How a gang-impacted student turned his life around after facing homelessness and addiction.
For over a decade, LBCC’s music pro gram stopped offering commercial courses that teach students the business and tech nical side of the music industry. This year, they’ve decided to bring it back.
Since the commercial music program was cut in 2012, the music department has focused on teaching performing arts, which consisting of vocal and instrumental lessons.
Patrick Sheng, director of Instrumen tal Jazz Studies at LBCC, has officially kick-started the commercial music pro gram that will be returning in the spring of 2023.
“It seems a little ridiculous that in the 21st century we don’t offer these kinds of classes,” Sheng said. “Musicians need to have technical skills to really make it. All of the professional musicians I know record their own music, so I thought this should be something that I teach my students.”
The program will offer courses in live sound techniques, music recording tech niques, music business and even songwrit ing. Students will be able to take a combina tion of these courses to receive a certificate of achievement in commercial music.
Sheng and the program’s advisory board decided to classify it under “CTE,” or Career Technical Education, instead of an academic program to gain more funding for the courses.
Since CTE focuses on hands-on equip ment learning, the school allocates more of money for course materials. This is ben
eficial for the commercial music program because technology and software change yearly in the music world.
Sheng had been wanting to bring back the commercial arts program since he was hired in 2014, but the resurgence of this program is also in part because LBCC has placed greater importance on CTE pro grams in recent years.
“It was an interesting choice to cut the program in the first place because it was one of the higher-performing programs in terms of enrollment,” Sheng said. “But the atmosphere at the college ten years ago was cutting vocational programs and focusing on academics and transfers. Since the ad ministration has changed since then, it’s now the opposite. We’re big on vocational stuff right now.”
Sheng and the advisory board have de cided that commercial arts at LBCC will not be made a transferable major. The only transferable major in the music program at the moment is musicianship and perform ing arts.
However, students who are interested in taking commercial music classes do not have to play an instrument to complete the certificate of achievement.
“Students should know that these class es are beginner friendly, they can take them with no knowledge at all,” part-time profes sor Louie Teran said, who will be teaching the music recording techniques class next year.
Teran got his start as a mastering en gineer through LBCC’s commercial music program before it was cut. He has since
worked on soundtrack projects for “The Dark Knight,” “The Lego Movie” and “Glee.”
“I want my students to look at someone like me, who took these classes at a com munity college just like they are doing,” Teran said. “I want them to know that they can make it in the industry just like I did by starting off here.”
So far, the commercial music pro gram only has part-time faculty teaching the courses. Most of the professors are
still working in the industry, and are only teaching part-time.
Sheng and the advisory board have just put together a proposal for a full-time posi tion in the program, but they don’t believe it will be filled in the near future.
“I estimate there will be 40 positions requested, and there are other departments that have priority hiring,” Sheng said. “I’m not optimistic that the position will be filled in any time soon, but I have to try to at least submit a request.”
By Cain CarBaJaL
Both of LBCC’s libraries have recently announced an extension to their hours of operation. Previously open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., the hours have been extended to 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The extension comes just in time for finals season, as the last three weeks of LB CC’s fall semester are quickly coming to a close.
Staff hopes that students will utilize the new hours to find a place of refuge on campus to study. They are encouraging stu dents to get ahead of their necessary study ing for finals.
The spirit of supporting students ap pears to be strong among the student staff of the LAC library, who have to work extra because of the extended hours.
“I’m fine with it as long as it helps the students,” said Michelle Chao, a student worker at the library’s circulation desk. “Per sonally, I think 7:30 is too early, but if it’s to
accommodate students I think it’s OK.”
Andrew Inda, another worker at the cir culation desk spoke on his thoughts on the hours as well but expressed concern for the
late hours.
“I do feel bad for my friends who have to work late, some of my coworkers are staying until 9 p.m. and most of them are women, they have to do the buddy system when walking back to their cars late at night,” Inda said.
