Santa Monica College Celebrates Black Student Success Week
Illustration by Karuma Namala.
Black Student Success Week is an annual event created in 2020 by advocates within the California Community College system. It takes place during the last week of April and provides an opportunity to celebrate, support, and affirm the academic well-being of Black students.
This year’s event will be held from April 22 to April 26. The theme will be “Building a Better Future Together: the Urgency is Now,” and programming will focus on finding innovative ways to ensure Black students’ success at California Community Colleges.
“Dr. Keith Curry, the president at Compton College, was the one who spearheaded this initiative statewide during the pandemic to really honor and hold space for our Black students in the community college system, which I think is critical,” said Santa Monica College (SMC) Black Collegians Program Leader Sherri Bradford.
Black Collegians Umoja, in partnership with the SMC Pan African Alliance, will be hosting a week-long series of events to celebrate Black students at the school:
April 22: Black Collegians/Adelante therapist Dr. Kenji Jones-Lane hosted a one-hour session titled “Centering Black Joy,” aimed at helping Black students remember to find ways to focus on their joy amid life’s stressors.
April 23: Black Collegians and the Pan African Alliance will host a “Black Block Party on the Quad,” featuring games, line dancing, double dutch, music, and food. The event will take place on the main campus quad between 11:15 a.m. and 12:35 p.m.
April 24: David Anderson, the Los Angeles Urban League's chief operating officer, will host a networking and lunch event with students. Anderson will discuss his journey from SMC to the University of Southern California (USC) and how he got his important community role. The event will take place in the Student Services Center Staff Lounge between 12 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., and RSVP is required for attendance.
April 25: SMC’s College Fair will take place on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the quad. College counselors and representatives will be available to answer students’ questions about transferring. A list of participating schools can be found here.
April 26: To close the week’s events, Black Collegians will be hosting the first annual Umoja Games on Friday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the Corsair Field. Pan African Alliance members will compete against Black Collegians students in field games, including a hula hoop competition, field races, a kickball tournament, and tug-of-war. RSVPs are required for this event.
This year’s events are meant to reflect a theme of Black joy, led by Pan African Alliance president and SMC professor Dr. Jermaine Junius. “It’s out of the box, it’s non-traditional, it’s about Black joy, and there seems to be a lot of energy and enthusiasm about meeting on the field, so I’m here for it. I’m excited,” he said. Bradford echoed this excitement, saying, “I think where I will have the most laughs and fun will be the Black Block Party and the Umoja Games.”
This year’s Umoja Games seems to be the most highly anticipated event. “One of the things that the Black Collegians club student leadership has been asking for is just this. They are seeking and looking for ways to see even more of our Black employees and to be able to connect, and so I think this is going to be an opportunity that’s just amazing,” Bradford said.
Along with SMC’s events for the week, Black Student Success Week will host a series of webinars for students, staff, administrators, and faculty. The daily webinars are divided into three categories: #TheBlackHour, #TheAfterParty, and #TheStudentHour.
The webinar series #TheBlackHour will take place Monday through Friday between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. PST and will share insights and approaches for improving student success among Black students in community colleges. Each webinar requires individual registration for attendance, which can be found here.
#TheAfterParty series is a small discussion forum that will be held from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. immediately following the webinars. During this time, students will be able to reflect and debrief on topics discussed in the webinars.
#TheStudentHour is a student-centered series that will focus on the resources available to community college students. This series, a partnership with the California Community College Chancellor’s Office “I Can Go To College” campaign, will take place Monday through Thursday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. A separate registration is required for attendance; a link is available here.
