical talent and emotional expression continue to blaze a way forward for young dancers ready to grow beyond their strip mall studios into a bold new dimension of creativity and connection.
Dragonistas say they get fired up for opportunities to play D&D with friends
From the land of Dungeons and Dragons comes the eternal wisdom of the War Forged Bard, Otis the Gray and Morgan the Half-Elf. It warms the World of Mayan Temples on the Mesa of The Sun. D&D is tonic for stressed Southwestern College students.
Dungeons and Dragons is one of humankind’s most popular roleplaying tabletop games with more than 50 million players. Famous Dungeon Masters run online campaigns such as “Critical Role,” “Adventure Zone” and “Dimension 20,” amassing more than 2 million viewers.
Legions of Southwestern College students have consumed the bubbling brew, which they insist can relieve stress. D&D magic, they say, can empower vocabulary building, problem solving, teamwork, communication, listening skills, storytelling and imagination. And it is fun.
SC alumnus Parker Claudio, a senior at CSU Fullerton, said he has played Dungeons and Dragons for three years.
“My favorite character I ever created is a war forged bard, which is essentially a robotic bard,” he said. “Its name is Kreator. He speaks in a monotone and is very rational. His purpose is to create beautiful art, music and plays (based on works) downloaded to him. His goal in life is to create something original, which is hard because he only knows the things imprinted on him.” Claudio said Kreator is his way to express how he feels about pursuing a BA in fine arts. His alter ego represents a side of himself best expressed in a fantasy setting.
DRAGONS • PG 12
THE DRAGON AMPERSAND
As D&D approaches its 50th birthday, the iconic game is undergoing some revisions to make it more inclusive and to encourage more dynamic thinking by participants. One D&D is expected to be released later this year.
We all know by now that tonic for stress is exercise, nature, calming music and … the Incredible Hulk. It makes sense that the Comic Book Generation enjoys respite in their fave superheroes. Students and heroes have a few things in common, including stress. Superheroes, in fact, do some of their best work while they are stressed out to the max.
That is good news to the 91 percent of American college students who, according to a Harvard study, feel a great deal of stress at various times throughout a semester. Students who turn red when they feel stress coming on change colors just like the Hulk turns green and Mystique turns blue.
Southwestern College students and alumni reported that comics lower stress because they give good advice, are relatable, create a sense of community and provide comfort. They are fat free, drug free and non-alcoholic, though they may be addictive.
HAPPY FAMILY MEMORIES
Adonis Osiris is an SDSU alumnus with a degree in anthropology and an affinity for classic comics.
• CONT FROM PG 10
Classic Jewish folk songs captivate a new generation
In a polyglot of languages, music provided common ground in Europe, Strom said.
“The language of the people there is Jewish instrumental party music,” he said. “It was generally happy music.” Western musicians struggle with old Jewish music, he said, which predates the European tonal scale used by most musicians today.
“You can’t play this music on the piano,” he said. “We play the gray notes (in between the piano keys). I am playing these quarter tones, notes that are not typical in the Western Scale. This music is older than the Abrahamic religions. It was music that people sang (and) prayed to. It was passed on generation to generation.”
Strom and Joe McNalley opened with a “Doyne” that flowed into a melody titled “Svailava,” Strom’s violin transformed the room with incandescence reminiscent of Roma fire circles and festive gatherings. With McNalley keeping the rhythm beat in contrabass, Strom’s music hung in the air as if suspended by spirit voices of Klezmorim past. Playing songs of old sprinkled with his own compositions, Strom took the audience on a journey through prewar Eastern Europe. When he sang in Yiddish his voice reverberated with the warbling style of a troubadour crooning tales of nights swapping wine for whiskey.
In “Kalarasher,” a piece from Moldova, Strom’s chiseling violin danced with McNalley’s contrabass to invoke happy feet thumping on a party floor.
“The only reason Yale sounds good is because I am playing,” McNalley said with a purposeful smirk. The old friends burst into laughter.
• CONT FROM PG 11
Engaging table game can alleviate stress, help bring the best out in young people
“What could happen if I took the reins of a character based on me?” he asked. “That led to my character being a bard.”
Kreator helps Claudio cope with stress and face down real-life demons, he said.
“My parents taught me to confront my problems, but I love that (creative) space (where) I can tap into my happy place,” he said. “That’s why D&D is
“Comics helped me make friends with literally everyone I know here in California,” they said. “They’ve been pretty instrumental (in my adjustment to a new home).