“As a student though, I think it’s cool because it’s better for those who want to stay late or earlier, and the school is accom modating that,” Inda said.
The hours are certainly being taken ad vantage of. Early yesterday morning, stu dents could be seen in the library typing away on laptops or phones.
It is still unknown whether the extend ed hours will remain after the end of the fall semester or if the hours will go back to normal once the final week of the semester has concluded.
After having been released from jail earlier this year, 23-year-old student Adri an Burt found himself sleeping in a base ball dugout at Heartwell Park, with a blan ket and a phone as his only possessions.
The people he thought would be there for him knew that he was homeless but did not respond to him when he reached out for help.
“I can’t blame them,” Burt said. “I was drinking and using drugs like meth, which made me act out and led me to get arrested.”
One day, Burt was walking around Down town Long Beach and came across a resource fair. “I saw the LBCC tent and was just trying to see if they were giving out anything for free. That’s when I met Jose Ibarra,” Burt said.
Jose Ibarra is the director of the Phoenix Scholars program at LBCC. This program intends to help gang-impacted individuals go to college and provide them resources for academic, financial and emotional sup port. After talking for a while, Ibarra sug gested Burt go to college.
Burt had declined Ibarra’s invitation to college at first, but was the perfect candidate for the Phoenix scholars program. Growing up in Riverside, Burt had lived in the shadows of gangs.
His father was in the Mexican Mafia and had landed himself in prison for mur der. His father then killed himself in his cell when Burt was only 3-years-old.
Burt’s half-siblings had followed their
father’s footsteps in joining gangs. Burt re called a moment when a car drove slowly past him as he conversed with these siblings outside their house. The car suddenly circled back around the block and the people in the car fired gunshots at them.
“I realized that was the path they took. I don’t want to be impacted by that lifestyle, but I am and I always will be. After that day I was like, OK, I have another vision for my self. I’m not a perfect person but I don’t want to have a bad life,” Burt said.
Burt had made it his focus to work on his academics and play football in high school, but trouble was brewing at home.
“One day in high school, I came home from football practice and my mom was get ting hit by her boyfriend. She was pregnant, so I hit him and ended up breaking his jaw,” Burt said. “I thought I was protecting her. I thought she was going to kick him out, but she ended up kicking me out instead. I was 17. That was the first time I was really homeless.”
Once Burt graduated high school, there wasn’t a place for him to go anymore. “That free food and somewhere to spend time during the day, that was gone. I fell in with the wrong people after that,” Burt said.
At 19, Burt started using meth and drinking alcohol, but after a few years of being involved with a bad crowd, he want ed to try to get his life together again. He moved to Long Beach to live with grand parents to get sober and start over. Howev er, he soon began feeling the withdrawals
from the drugs and partying he used to do.
“I ended up getting really drunk one night and I got really aggressive. That’s when I got arrested,” Burt said.
“I was a different person when I was on drugs and my friends and family saw that side of me. After jail I came out with a growth mindset, but I understood that I did people wrong and I needed to show them that I was doing better. I knew that was going to take time,” Burt said.
So although Burt had initially declined Ibarra’s offer to go to college and enroll in the Phoenix Scholars program, he thought about their conversation as he went back to his car to sleep for the night.
“I’ve seen him grow confidence in him self and own his life since I’ve met him,” Ibarra said. “He has a way of using the nar rative of his life to empower himself and empower others. He overcomes all barriers, and still manages to show up for himself.”
The Phoenix Scholars program was able to connect Burt with Jovenes, one of LBCC’s housing programs. He now lives in an apartment building with four other stu dents and studies welding technology full time.
“I made a promise to myself that I’m gonna do this,” Burt said. “I’ve achieved a lot these past couple of months. My whole mindset going into school was that I’m go ing to be homeless for two years and tough it out, but I can come out of this. I always have.”
Despite the rain, almost 4000 people at tended Long Beach’s second annual inter national tamale festival at Long Beach City College’s Pacific Coast Campus on Sunday.
