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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015
Centennial celebration Tigers prepare massive roar for Riverside City College’s 100th year @Crystal__Olmedo
Blood drive held for 9/11 victims
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VOL. XCV, NO. 2
Football on a winning streak
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Riverside City College will reach its 100th year in September 2016. The College will celebrate in the days leading up to it with events beginning in October. A Presidential Investiture will be held to welcome RCC’s 11th president, Wolde-Ab Isaac, on October 12 at 9 a.m. in the Landis Auditorium. "It's a once in a lifetime celebration, a celebration that never gets a second chance," said Isaac. "Reflecting on the past and what the college has meant to the the people of Riverside and and their economic, social and political life." The official kickoff for the celebration events will be on November 7 at the Tigers Homecoming football game against rivals Chaffey College, that is close in age to RCC as it opened in 1883. There will be a parade that will go from downtown Riverside to RCC according to Isaac. According to Rakhee Uma,
A.G. PAUL QUADRANGLE IN 1976 VIEWPOINTS FILE PHOTO
Associated Student of Riverside City College vice president, clubs will be collaborating with ASRCC to make a float for the parade. Alumni will be making visits to share experiences about their time at RCC and how it helped them to get where they are now. Humanities, fine arts, sciences, choral ensembles and RCC Marching Tigers will be preparing performances and events for the Centennial. RCC Marching Tigers will
be composing original music specifically for the Centennial celebration. It is not uncommon for a former student of RCC to return to the college as a professor or to reminisce about their time spent here. “I think it’s cool that a college in a small town like Riverside has been around for so long,” said RCC student Jennifer Anthony who drives from Highland to come to RCC. “It’s awesome to see how students return to teach
at RCC, like my astronomy professor Scott Blair. The planetarium is actually named after his former professor (Robert T. Dixon).” Students who attended RCC over forty years ago still remember their experiences walking through the halls of the college. “I came to RCC at the end of the Vietnam War so, Southern California was an exciting place to be,” said Bill Osborn former RCC student and staff writer for Viewpoints. He attended RCC before Moreno Valley College and Norco College were built. “ I grew up in a small town, so coming to Riverside in 1968 when there was a population of about 140,000,” said Osborn. “It was very liberal and progressive and it changed the way I thought and viewed things. I even became and remained best friends with one of my instructors, Al Parker. I still visit the Alumni House to make donation to a scholarship fund for his daughter, the Chrystine Parker Memorial Fund..”
See CENTENNIAL on Page 2
GSA and ALLY reach out to LGBTQIA JACKIE MORA
@missjackiemora
In the face of struggles and a communication breakdown, dedicated students and members of faculty refuse to be discouraged. The Gender and Sexualities Awareness Club (GSA) is the heart of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual community on campus. “If anybody discriminates against you in this club they’re gonna be gone,” said Asher Jones, vice president pro tempore of GSA at the group’s meeting Sept.17. “We don’t do that here … so know you’re protected.” According to the GSA, an ally is a person or organization that actively helps another with a specific issue; one who openly supports and affirms the rights and dignity of the LGBTQIA people. ALLY is also the name of a separate group of trained members of staff and students who offer a safe space and support for those who are concerned with sexual orientation or gender identity issues. “I’m hesitant about any group that claims to be LGBTQIA allies,” Jones said while discussing the ALLY group. “I need to know that you’re
JENNY AGUILAR | VIEWPOINTS
GSA: Students of the Gender and Sexualities Awareness Club listen closely during a meeting Sept. 17. dedicated, you’re educated, and that you’re willing to help the students.” Jones is frustrated by the outdated information about LGBTQIA resources which appears on RCC’s website and also was misprinted in the RCC Student Survival Guide, which was provided to attendees on Welcome Day at RCC on Aug. 29. “I am aware of the outdated information,” Debbie Whitaker, associate dean of academic support and ALLY coordinator, said. “We are working on getting it updated.” “Updates regarding the RCC
ALLY website and the section for LGBTQIA resources in the Student Survival Guide are in the process of being corrected and improved,” Whitaker added in an e-mail. P r o b l e m s w i t h “misrepresentation...visibility... lack of resources,” on campus for LGBTQIA are also concerns. Regardless of his frustration, Jones emphasized the vital contributions of allies, “We always need allies; those are the people that are going to help us. Allies are important because they help create safe spaces.” Allies are indeed creating safe spaces on campus.
“We get these cards that we can put in our office windows that say to students that if they have an issue, that they should feel comfortable to come in and talk to us, that our offices are going to be safe places to discuss issues surrounding those kind of things, that we are going to be sensitive to it,” said Peter Curtis, tenured professor of music and RCC ALLY. “I always come out to my students at the beginning of my class,” said Jacquelyn Bang, adjunct english instructor and adviser to GSA. “I’m an out queer woman. I advocate outness…the reason I’m involved in this club is because I had older queer and transgender people in my college when I was an undergrad … who advocated for queer and transgender safe spaces and who created safe spaces for me and I feel like it’s the least I can do to pay it forward,” “I’d also like to know who the ALLY group is on this campus,” Bang said. “The ALLY group is not an opportunity to drag individuals in to convert them, preach to them or otherwise lead individuals to feel less than their non-LGBT peers,” Whitaker said in an e-mail. “The
See GSA on Page 3