Watching characters go through situations I’ve been through has helped me process the awful things I’ve been put through.”
Like some comic book heroes, Osiris had to overcome homelessness and despair to earn friends and a college degree.
“I got into comics when I was a kid,” they said. “Teen Titans and the Young Justice shows were big in our household. My dad is a big comic book guy and always has been, so me getting into comics was bound to happen. Reading comics with my dad helped me feel closer to him, like he cared about me, my interests and my passions.”
Osiris was 15, he said, when he had a favorite memory of their father, who used to read comics to Osiris as a child. Osiris read some new comic books to their dad.
To them, this was a “full circle” moment. Father and child still buy comic books together.
Southwestern College alum Albie Ruiz said comics pulled him out of a dark place.
“Comics might have saved my life during my teens,” he said. “I was doing very badly in terms of mental health during my school years, and as corny as it sounds, watching The Amazing Spider-Man brought me so much joy and hope that it gave me strength to keep on living.”
Ruiz said comics provided escape from problems as well as a more positive way to look at the world.
“Balancing school, work and life
was a constant struggle of fluctuating emotions,” he said. “A character I related to was Spider-Man. He always does the right thing no matter what. He perseveres despite his struggles. I could relate to that.”
Ermel Espenida, a UCSD cognitive behavioral neuroscience graduate, got his collection started early when their elementary school teacher gave him vintage 1960s issues 1-20 of “The Amazing Spider-Man.”
“Comics gave me something to look forward to every week as well as something to talk to my friends about,” he said. “Having comics during my senior year of college, which was also the first year of the pandemic, helped me to fill time away from school.” Immersion in the world of comics was Espenida’s release during college and a challenging job search during the pandemic.
SUPERMAN BATTLES ANXIETY—The Man of Steel, Spider-Man and their allies may have mental health superpowers for wound up college students.
Image Courtesy of DC
“Comics became a source of comfort and helped maintain my mental well-being during the stressful times of academic pressure and the looming threat of COVID,” he said.
Espenida said Superman was a character he could relate to because The Man of Steel always wanted to do the right thing. Superman influenced his decision to become a neuroscientist, he said.
In “Superman For All Seasons” by Jeph Loeb, there’s a scene in the first issue where Clark (Superman) saves someone from a tornado that blows through Smallville, then returns to his parents’ to make sure they are okay.
“I could have done more,” he said to his father.
Espenida decided to do more.
Batman, members of the Justice Society of America, Laila Starr and Spider-Man would have all probably struggled as college students for one reason or another. They would also have made it through because they are persistent, purposeful, idealistic and smart. They conquered stress and did impressive things, just like Adonis Osiris, Albie Ruiz, and Ermel Espenida. Heroes come in many forms.
his mission to track down and preserve traditional Jewish melodies and songs from Eastern Europe. Holocaust survivors, he said, have been a rich source of musical heritage.
Even after 30 years of playing together their comfortable camaraderie brought a festive spirit to their music.
Strom sang the classic “In Odessa” in Yiddish, caressing a melody about an evening spent with a lady of the night. Its notes swayed like the alluring hips of a beautiful woman drifting along cobblestone streets. Strom’s voice captured the tantalizing atmosphere of the piece. Fluency in Yiddish was not required to feel the spirit of the song.
Showmanship and skill created
so special to me. It’s another way of scratching that itch. It helped me to become a better person and to find my passion.”
SC student Lydia Aldana said D&D made her a better person. “I got into Dungeons and Dragons because some friends (said I) should check it out,” she said. “It was a very enjoyable experience and I enjoy it to this day.”
Dungeons and Dragons helped her to make new friends and to focus on the positive, she said.
“I definitely have one character that stands out for me,” she said. “She is a half elf named Morgan. Half breeds are often seen as a negative thing in society. I wanted a character who felt like an outcast but had good intentions and wanted to improve as a person.”
magic as Strom coaxed his violin to sing out in what seemed like thin air during “Kolomeveke,” a song from Ukraine.
“(It is) one long horse tail hair,” he said. “Jews would do it as a trick.” Strom took a moment to reflect on the war in Ukraine. “Music, right?” he said. “That is what we need, more music! Miles Davis and Charlie Parker played Klezmer. If Klezmer is good enough for them, it is good enough for you.”
Playing D&D with friends makes her feel better, Aldana said.
“I’ve definitely had a lot of stress from life,” she said. “(While) I play the campaign I become a different character. It is very therapeutic. I could have the worst day, but a few hours later I am ready to take on the world.”
D&D has cast its magic on her friends, too, she said.