The aroma of tamales guided lines full of people to the vendors’ tents. Attendees blocked the walkways just so they could get a taste.
Some of the tamales available were bir ria tamales full of stewed meat from Los Cachorritos, chicharrones tamales, as well as classic flavors like chile with cheese, corn, chicken, and pork or beef with red or green sauce.
There were also plenty of options for those with restricted diets. Some vendors carried exclusively vegan or vegetarian ta males like Shane’s Tamales, whose owner got his start making tamales 14 years ago for vegan potlucks for him and his friends after becoming vegetarian 18 years ago.
“I would make tamales as gifts because my friends liked them so much and a cou ple years later people started asking me to buy them. I started selling them on Face book,” owner Chayane Sarabia said.
Now Sarabia’s business has grown so much he employs his mother as his busi ness partner to help keep up with orders. He also runs a pop-up at Trademark Brew
ing in Long Beach every Monday for their Meatless Monday event.
Along with tamales, the event was ac companied by performances by young folklorico dancers in brightly colored dresses and men dressed in formal clothing with sombreros from JD Dance Company located in North Long Beach.
Aztec dancers performed shortly after JD Dance Company and started off their performance with a blessing using copal, an incense. Copal is a tree sap used by tribes in Mesoamerica that is believed to cleanse energy.
“Copal has been used by our ancestors longer than Jesus has walked the Earth.”
Milagro Ruiz Bello said. “Some people as sociate it with brujeria (witchcraft) and dis courage practicing it but it’s not. It is one of the oldest religions in our culture,”
Several bands graced the stage at the festival, playing music with Latin-Ameri can roots. This included Cello Azul, a first generation Mexican-American cumbia band whose leader played a blue cello, and Arcoiris (rainbow) Mariachi which is made of members of the LGBTQ community including the first transgender mariachi woman, Natalia Mendelez.
To finish off the night, cumbia legend La Sonora Dinamita, performed their most famous titles with singer Vilma Diaz.
U.S. Air Force band, the “Airmen of Note,” received a warm welcome from guests on Nov. 19 in front of LB CC’s own LAC Auditorium. Preluded by a special military guest, which featured a Sergeant on vocal accompaniment, the Airmen of Note made a notable impression on its Long Beach audience.
“No one had to twist our arms to get us to Long Beach from Washington D.C.,” Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Burns said, after the band performed an opening number.
“Only in sunny California would we schedule an out door performance six months in advance in November and know the weather will be perfect,” he said.
The band was joined by Master Sgt. Emily Wellington, a vocalist for original compositions such as “I Love Being
Here With You” and “My One and Only Love,” providing a stunning jazz performance with her powerful, show-steal ing voice.
The band also received an introduction from local Space Force Cmdr. Mia Walsh, giving the Airmen of Note recognition for the work in creating “positive, and long lasting impressions” of the United States Air Force, and commended them for their efforts in carrying on the leg acy established by Glenn Miller, the founder of the Army Air Forces Band.
What came next was about an hour of songs, solos, and anecdotes from a variety of the band’s musicians.
The concert ended with a performance of the Airmens’ own arrangement of “America the Beautiful,” which em bedded the American spirit of jazz into the patriotic clos ing number.
By Juleah Corzantes and Cain CarBaJal
A drawing called “One Love,” of rapper Nipsey Hussle and singer Selena Quintanil la Perez in a happy embrace, inspired by re flecting on the past and present of its artist, LBCC student, Jeremiah Henderson.
Henderson knew he wanted to create an art piece that showed two can come to gether no matter their backgrounds, with less hate and more love.
At first, the big picture was always to have his art displayed in museums, but over time he found himself unsure of where his dreams were going.
“I thought it was impossible for some one with my background to become what I wanted,” Henderson said. “I started settling with the idea of being a tattoo artist so at least my work can be seen.”
His direction stayed that way for a while, until the untimely death of a close friend sent Henderson into a depressed state. He found himself sketching and drawing con stantly, using the art as a distraction to get the sudden tragedy out of his head.
