According to a press release from Santa Barbara Community College (SBCC), Dr. Erika Endrijonas has been selected as their new Superintendent-president. Her employment is pending contract negotiations with the SBCC Board of Trustees, where a formal contract will be presented and voted on at their BOT meeting on June 15. Ongoing contract negotiations between the PCC Board of Trustees and Endrijonas spurred the job search, as accusations about the Board President attempting to invalidate the contract resulted in high legal fees, The Courier previously reported. …
Superintendent’s contract negotiations divide trustees
The PCC Board of Trustees is divided over the retention of additional legal counsel and the potential extension of Superintendent-President Dr. Erika Endrijonas’ contract. Endrijonas’ current contract, which extends through 2024, was verified by Resolution 761 in a 5-2 vote on Feb. 15. A contract verifying the employment of Endrijonas for the 2024-2025 academic year remains unconfirmed, leaving her future at the college in question. The resolution aims to cure potential Brown Act violations surrounding the evaluation of the Superintendent-President which occurred in closed session …
PCC student arrested for wielding a knife in the PCC library on Wednesday
Apr. 29: In an update, the individual identified as the person threatening students with the knife was confirmed to be a PCC student, according to PCC Spokesperson Alex Boekelheide. Boekelheide also said that the student would be disciplined through PCC’s Student discipline process, but the exact nature of the outcome is currently unknown due to this being an ongoing investigation. Apr. 28: In an incident on the evening of Apr. 26 a group of students and library staff were threatened by an individual assumed to …
Impending law threatens athletic transfers and lifelong learners
The Student Transfer Reform Act, AB-928, passed in 2021 and is going into effect on May 31, leaving community colleges like Pasadena City College (PCC) without lifelong learning and self-development programs, possible cuts to faculty, and harder transfer requirements for student-athletes. This bill established an Intersegmental Implementation Committee to facilitate coordination for Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) to improve student transfer outcomes. PCC has a direct correlation to the bill as the institution provides students with ADTs. The bill was introduced to the governor by …
Board of Trustees end Covid state of emergency
The Pasadena City College Board of Trustees passed a resolution to end the Covid state of emergency for the Pasadena Area Community College District in a meeting on April 19. The passing of this resolution will end the vaccine requirement and measures like masking, social distancing, and other Covid modifications for the PCC community by Oct. 31. This decision comes following the Pasadena City Council’s vote to end the local state of emergency on March 6, L.A. County’s declaration to end the state of emergency …
Academic Senate passes antiracism policy, pushes board to do the same
In response to concerns about rampant racial injustices during recent years, the Academic Senate’s Social Justice Committee is working with on-campus groups to implement the policies of the antiracism document published at the April 10 Academic Senate meeting. The document, which was drafted after the Students’ Call to Action plan was presented during PCC’s Our Black Lives Matter Listening Forum in 2020, directly acknowledges the growing trend in hate crimes and a plan of action for PCC to follow in the coming years. “Institutional racism …
PCC athletics dean on leave during ongoing investigation
PCC Kinesiology, Health, and Athletics (KHA) Dean Dyan Miller was placed on administrative leave in January after a leaked email allegedly exposed a violation of the school’s hiring policies. On Dec. 14, 2022 eight KHA faculty members presented a vote of no confidence for Miller in a public comment delivered during the Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting by KHA professor and coach William Moore. “Dean Miller facilitates divisiveness and disunity in the division where good, productive and close relations used to exist,” Moore said during …
Trump: From White House to courthouse
On November 16, 2016, the United States of America and the world at large was forever negatively changed. On that day, Donald Trump won the 2016 presidency and, in the following year, on a bitter January day, his presidency was confirmed at the Inauguration in D.C. Donald Trump, the well known spoiled New York socialite, was not expected to win the coveted position as one of the most powerful figures in the world—however he did. In his time as president, Donald Trump pissed off the …
PCC reins in its new mascot and rids itself of Larry
In mid-March PCC announced their long anticipated new mascot, a horse, transitioning from Larry the Lancer, PCC’s former and much beloved mascot. Getting rid of Larry the Lancer is the end of an era for PCC, who’s had Larry since at least the late 90s. The slightly threatening face of Larry the Lancer has loomed over PCC’s history though, as PCC’s Marketing Director, David Steiman, explained, hasn’t exactly been expansive in its use. “What we did was a survey of all of our athletic teams. …
Management union accuses PCC trustees of widespread mismanagement
The Pasadena City College Management Association gathered over 40 of its 78 members to address the Board of Trustees Wednesday, March 15, accusing the college’s highest governing body of mismanagement, instability, misrepresentation of public interest, lack of communication and racism. “I’ve been at PCC for 15 years and have served under seven superintendent-presidents,” Mat Camara, the acting board president of the Management Association said. “On Monday, April 11, 2022, the superintendent-president and the Board of Trustees received a vote of No Confidence from our colleagues …