“I have seen people come in really grouchy or in a really bad mood,” she said. “After the campaign was over they were in a completely different mood. They were socializing and happy. This game impacts people.”
Four year D&D player Gavin Leavell is a U.S. Navy gas turbine specialist onboard the amphibious assault ship U.S.S. Tripoli.
“My Dungeons and Dragons adventure started as a high schooler
Corina Morga, a student from Southwestern College, agreed.
“I liked how (this music) is different from what we are used to,” she said.
“It’s interesting learning about music from different cultures. I enjoyed it. I was really impressed by the playing and history.” Angel Alvarez said she also enjoyed the performance. “It was such a unique experience (learning) about culture and the history behind the music,” she said.
in Russellville, Arkansas,” he said. “Making a character that interacts with the world in ways that can drastically change the outcome of a story piqued my interest. We strive to make a difference in our world. (Getting) a dose of that, even in a make-believe point of view, (is inspiring).”
Leavell said D&D helps sailors manage frustration in a productive manner.
“D&D stops people from doing things that could send them to the captain’s mast (for discipline),” he said. “One of my friends was (disciplined) and stuck on the ship for a month. To pass the time a group of friends played D&D. It was the best way for him to vent his feelings. D&D can create bonds between people around the table.”
A wise rabbit helped enlighten bored young navy men.
“I think that was one of the most engaging parts of the concert.” Strom said he is working on a musical titled “Blue Cows, Green Jews, Red Goats: The Chagalls.” It is the story of Marc Chagall and his famous artistic family pondering a move as war closes in. His band just released an album titled “The Wolf and The Lamb.” It is available on the Hot Pastrami label.
On June 27 Strom will play a free concert at the Universal Unitarian Church in Hillcrest.
“One of my favorite D&D moments was playing a homebrew rabbit race I named Otis the Gray, who was a monk subclassed into The Way of The Sun Soul,” he said. “My monk prioritized information and (serving) the greater good (to benefit) the world.”
Otis represented the person Leavell believes he can be, he said. Otis tried to do the right thing. He often failed but kept trying. This taught Leavell to acknowledge regrets and strive to be better.
“That effort by Otis, despite his living in a semi-cruel world, inspired me,” he said.
Leavell said Dungeons and Dragons is “home to millions of misfits” that inspires them to become better versions of themselves.
“They turn their fantasy into their reality.”
Lineup of quick guards pulls out an overtime 75-71 battle with Miramar College, finish season at 14-14
BY JULIO RODRIQUEZBasketball is a game built for the statuesque, but good things can come in small packages.
With the season on the line, the Jaguars used a package of small but quick guards to flood the paint and pull off a furious comeback to defeat the San Diego Miramar Jets in overtime, 75-71.
Victory seemed unlikely earlier in the evening. SC dribbled aimlessly, passed poorly and shot awkwardly during a slow motion 12-0 run by Miramar. Coach Tyrone Shelley hollered from the sidelines to pick up the tempo, to no avail.
So he decided to go small or go home. Guards Ayden Lockett and Desmond Johnson replaced the double big lineup and lit a fire under the moribund Jaguar’s offense. Shelley noticed shaky interior defense by the Jets and told his guards to exploit it. They did. Surging from a gaping deficit, SC tied the game, then kept on going to take a 75-71 win. SC finished the season 14-14 and 9-7 in the PCAC. No playoffs this year, but a phalanx of freshmen gives denizens of the Den hope for a roaring ‘24-25 season.
LA HARBOR SEAHAWKS 64
SOUTHWESTERN 60
A game that was not as close as it seems, Southwestern was roundly outplayed and shot just 25 percent in the first half. Hope flickered in the second half when the shooting heated up, but it was too late.
SOUTHWESTERN 89
GOLDEN WEST RUSTLERS 72
Back home in the Jaguar Den, Southwestern raced off the a big lead behind hot shooting and never looked back. A gym packed with rowdy fans fueled the Jags, who were led by sophomore guard Jaylen Bandy who had 27 points.
SANTIAGO CANYON 87
SOUTHWESTERN 83
A thriller with lots of offense, the game featured a stellar coming out party for freshman guard Ayden Lockett who was brilliant but could not do it by himself. Lockett rained three pointers and played shut down defense.
“I’ve seen a player who wants to get more minutes and loves the game of basketball,” said an effusive Coach Tyrone Shelley.
SOUTHWESTERN 54
IRVINE VALLEY 48
Defense dominated the gritty match against Irvine Valley and the Fabulous Freshmen pulled it out during the final minutes with a 10-4 run when it mattered most.