Shortly after, he moved to L.A. from his hometown of Gary, Indiana and experi enced culture shock from all the negativity displayed.
“I noticed immediately the hostility and differences between Hispanic and minority
communities, where love was absent even if they were neighbors,” he said.
This was what ultimately sparked the idea for Henderson’s drawing, which took him two months to fully conceive.
As the only student to be featured in the gallery, his piece was hand chosen by the new art director Karla Aguiniga.
“I saw Jeremiah’s drawing, it was so beautiful and the meaning along with the title I knew it would fit perfectly for the show,” Aguiniga said.
The gallery experience was like no oth er for Henderson.
“It is unreal because this time last year I was sleeping in my car, having no fami ly, no support, nothing. No one knew my intentions were good, and that all I real ly wanted to do was be an artist,” he said, thankful for the support he has now.
Phil and Katherine Burno are among those who helped Henderson shift his life for the better, providing a support system he sorely lacked in LA. The couple met Jer emiah through the West L.A. Living Word Christian Center, where Phil Burno works as a pastor.
The longer he attended church services, the better the Burnos got to know him. Then, in November of 2021, Katherine Burno suggested inviting Jeremiah to stay in their home.
“When we brought him home, it was a situation where he had to get accustomed to the idea of being in a place where he’s safe. We were committed to helping him, and taking care of him,” Phil Burno said.
Katherine Burno also shared her emo tions about Henderson’s art and journey.
“He is part of our family (and) his art obviously is so much a part of who he is but the story of him being homeless and in his car, that’s a minor part compared to how much God has grown him and given him opportunities. It’s been amazing to watch all of that,” she said.
The main theme Henderson wants to impart when looking at his art is that your upbringing doesn’t have to define you for the rest of your life.
“The drawing, it shows Hussle, and he was a gangbanger before people knew his name and Selena was a small town singer in a struggling household. They both made people happy, and people came together not focusing on what they looked like or came from, but sharing love with the music they gave to the world,” Henderson said.
He noted that his time here helped him grow as an artist, “I can honestly say I have been creating my best work here while be ing enrolled at this school and look forward to the rest of my time here.”
Vikings women’s volleyball put up a fight this year, as they pushed through a tough season filled with adversity, and ended their season with a record of 2-10 in conference and 3-16 overall.
The team averaged 9.46 kills per set and 12.7 points per set in conference this sea son. They ended with a total of 388 kills and 50 service aces.
In past years, the Vikings have had a winning women’s volleyball program and have generally been a strong team to com pete against.
This year the team faced several differ ent struggles, from losing players to inju ries or due to academic ineligibility.
“As a coach and as a program we dealt with a lot of adversity, and it showed just with our record,” head coach Tyler Jackson said.
Although there were not many high lights for the Vikings this year, they were able to defeat Pasadena, who was ranked 13th in state, which was a big accomplish ment for the women.
Freshman Danika Iosua was one of the stand out players this season for the Vikings, being one of the few expected to always play on the court.
“She’s only about 5 ‘7” but she plays like she’s 6’. She really was the glue for our team this year,” Jackson said.
Sophomore Caleyse Saunders was an other strong player for the Vikings, but was injured mid-season, causing her to miss a few games.
Iosua and Saunders were both named second team all conference.
The entire indoor lineup will be com ing out for the beach volleyball season in the spring of 2023, including most of those who were injured or ineligible.
“As many can say, it’s not the record we wished for, but I know each and every one of my girls is so talented in their own ways and worked hard no matter the outcome. I know we will use this past season’s record as motivation to build, grow and prepare for the next season,” said Iosua.
The Vikings are hoping to build a stron ger program in the upcoming beach season.
“We have several transfer athletes that just love our program, love our school, our community and have been super interested in wanting to join us,” Jackson said. “I think it says a lot for having such a hard season and losing indoors, but to still have such a huge amount of interest from other athletes from different programs.”
