FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: June 27, 2019
Revised: June 28, 2019
Contact: Iiyshaa Youngblood, President; Cameron Cowperthwaite VP Legislative Affairs
E-Mail: President@studentsenateccc.org ; VPLA@studentsenateccc.org
Statement from SSCCC on Action News Now article.
***The original version of this press release erroneously listed the Chancellor’s Office as Opposing AB 302 however they have taken a neutral stance. Please see the corrected version of this release. Our apologies for any confusion this may have caused. ***
SACRAMENTO, CA – The Student Senate for California Community Colleges would like to thank Assemblyman Berman for his commitment to California Community College students.
Recently an article about AB 302 was published by Action News Now a shared news brand covering the Chico-Redding area. This article unfortunately has some factual errors. The first error is in the article’s title, with Chico-Redding based bureau reporting “More than 200 colleges opposing bill to allow homeless students to sleep in cars on campus…” despite the fact that California only has 115 community colleges.
The article further contains a quote from Morris Rodrigue the Vice President of Administrative Services for Shasta-Tehama-Trinity Joint College District. The quote states "One of the biggest issues with this bill is essentially, one, I don't think it approaches it in a way that's helpful but it also doesn't address any of the dollars it would actually take to do what we need to do,". The motives behind this quote are suspect at best. That they assume AB302 does not approach the issue in a way that is helpful, shows how out of touch administration at this district is with the issues our students face daily. It further shows this district in particular has the opinion that providing a safe overnight parking location for students that live out of their cars would not be helpful.
Its shocking that while both students and Faculty (FACCC, CFA and Academic Senate) align on this issue, that the organizations representing College Administrators ( CCC League and Association of CCC Administrators) have such differing views. Administrators appear to be failing to grasp that this is both an equity and safety issue for one of our most vulnerable student groups. Their opposition to this bill calls into question their commitment to student equity and safety.
It is unclear which is more unsettling to believe that administrators could be so far out of touch that they are unable to see this is an equity issue for their homeless students or that they are unable to see that our homeless students need a safe place to sleep.
It is disappointing that while the Chancellor’s Office is not in opposition to this bill that they are unwilling to support this bill that would provide a necessary first step in addressing the housing issues on our campuses. (See the foot note for a link to the Chancellor’s Office stance.)
The Student Senate urges you to contact your state senator and ask for their support of AB 302 (Berman). To find your State Senator you can visit this link: http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/
The Student Senate further urges students that attend colleges in the districts that have gone on record opposing this bill to write their Board of Trustees and express their concern that they have failed to represent the needs of their students to the best of their abilities.
[1] Chancellor’s Office Position http://calchannel.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=7&clip_id=6363 1:41:27
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