“They’re No. 6 in the state for a reason. We gotta move on.”
TYRONE SHELLEY Head Coach
2023-24
Southwestern was a high-flying, high scoring offense, but less than amazing on defense. The difference between its 14-14 record and a 22-6 record was a few less points on D. SC lost nearly a dozen games by three baskets or less.
GAMES 28 PTS 71.3
FIELD GOAL % 39.6
3PT % 27.0
FT % 67.8
REB 40.2
AST 12.2
POINTS PER GAME
Overall 1996
Conf. 1199
FG PER GAME
Overall 25.1
Conf. 26.9
FG ATTEMPTS PER GAME
Overall 63.3
Conf. 65.1
3PT PER GAME
Overall 5.2
Conf. 5.0
3PT ATTEMPTS PER GAME
Overall 19.3
Conf. 18.1
Source: SC Jaguars
Rodriguez leaves Division Kansas to take over Jags
BY DIRA MARIE WONGA new guy has hit town with a brash promise – to make Saturday nights fun and exciting. He’s no DJ, but new football coach Oscar Rodriguez, Jr. promised to change up the play list, score a few hits and get the band back together again.
Rodriguez signed on at Southwestern College after a two-year stint as defensive analyst at the University of Kansas. He was hired following a
national search to replace Dionicio Monarrez, the former University of Nebraska star who has coached at the college for 22 years. A full professor, he will remain a member of the college faculty.
Rodriguez has 13 years of coaching experience spanning high school to Division I. His wife is from Chula Vista, which helped influence Rodriguez’s decision to move west.
Athletic Director Ron Valenzuela expressed his full confidence in the new head coach and said he expects him to change the culture of the program.
“Coach Rodriguez rose to the top among a long list of candidates,” Valenzuela said. “He has depth,
willingness and desire to build up these athletes. As simple as that sounds, it’s not always done.”
Mental aspects of football have been a large part of the problem at Southwestern, according to returning players like safety Ta’Sean Du Bois. “The team struggles with confidence,” he said. “I think the past two years have really gotten into a few of our returning players’ heads.”
establishment of trust, said Philips.
Safety Julian Rabago said he is excited for the new season and optimistic that Southwestern will improve. “Last season was really tough,” he said. “Honestly, we need more discipline. I trust that Coach Rodriguez will lead us correctly.”
Other players said the Jaguars lack chemistry. Linebacker Darian Philips said he did not even know the names of some of his teammates last season. Unfamiliarity prevents the
Philips agreed. “Coach is just so passionate,” he said. “He has this confidence that we have lacked. We’re ready to take over.” Rodriguez has called several playersonly meetings to share his concepts of discipline and camaraderie. He said the gatherings have been very productive.
“These athletes, these players are hungry,” he said. “There’s been a void in the team and these boys are eager to fill it.”
Rodriguez said he has had plenty of time to think about what is important in life. A two-time cancer survivor, he founded the Coaches Against Cancer Foundation that raises money to support people facing surgery, treatment and grueling recoveries. Football could be – and should be –fun, he said. Restoring Southwestern’s football heritage is a primary goal. “Saturdays are something people will once again look forward to,” he said. “People want to be winners and communities want to watch their athletes win.”
Like most coaches and professors, the venerable tennis coach Susan Reasons wants to see her student-athletes thrive.
She also knows the first step to thrive is to survive. Reasons said her 23-year tenure as head of the women’s tennis program has been turbulent as a bumpy jetliner crossing the Rockies in the winter.
“We’ve had some ups and downs, that’s for sure,” she said. “It has been a roller coaster. Hold on for dear life!”
Reasons has reasons to hang on, she said. Southwestern College administrators have promised a sparkling new tennis facility and all new courts but have thus far failed to deliver. To say a planned November 2023 grand opening has been delayed is like saying Amelia Earhart is running a little late. The project has yet to break ground.
Cessation of maintenance on the current courts has allowed them to deteriorate at a frightening rate, Reasons said. Players from Southwestern and visiting colleges have been injured tripping on cracks on poor surfaces.
“The courts haven’t been resurfaced because they’re going to build a new tennis facility, so they don’t want to spend the money,” she said. “Our season has gone down the toilet because we have had a lot of injuries. If you take Patrick Mahomes out of quarterback for Chiefs, they ain’t winning the Super Bowl.”