By SoDErEk SAn
The Vikings lost their final game on Nov. 26 against Cerritos in the Western Bowl, ending their season with a final over all record of 5-6.
In their first game of the season, the Vikings seemed to be more than locked in, defeating L.A. Southwest 72-6. The Vi kings ended this game with 18 penalties as they let their emotions get the best of them, which would become an issue they would deal with throughout the season.
Discipline has been an issue that the team has been made aware about, as head coach Brett Peabody said since the start of the season, “We did not play up to the stan dards we set for ourselves.”
Vikings’ quarterback Will Madonna also had some words for his team regard ing the way that their season ended, “It was disappointing we didn’t play good enough
for the talent we had.”
Despite their mistakes, the Vikings’ chemistry constantly seemed to be grow ing as their communication improved with every game, whether it would be through their support or figuring out team issues.
Another major problem for the Vikings would be the balance between their offense and their defense. Many of their losses would result on one side not playing on the same level as the other.
Vikings’ sophomore running back Johnathan Wattson, #3, played a major role in the Vikings’ offense leading the team with 11 touchdowns and a total of 845 yards on 168 rushes.
Alongside Wattson’s impressive runs, the Vikings’ offensive line was crucial in making this possible. For most of the games the offensive line would receive praise and gratitude from fellow players and coach es for their strength, vision, and ability to open up space.
The final season averages for the offense are 367.5 total yards per game, 119.2 yards on the ground, 248.4 yards through the air, and 29 points per game.
As for defense, Vikings’ freshman line backer Jamarlo Campbell, #19, would lead the team in total tackles with 62 alongside fellow Vikings’ freshman linebacker, Aus tin Bressler, #9, leading the team in solo tackles with 34.
The final season averages for the Vi kings’ defense are 349.5 yards allowed per game, 161.9 rushing yards allowed per game, 187.5 passing yards allowed per game , and 27.5 points allowed per game.
Although the Vikings’ season didn’t end in the way that they wanted it to, they have improved from last year’s record and seem to be locked in and working together to try to solve their issues as a team.
Long Beach City College’s cross coun try team shined this year as they closed out their season competing at the CCCAA State Championships.
The women’s cross country team had a strong season where they qualified for state as a team and finished 19th at the state meet.
The girls representing Long Beach City College were Ailene Rios (So), Natalie Me jia (Fr), Jamileth Alvarado (Fr), Frida Her nandez (Fr), Lorena Galaviz (Fr), Katelyn Moratoya (Fr) and Jennifer Martinez (Fr).
Rios finished with a time of 19:10.5 and placed 20th overall while Mejia was the second highest finisher with a time of
21:37.4 putting her at 92nd overall.
Rios’ best time this season was 18:54.
“The highlight was definitely breaking 19, that was one of my last races and it was a good one,” Rios said.
Women’s head coach Karen Vigilant was extremely proud of the ladies for pushing through this season even when it looked to be tough.
“In the beginning we were struggling to have five on our team and then towards the end we made it through, so that’s a big accomplishment,” Vigilant said.
On the men’s side, the team got second in conference and there were two men who made it to state as individuals, Riki Mosco so (Fr) and Noah Macias (Fr).
Moscoso finished 120th overall with a time of 22:46.3 and Macias finished 127th
overall with a personally improved time of 22:49.5.
Coming off of an injury, Moscoso’s best time this season was a 21:28, which helped him qualify for state.
Eight out of the nine men that compet ed for the team were first-time runners at the college level.
“I was happy with our outcome consid ering they are all freshmen, most of them should be returning next year so that ex cites me for next season,” men’s head coach Julio Jimenez said.
Aileen Rios and Riki Moscoso were both named first team all conference. Na talie Mejia and Noah Macias were named second team all conference.
LBCC’s track and field season will start in early February of 2023.
When others would wake up and get ready for school with 10 minutes left to spare, Bonard Johnson Jr. was up at 5 a.m. training at the gym with his dad.
