$200 bookstore voucher ends without a word from PCC

Share: PCC’s previously provided $200 student Bookstore credit has been discontinued this fall as COVID-19 era funding and subsequent programs come to a close, throwing uncertainty into the accessibility of textbooks to the wider student body.  “This semester I tried to use my bookstore credit and that’s when I saw the caveat where it’s like we’re not doing the bookstore credit anymore,” third-year PCC student Nathan Nava said. “But, if you receive financial aid, they’ll just take a chunk out of your financial aid. So …

Police arrest PCC student in math class armed with Airsoft gun, knife

Share: According to an email sent by PCC’s Superintendent-President, the Pasadena Police Department and campus police arrested a student in a class on Tuesday evening for concealing an “Airsoft-type weapon and a pocketknife with a long blade.” The student was in a math class in the C-building and campus police were alerted to the situation through PCC’s Lancer Anonymous Tip Reporting System, according to PCC spokesperson Alex Boekelheide.  “If you’re not able to use your phone, like if you’re in class or something comes to …

How much cash will the district’s third failed winter cancellation cost?

Share: After an agreement had been made to bring back the winter intersession for the 2023-2024 academic year, the college and the on campus Faculty Association (FA) have yet to come to a settlement number for legal fees and lost wages for the last couple years, according to a FA email sent in late May.  This is the first time that PCC has had the winter intersession on the academic calendar since 2021. The Faculty Association has accused The District of negotiating in “bad faith” …

PCC student who was arrested for knife incident in library expelled in unanimous board vote

Share: Jul. 19: The student who was arrested for wielding a knife in the PCC library in late April faced the PCC Board of Trustees (BOT) in a public disciplinary hearing at the July BOT meeting and was subsequently expelled in a unanimous vote in closed session, according to PCC Spokesperson Alex Boekelheide in a text to The Courier.  Boekelheide added that he would not have any further comments on this situation and the expulsion of PCC student Zhuowei Liao.  Apr. 29: In an update, …

Impending law threatens athletic transfers and lifelong learners

Share: 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 …

Board of Trustees end Covid state of emergency

Share: 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 …

Academic Senate passes antiracism policy, pushes board to do the same

Share: 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 …

PCC athletics dean on leave during ongoing investigation

Share: 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 …

Trump: From White House to courthouse

Share: 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 …

PCC reins in its new mascot and rids itself of Larry

Share: 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 …