Women’s tennis at Southwestern College is theoretically protected by Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 because it provides a semblance of balance between opportunities for men and women. Balance in the case of women’s tennis, is evocative of Dr. Martin Luther King’s observations about the segregationist “separate but equal” policies – “they sure are separate, but they sure ain’t equal.”
Women’s tennis players have access to a half-century old shack next to the courts where they can stash their belongings. Their lockers are about a third of a mile away, in another quadrant of campus, adjacent to the football stadium.
Players make do with the equivalent of athletic hand-me-downs. This year’s team received new skirts from the college, but still wear vintage six-year-old warmups.
Reasons has singlehandedly saved women’s tennis at least twice, including during the 2009 bloodletting when former college president Raj Chopra cut 439 classes one semester, including the men’s and women’s tennis teams. Reasons risked being fired to claw back the women’s team from extinction.
Despite her ferocious defense of the program and its athletes, Reasons is philosophical about winning and losing. When her athletes are happy, healthy and learning, she said, everyone wins.
“Tennis is an individual sport played under the umbrella of a team sport,” she said. “Part of being a leader and a team player is to embrace the work of others. Our players, unlike too many people, find joy in the successes of their teammates.”
Life does not revolve around the spinning yellow Spaulding in the sky.
“Almost everyone in my team has a job, they work, they help their family out,” Reasons said. “They are giving their time and energy to represent the school. My hat’s off to them because that is awesome.”
Altruism abounds on the sand and burgundy courts, Reasons said.
“Players get nothing,” she said. “There are no scholarships at this level, there are no incentives. You get nothing tangible. The best gift I can give to these women is happiness. They are having a good time, they’ve made friends for life – and that’s hard to do in (community) college. We are conditioned to just go to class, sit there as the teacher lectures to us, then get up and leave.”
Challenges abound, but Reasons said deep down she remains very positive about women’s athletics and her scrappy tennis players.
“They will remember that they got their degree, and the hard work they did to get it, but will not remember every single class,” she said. “This is where they get to relax from the required courses.” Retirement looms, but Reasons said she is not going anywhere until the new tennis center is complete. Moses never entered the Promised Land, but Reasons said she would kick in the door if necessary.
“I would like to be here when that happens,” she said. “We’ve had to do so much with so little for so long. I think the drawing and the plans for the tennis center are really cool. I want to be here to crack open that first can of balls.”
“There are areas where we still need to work and we still need to improve, whether it’s offensive assistants or maybe people within our media newsroom.”
Kansas City broadcaster continues Jim Trotter’s tough line of questioning
BY JULIO RODRIGUEZNFL Commissioner Roger Goodell tried to sideline journalist Jim Trotter. Others have picked up his torch.
Chula Vista’s Trotter, a former San Diego Union-Tribune NFL columnist and Sports Illustrated football writer, lost his job with the NFL Media Newsroom last year after he publicly challenged Goodell over the league’s hiring practices and lack of diversity. It was the second year in a row Trotter had questioned Goodell during a high visibility pre-Super Bowl press gathering about the NFL’s scant roster of minority employees.
At this year’s Super Bowl briefing, KLKC Sports Radio host Darren Smith used his time to honor Trotter and challenge Goodell on the continued lack of diverse hiring practices in the NFL Newsroom.
“As of this press conference, the NFL Media Newsroom still employs zero Black managers, zero Black copy editors, zero full-time Black employees on the news desk, and your only fulltime Black employee, Larry Campbell, passed away over the weekend,” Smith said. “How does knowing this sit well with you? After two years of being asked this question, why has there not been any change or hirings in that area?”
Goodell was visibly upset by the question.
“ Well I disagree completely,” he said. “ I’m happy to get your data and share it with our people and make sure that we get an answer for you. I don’t have all the data. I will tell you that (for) the first time, 51 percent of our employees across the league, across the network, across all of our media platforms, not including players, are either people of color or women. First time ever. So progress is being made. And there are areas where we still need to work and we still need to improve, whether it’s offensive assistants or maybe people within our media newsroom. We will continue to do that, and make significant progress, as we have.”
Washington Post sports columnist Jerry Brewer, questioned by The Sun at the recent Associated Collegiate Press convention in San Diego, said Trotter is a “courageous voice” for underrepresented journalists of color and “a man I admire very much for taking a stand.” “Jim lost his job because he twice brought up this issue,” said Brewer. “He is objectively right. The NFL Newsroom has no Black people even though the league is majority Black players. Jim Trotter is a man of principle and he paid a price for speaking truth to power.”
