On April 29, LBCC announced a new support fund that will seek to provide financial assistance and resources for African American and Black students.
The African American/Black Student Support Fund (AABSSF) will provide a variety of services to students, including professional development, emergency funds, scholarships, and training.
The announcement was made on a Facebook livestream with the President of the Board of Trustees Uduak-Joe Ntuk and Interim Superintendent-President Mike Muñoz.
Fundraising for the scholarship is currently ongoing in hopes that students can begin applying during the 2021-2022 school year, according to Muñoz. Muñoz said that the application process would be simple and students would be able to apply at the scholarship office.
AABSSF seeks to address the performance gaps among students and improve educational attainment for Black and African American students at the college.
“We continue to have an achievement gap. We continue to have African American students not transferring at comparable rates…yet we are the largest serving institution of Black students in Long Beach,” said Ntuk.
As of spring 2020, there are more than 3,100 full time students at LBCC that identify as African American or Black, making up 14% of the college’s population. The average course success rate of Black students is currently 56%, which is both 11% lower than LBCC’s general student body and 18% lower than white students.
LBCC is proposing AABSSF in hopes that it will assist the Long Beach framework for reconciliation that was adopted unanimously by the Community College District last year on June 23. The mission of the framework is to end systematic racism.
“While we can’t undo the damage of centuries of racism, we can make change here at LBCC,” said Muñoz.
Beyond the support fund, the college has launched the new Black Student Resource Guide and Black Lives Matter Resource Guide.
The Black Student Resource Guide provides students with information about campus services, financial aid, transferring, and tips for academic achievement. The guide also features questionnaires with Black and African American faculty, staff, administrators, and student leaders.
The Black Lives Matter Resource Guide, created by librarian Shamika Simpson, is a collective list of books, article databases, videos, and other online resources that address systemic racism and injustices faced by Black people.
Camesha Maxwell, a student who attended the livestream, said that she is looking forward to the ways the new support fund will help her and other Black and African American students at the college.
“I hope that (AABSSF) will give us an opportunity to have a space where we can talk about some of the challenges and concerns that we may have about succeeding, and about how to keep that GPA where it needs to be so that we can be eligible to transfer,” said Maxwell.
“I remember not too long ago, I was feeling very overwhelmed with how I was going to pay my bills. I did have someone to confide in that’s oncampus and that I was comfortable with. They pointed me in the right direction…I’m really happy with everything that I’ve seen Long Beach City College doing,” said Maxwell.
Currently, donations for AABSSF are open to anyone who wishes to contribute. Muñoz said that members of the community who are unable to donate can volunteer at future events for the fund if they want to support.