On September 24, 2019, the Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees affirmed and adopted Resolution No. 19/20-09, which urges U.S. Senate approval of the FUTURE Act, strongly supporting the uninterrupted continuation of federal funding to minority-serving institutions and urging members of the United States Senate to take speedy action to pass H.R. 2486 (the FUTURE Act) prior to September 30, 2019.
The resolution states that the Peralta Community College District (consisting of Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, and Laney and Merritt Colleges in Oakland) embraces the diversity of all the students attending the four colleges. District enrollment data shows that 89% of the students enrolled at Laney College, 83% of the student enrolled at Merritt College, 87% of the students enrolled at College of Alameda, and 74% of the students enrolled at Berkeley City College are minority community members.
Furthermore, Merritt College is designated a Predominantly Black Institution (PBI), while Laney College, Merritt College, College of Alameda, and Berkeley City College have been designated as Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) and, as such, have been the recipients of federal funding. Research has confirmed the positive impact that federal funding of minority serving institutions has had on low-income Asian American, Native American, Pacific Islander, Hispanic-American, and African-American students, especially those who are the first in their families to attend college.
On September 17, 2019 the United States House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 2486, the FUTURE Act, which will continue federal funding for minority-serving institutions leaving implementation of said FUTURE Act up to the United States Senate. With the current federal funding for minority-serving institutions scheduled to end on September 30, 2019, unless the United States Senate votes to pass the FUTURE Act, the elimination of federal funding for minority-serving institutions will have an adverse impact upon the services Peralta Community College District has provided to students of color, low-income, first-generation, and limited-English proficient students.
The Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees strongly supports the uninterrupted continuation of federal funding to minority-serving institutions and through it‘s Resolution No. 19/20-09, and urges members of the United States Senate to take speedy action to pass H.R. 2486, the FUTURE Act prior to September 30, 2019.
To underscore the importance of FUTURE Act funding for the Peralta District, a delegation from Laney College visited the San Francisco offices of our California senators to make our case to our elected officials. The delegation including Laney College AANAPISI Director Dr. David Lee, Laney College Dean Dr. Mildred Lewis, and Laney College students Huizhen Su and Jun Xian visited the offices of both California Senators, Diane Feinstein and Kamala Harris, on Thursday September 26th.
The Laney College delegation visits the office of Senator Diane Feinstein on September 26, 2019. Those pictured include Laney College AANAPISI Director Dr. David Lee, Mission College AANAPISI Director Brian Goo, U. S. Senator Dianne Feinstein District Director Jim Lazarus, Laney College Dean Dr. Mildred Lewis, and Laney College students Huizhen Su and Jun Xian
Laney College delegates visit the office of Senator Kamala Harris on September 26, 2019. Photo includes Laney College AANAPISI Director Dr. David Lee, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris District Director Adam Mehis, Laney College Dean Dr. Mildred Lewis, and Laney College students Huizhen Su and Jun Xian.
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