Brewer said he worked alongside Trotter on the board of the National Association of Black Journalists and has a “deep respect for him.” Trotter lives near Southwestern College and his daughter attended. He has been a frequent guest as a member of the San Diego Association of Black Journalists day-long workshop “Pro for a Day.” He was honored as Grand Marshal of the Bonitafest Parade for his decades of work to diversify America’s news media. He is not backing down in his quest for minority representation in the NFL.
In a four-post thread on X (formerly Twitter) Trotter reemphasized his message to the NFL.
“The data is what it is: the NFL newsroom has zero Black managers, zero Black copy editors, and zero fulltime Black employees on the news desk. Those are facts. Nothing (Goodell) says changes that.”
“Another fact @nflcommish refuses to acknowledge: outside of the reporters in the NFL newsroom, there
are ZERO fulltime Black employees. In a league whose player population is majority Black. Let that marinate for a minute.”
“I didn’t ask @DarrenSmithNFL to pose that question, but I thank him for challenging @nflcommish and seeking to have Goodell’s actions reflect his words.”
“I can’t believe what you say because I see what you do.” — James Baldwin.”
NABJ has challenged Goodell’s assertion that the employment of people of color and women is at an all-time high. In May 2023, Attorneys General Rob Bonita of California and Letitia James of New York released a joint statement announcing an investigation that alleges the NFL violated state and federal pay equality and anti-discrimination laws. Allegations had surfaced in early 2022 in the New York Times claiming that more than 30 women interviewed -- a majority of which were women of color -- said they had experienced some form of harassment during their employment.
A week later NABJ released a statement outlining the lack of diversity in the NFL’s sprawling media and communications departments. NABJ officials said they raised these concerns with NFL Executive VP and Chief Administrative Officer Dasha Smith. Brewer said Smith simply waved them off and gave them “the typical PR spiel the NFL has been using regarding these situations.”
A year later, days after Smith’s questioning of Goodell, NABJ officials said the organization is “disappointed with the lack of progress since their first statement released a year prior” and requested a meeting with the NFL “to discuss why this issue still hasn’t been addressed.”
Trotter filed a lawsuit against the NFL charging the league terminated his employment because he raised the issue of discrimination. Trotter’s case gets a hearing in April to determine whether it can go forward.
Smith’s question startled Goodell and other NFL officials because they thought they had “dealt with Trotter and his pesky line of questioning,” according to Carron J. Phillips of the sports website Deadspin. Smith and other journalists were hand-picked and invited to the NFL Super Bowl press event, Phillips said, in an effort to avoid the kind of questions Trotter asked.
It did not work.
Smith said he was happy to pick up the torch for Trotter and will ask the same question next year if hiring practices do not change – and if the NFL invites him back.
“I’ll ask the question next year and every year until changes are made,” Smith said on social media. “You matter to me Mr. Trotter, and your issues matter to me as well and to a number of people.”
Throughout her life Toni Smith was always ready to make the jump. First as a 12-year-old track and field phenom, then a high school superstar, next a four-time All-American triple jump champion at the University of Oklahoma and 2016 Olympic trials finalist.
Last year Smith jumped into the head coaching job of the Southwestern College track and field team. She is the first woman to coach men in the 60year history of the institution and an all-too-rare Black woman coach.
Her illustrious predecessor, Olympic silver medalist and five-time PCAC Coach of the Year Tonie Campbell, said his protégé is a talented coach who is ready to soar.
“I have known Toni Smith previously as a world-class athlete,” said Campbell, now Dean of Athletics at Cuyamaca College. “She was not content to just stay in her lane. She always wanted to know more. Her thirst for knowledge, appetite for hard work and dedication to coaching were all key traits for her to replace me as head coach.”
Smith was a household name in Norman, Oklahoma, but arrived at Southwestern under humble circumstances.
“I started as just a driver,” she said. “I worked my way up as the assistant coach for horizontal jumps. Then, in 2022, I was officially hired as the head coach.”
Exact data for women coaching men in community colleges is difficult to pin down, but in the NCAA only six percent of women head coaches lead men.
Smith seemed genuinely surprised when the topic was broached.
“I never put it into that perspective that I am the head coach of a men’s team,” she said with a gentle hint of an Oklahoma accent. “I look at everyone as athletes. I never gender it off, like, oh, these are the men over here, the women here. It just coach everybody.”
Smith said it was an honor to be
“My objective is to see them transfer to a university. That’s my goal.
I want track athletes to finish their educations or finish something they’re passionate about.”