When Johnson and his sister were tod dlers, they experienced a time of home lessness as their mother and father worked hard to find their next home. Through this period they were able to stay with different family members before finding a home of their own within the next few years.
With six brothers and sisters, and his father having a disability, Johnson believes it is important that he is able to be there for his family and help out in any way that he can. Along with his basketball career, he holds his family as one of his top priorities.
Johnson dedicates his growing success to his family, especially to his father who has been supportive and stayed by his side and in his ear every step of the way.
“A lot of kids that come here don’t really have a dad like mine, so having him here is a blessing,” Johnson said. “Sometimes when I doubted myself he was there tell ing me you can do this, you can do that. Because other people say you can’t do this or that, but he was there and pushed me to be the best that I can be. I don’t know any other dads that do that.”
Since he was a young boy playing bas ketball with his “jersey falling off his shoul der and all,” LBCC’s head basketball coach, Barry Barnes saw great potential in this year’s point and shooting guard.
Raised in Long Beach, he’s grateful to be able to start his college basketball career at a community college in order to perfect his technique before transferring to a Divi sion I or II school.
“I already had good skills and all that,” Johnson said, “but I could always be better.”
The mural that wraps around the Hall of Champions Gymnasium at LBCC actu ally holds a picture of Johnson, alongside a handful of other students.
His dedication to the sport and en couragement from his father are what mo tivates him to stay focused on his vision of one day playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.
This last summer, Johnson played with the Drew League, a summer basketball in stitution in Southern California that brings together select students, overseas players, Los
Angeles street-ball favorites, NBA players and former pro athletes.
This pro-am summer league consists of 28 invitation only teams that battle it out on the court.
The summer league gives players from all levels the chance to work together and teach each other more than just skills on the court, and all of this is offered at no cost for those selected to participate.
Of those that Johnson was able to play with, he noted Jordan Bell being one of the most memorable players.
Bell currently plays for the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball As sociation.
Johnson Sr. spoke highly of his son’s dedication while still being able to give priority to his family. Watching his chil dren bond and experience life as a deep
ly connected unit is what life is all about according to him.
“My whole motivation in life was to be the father that I never had, so I felt like we connected in a sport that I want ed to play in my whole life,” Johnson Sr. said.
Johnson Sr. is currently taking class es at Long Beach City College in order to complete his general education with as pirations of becoming a basketball coach someday.
“I feel like the next generation is gonna be alright. He’s a good young man,” John son Sr. said.
Being able to play basketball while con tinuously pouring love and time into his family is what Johnson does everyday, and these are the steps and motivation he uses to advance his career to the next level.
By Marco hayneSLBCC women’s soccer ended their season in the third round of the CCCAA So-Cal regionals to Mt. Sac. The Vikings couldn’t find a way to respond in a tight game that offered few opportunities for either team.
Mounties’ defender Fatima Arnold scored the decisive goal that ultimately ended the season for women’s soccer on Nov. 22.
This was the third straight loss for the Vikings in their head-to-head re cord against the Mounties. After a cagey 90 minutes 0-0, they lost in a penalty shootout.
However, the Vikings capped off their season by winning the conference title for the first time since 2005, beating L.A. Harbor 1-0. Forward Evelyn San doval scored the only goal of the game which put LBCC’s hands on the league trophy.
They finished the conference season with a record of 8-1, including defeat ing difficult opponents, Rio Hondo, El Camino and Cerritos College.
“For being a team of all freshmen that didn’t know each other at the start, we had a great season,” Sandoval said. “There’s so much skill and talent on the team that I know we will make it even further next season.”
Head coach Eduardo Nunes was awarded SCC South Coach of the Year. Sandoval earned herself SCC South Of fensive player of the year, and defender Rya Cabral got SCC South Defensive player.
“I came onto this team knowing I wanted to make a big impact, and it feels good knowing that the hard work I put in didn’t go unnoticed,” said Sandoval.
