Crowns N’ Roses: PCC sponsors float fit for a queen

Share: Pasadena City College is an official sponsor of the Rose Court in conjunction with the 136th Rose Parade in 2025. PCC administration announced that the Tournament of Roses, which presides over the Rose Parade, awarded PCC as one of the sponsors for their annual Rose Court ceremony.  “This will be the 136th Rose Parade, obviously the 100th anniversary of PCC. So, in a sense, we’ve really grown up together, and our histories really complement each other with that commitment to collaboration,” said David Eads, …

Newly formed Students for Justice in Palestine aims to educate and empower

Share: When Omar Khatib returned to college at age 28, joining a club wasn’t on his agenda. “I just wanted to get in, do my thing and go,” he said. That all changed when Khatib, who is Jordanian-Palestinian, learned about Pasadena City College’s newly formed chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). “There was no way I could say no to this,” he said at a club meeting in September. The club’s leadership—made up of President Anja Kelley, Vice President Diego Santoyo, Secretary Saira …

Divestment calls persist, but path forward still unclear

Share: Efforts to pressure the Pasadena City College (PCC) Foundation to divest from major polluters and defense contractors are pressing on, but the path forward remains unclear due to the foundation’s independent governance, fears of professional repercussions among faculty, and a lack of concrete action in response to student protests and resolutions. Following a 300-person demonstration led by the PCC Anti-War Club in late April, PCC’s student government unanimously passed a resolution calling on the foundation to divest from companies involved in fossil fuels and …

With book banning on the rise, California risks following suit

Share: While Pasadena is pushing back on book censorship through participation in events like Banned Books Week, Huntington Beach, Fresno, and other cities across California are becoming the target of efforts to ban books in libraries and public schools. These cities are following a wider national trend in states like Florida, Texas and other predominantly conservative areas. “Book bans are incredibly effective,” said young adult author and national leader of Authors Against Book Bans (AABB) Maggie Tokuda-Hall. “They target places where books are most accessible—in …

PCC’s foster youth programs remain strong despite statewide budget cuts

Share: Despite the massive cuts coming to the California state budget, foster youth programs, including those at Pasadena City College will not face significant cuts to their budgets, one of the many upsides during Foster Youth Awareness Month in May.  At PCC, the foster youth program has four separate branches, including Scholars Transitioning And Realizing Success (STARS), NextUp, the Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education (CARE), and Extended Opportunity Programs & Services (EOP&S).  The revised California May budget, as of now, has seen a slight increase …

Attempted sexual assault takes place on PCC’s main campus

Share: On Sunday morning a female “non-PCC student” reported an attempted rape at Pasadena City College’s main campus on the open patio of the Circadian to the Pasadena Police Department (PPD).  The victim was transported to Huntington Hospital for treatment following the incident, however it is unclear on the type or severity of the injuries, according to PCC Spokesperson Alex Boekelheide. The suspect has not been located or identified and an investigation is ongoing with both the Police Department on campus and the PPD.  The …

Associated Students unanimously passes divestment resolution

Share: In a unanimous vote, the Associated Students at Pasadena City College passed a resolution that pressures PCC and the school’s foundation to divest from major polluters and defense contractors by July 2025.   The vote comes a week after around 300 students demonstrated on campus calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the foundation’s investments in companies linked to Israel’s military and profiting off war. “The Associated Students of Pasadena City College calls on Pasadena City College Foundation to refrain from making …

Learning deficiencies persist in all levels of education post-pandemic

Share: As many classrooms across the U.S. have returned to in-person schooling, a wider epidemic of a student learning deficit has lingered, impacting students at all levels of their education, including at colleges across the United States, and here at Pasadena City College. According to a Gallup panel poll from 2020, within the first few months of the pandemic, 3 in ten parents had claimed that their children were already suffering from mental harm, while 14 percent of parents polled believed that their children were …

Pasadena Hilton hotel workers won’t give up fight to unite

Share: Pasadena hotel staff have been on strike since July 2023 fighting for a new contract agreement that would grant them health care benefits, livable wages, and policies to protect workers rights that would benefit their long-hour commutes and heavy workloads.  As the largest hotel worker strike in the history of the United States rages on, The fight for workers rights at the Hilton Pasadena pushes further. Signs in front of the hotel read “¡EN HUELGA!”, “ON STRIKE!” in protest of unfair labor rights. The …

Activists successfully pressure Pasadena to pass ceasefire resolution

Share: The City of Pasadena officially passed a bilateral ceasefire stating a return of all the hostages still held by Hamas. On Monday, March 18, the Pasadena Convention Center was packed with an energetic crowd as the city council discussed whether the city should take an official position on the war in Gaza.  Before the meeting started, a pro-Palestinian crowd gathered a rally with chants outside the Convention Center. Police presence was also heavy as crowds entered the premises, with passions running high, as constituents …