TONI SMITH Head Coach
the first woman head coach of the Southwestern College Track and Field team and she owed the community her very best effort. She also wants to set a good example for African American women, she said, as well as her assistant coaches and athletes.
“I knew what I was getting myself into just being a coach,” she said. “I knew it was going to be predominantly older white men. In my first year as a competitor it took some time for them to learn who I was. (Coaches thought) oh, this is just a young girl, until I got a state championship in the triple jump.”
From then on, she said, people made it a point to come over and introduce themselves.
“It was like, prove yourself because we’ve been in the game 20 years,” said Smith. “Then, in that short amount of time, I was able to make a big impression. If I can change the perspective on what a coach should look like, I’m here, baby!”
Smith has made an impression in the South County as well, first
with her effervescent personality and her style. (She favors colorful African print head wraps and pressed Southwestern College Track jackets). After a year in the top job, she is earning the respect of the athletic community, said Campbell.
“Toni is capable of coming out of my shadow and creating her own legacy at Southwestern,” he said.
“When you are a coach, every single kid is looking to you to advance their skills. She has the insight to help these young athletes.”
Smith said she and her mentor share a common philosophy about coaching. Track coaches – like mathematics professors – are teachers first.
“I have to look at track athletes individually and see them for who they are,” she said. “We have different fitness levels here, and I must adjust my expectations to their reality and come to a happy medium.”
A good coach pushes athletes out of their comfort zone and encourages them to reach new levels, Smith said, but keeps in mind the human part of the equation. Southwestern College track athletes are not entering the program as four-time All-Americans at a major athletic university, so Smith needs to make constant adjustments, she said.
“(I was) a different type of athlete,” she said. “I envisioned (training and competing) where I wanted them to be. But the type of group I work with (is) not ready for that type of training right now. It is something to work towards.”
Smith’s enthusiasm is contagious as she makes the rounds during a recent practice session. Athletes see her love for track and field as well as her concern for each of them. She is big on form and fitness, but even more interested in her athletes as students and people.
“My objective is to see them transfer to a university. That’s my goal,” she said. “I want track athletes to finish their educations or finish something they’re passionate about.”
Life, she said, is a leap of faith.
One month is not enough time to celebrate Black history. Nor should the wonder of Black culture be confined to just one month. Twelve months seems more like it. Thirteen would be better still.
With that in mind, the staff of the Southwestern College –abound with good intentions – may have launched a project too big for even our hard-working team. Inspired by a Black History Month message from college president Dr. Mark Sanchez that urged us to celebrate America’s enormous legacy of Black artists, journalism students and a small group of supporters were invited to write short essays about their favorite Black artist. We collected a raft of enthusiastic essays as well as a list of names of Black artists students and college employees said they admired.
We generated an impressive collection of remarkable writers, performing artists and visual artists, but we soon realized that legions of gifted Black artists were inevitably going to be left out. That is regrettable, but perhaps that was Dr. Sanchez’s point – that the contributions of Black artists on America’s remarkable culture is vast to the point of unmeasurable. Story continues on Page 8.
Southwestern’s women’s soccer team filled in as the basketball team and took beating after beating to save the program
BY EMILY INGCOSouthwestern College’s women’s basketball team battled Mira Costa College in a season finale that was a nailbiter –but only for people who habitually bite their nails.
The Lady Jaguars absorbed another shellacking, 99-24, to finish a winless season.
For the packed house at the Jaguar Gym, that was not the issue. They came to honor the noble losers
who will go down in Southwestern College history as champions. Decked in good-guy white, the cagers were actually Southwestern’s talented soccer team in disguise. When illness, injury and crummy grades wiped out a rebuilding women’s basketball team, forfeits rained down like Hurricane Hilary and the season was on the verge of cancellation. Too often at Southwestern College a cancelled season precedes a cancelled program. Golf, wrestling, men’s tennis and men’s
volleyball are already consigned to the sports graveyard. Women’s basketball seemed to be in hospice.
In dribbled the soccer team to the rescue, swapping cleats for sneakers and fancy footwork for dexterous handiwork.
Well, sort of …
The Lady Jaguars tossed more bricks than Local 4 of the Bricklayers and Craftworkers Union laboring on the Chula Vista bayfront project. At halftime they literally had more fouls (five) than baskets. Set shots looked like shot puts, many did not even draw net.
None of that mattered to the SRO crowd on the south bank of Southwestern’s cavernous gym. A moral victory was already in hand and the game itself was a raucous lovefest.