Vikings’ forwards Genesis Lopez, Diana Leon, and midfielders Melanie Guerrero and Paige Rodriguez made the All-SCC South Division First team.
The Vikings had four players repre sented in the All-SCC South Division second team.
LBCC basketball player’s dedication to his family pushes him to greater heights in his career
Long Beach City College needs to step up their game on ensuring that the re strooms are regularly stocked with femi nine hygiene products.
Feminine hygiene products are sup posed to be in all California public school, college, and university restrooms for gen der neutral, men’s, and women’s restrooms.
This is because of the “Menstrual Equi ty Act of 2021” signed by Governor Gavin Newsom last October, but since the start of this semester there has been a struggle to keep these machines properly stocked.
This school year, LBCC has been lack ing at keeping up with supply. So far, most restrooms are found to be empty of one or both of the product items offered.
Since the beginning of fall semester at the Liberal Arts Campus, the restrooms in buildings T, V, P, L, and E have been checked twice a week between 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., only to find the dispensers empty every time.
A thorough sweep of LAC in October between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. found that not all buildings even had dispensers. Build ings A and M had no machines in their bathrooms while buildings B, C, and D only had dispensers on the first floor re strooms which were empty.
The Art Department restrooms in building K shares their restrooms with the Performing Arts from Lot D, and have al ways come up empty as well.
Buildings G and H were closed for con struction at the time of checking and the Pacific Coast Campus was not included.
Despite these empty machines, Kyle Pa dron of the Facilities Department said that the dispensers were stocked each night.
So what is happening? Are people tak ing more than their fair share?
Yes, it is understandable that people using menstrual cycle products may need more than one product for the day, so it should be okay to take a couple at a time to stock up for the day.
Chick-fil-A has a distaste for LGBTQ people. The religiously conservative fast food compa ny’s former CEO has given millions of dollars to groups that oppose and actively fight against gay rights year after year making the company’s ho mophobia no secret, yet Long Beach City College brought the discriminatory company onto cam pus as a treat to the students.
For this year’s Friendsgiving, the college pro vided free food from multiple vendors for the students, one being Chick-fil-A. The gesture came from a place of gratitude but the decision was an ignorant one, considering Long Beach has one of the highest populations of queer residents.
For a college that stresses the importance of inclusivity and diversity, it should practice what it preaches by not giving its dollars to companies that have openly tried to suppress the demograph ic in question. It sends mixed signals as to what the college is supposed to represent and comes across as disingenuous.
It is not breaking news that Chick-fil-A has had anti-LGBTQ sentiment for some time now. The first account was in 2010 after it was revealed Chick-fil-A’s CEO Dave Cathy donated $5 million to anti-gay groups between 2003-2010.
Yahoo Life reported Cathy’s son then doubled down on the companies actions in 2012 in a radio interview where the founder’s son said, “I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation
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when we shake our fist at Him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,’” referring to the legalization of gay marriage in the United States.
In 2019, the company issued a statement announcing that it would stop donating to an ti-LGBTQ groups after its bad publicity, but it has yet to ensure a LGBTQ friendly workplace, practices, or acknowledge their past actions and branding as negative.
Cathy has since stepped down as CEO of the company as of late 2021, but still serves as VP and the chairman of the company’s board.
The college needs to boycott the company from now on if it wants to claim to be a safe space for LGBTQ members. This is not a hard ask, con sidering it has been attempted before at other col leges like NYU, NorthEastern University, Notre Dame and even the entire city of New York.
Colleges should be at the forefront of change and revolution. Here students should be able to envision a society we want to build and live in and the college should act as a breeding ground for that.
There is no excuse as to why we had to have Chick-fil-A at LBCC when the company does not promote a society we would be proud of and would be welcomed in. If the school would like to bring fried chicken sandwiches onto campus, there are several surrounding businesses that ca ter, without being anti-LGBTQ, such as Jay Birds, Cluck & Blaze, Jack in the Box, and McDonalds.
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