Unlike a typical high stakes season finale, the Lady Jags were crowned as champions at halftime with real crowns.
And sashes.
And roses.
Giddy players looked like a row of shoestring homecoming queens replete with shimmering tiaras framing their sweaty foreheads. College president Dr. Mark Sanchez stood at center court to praise the team for “its outstanding courage.”
“These ladies saved our basketball season,” he said. “Thank you for what you did. You are all champions.”
Then, to the fans’ delight, an exciting second half of basketball. The Jaguars started to chip away at Mira Costa’s 48-10 lead.
Alyssa Pulido drained a 3-pointer, which rattled the rim and bleachers, if not their Mira Costa opponents. Gialli Francisco, a first team AllPCAC striker in soccer, struck again with another trey. She skipped back to play defense like a giddy third grader. Southwestern’s 6-0 run against the dazed Spartans in barely a minute was more points than their other entire game against Mira Costa. “They’re gonna shoot their way back into the game!” shouted an exuberant fan as he leapt to his feet.
Though that was hyperbole born of a burst of unbridled enthusiasm, the thought crept in that with practice this athletic, nimble team of elite soccer players might actually be able to master the hardwood. Southwestern’s players were faster and better conditioned than the Mira Costans, and several times dribbled past the taller, more experienced Spartans. Jag players, with Messi-esque bursts of speed, consistently worked their way into open shots – but consistently put up wounded ducks that seldom were in any danger of actually going in the basket. Never was heard a discouraging word. Whether it was the swish of the net or the silent flight of a ball falling three feet short, the women hustled back with smiles on their faces and pep in their step. Captain Francisco would have it no other way.
Fans generated a pair of organic goals for the team that spread through the stands like a fire in a dry palm tree. Score 20 points and hold Mira Costa to less than 100.
Modest, perhaps, but consider previous games: Palomar 110 – Southwestern 0
Grossmont 119 – South-
“These ladies saved our basketball season. Thank you for what you did. You are all champions.”
DR. MARK SANCHEZ SC President
western 8 San Diego City 125 –Southwestern 12 and, in their previous matchup, Mira Costa 112 – Southwestern 4
The Lady Jags cooled off in the garish light of reality, but the passionate crowd roared like a jumbo jet rumbling down the runway. Point number 17 came with 5:37 left in the fourth quarter. A free throw with 4:05 on the clock ran the tally to 18.
“Twenty! Twenty! Twenty!” chanted the crowd as it stomped like an off-tempo rendition of “We Will Rock You,” minus Freddie Mercury. At 2:15 nirvana.
Guard Rylie Ewert rattled in a 3-pointer as the fans leapt to their feet as one. Strangers hugged and Johnny Jaguar hopped around like an onyx cat on a hot tin roof. 21 points! A barrier breached!
With just 35 seconds remaining Isis Garcia launched a line drive from the arc that skimmed the rim and dropped through for three more to run the score to 9924. Garcia spun like a top with both fists punching the frenzied air of the arena. She and the other four on the floor raced back for defense and set up a petite picket fence around the Mira Costa arc in an effort to keep the score under 100.
The Spartans never got off a shot. Mira Costa won by 75 points, but it felt like Southwestern College had just won the NCAA basketball tournament or the soccer World Cup. Parents, boyfriends and little sisters rushed onto the court to embrace their glistening loved ones. Abuelos, tios y profe’s held up posters with players’ names and photos.
Basketball coach Janet Eleazar was busy doing a TV interview, but soccer coach Carolina Soto stood on the court near the bleachers with a Cheshire grin.
“After the soccer season the players wanted to stay together,” she said. “Gialli, the captain, approached the basketball coach about using soccer players. The next thing they knew, 12 players had signed up.”
Soto gazed across the polylingual chaos of the basketball court.
“They look like they just won the conference!” she said. “They look so happy.”
Winning is something Soto and her players know how to do on the pitch. Southwestern College won the 2022 Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Championship and narrowly missed repeating in 2023.
“I think we can win conference in ’24,” she said, then a pause. “In soccer, at least. Not sure about basketball!”
Half an hour after the final buzzer few had left the joyous gym. President Sanchez did a TV interview as Steven Sanchez sang “I found love.”
Until the end of time the record books will show the 2023-24 Southwestern College Lady Jaguars basketball going 0-12, dead last in the PCAC. That is what it is.
Until the last granddaughter of the last surviving player disappears from this world, the memory of the selfless souls who took beating after beating to save the program will inspire young women and warm hearts.
Basketball is ephemeral, heroes are eternal.