Four honorees were inducted and two awards were presented by the LBCC Foundation at the 52nd annual LBCC Hall of Fame on Sept. 26 at The Grand.
The Class of 2024 Honorees are Sharifa Batts, Dennis Buchanan, Perette Godwin, and Megan Kerr.
The Community Service Award was granted to the Long Beach Century Club and the Campus Friend Award was received by Justin Mendez.
Friends, family, alumni, staff, and students were in attendance at the gala to celebrate and honor those who were awarded.
The District 5 Councilwoman of Long Beach, Megan Kerr, said that she has had a constant relationship with LBCC her whole life.
As a kid, she attended youth sports camps at the college and then attended for three years after she graduated highschool, ultimately transferring to Cal Poly Pomona.
After that she became a transfer advisor at LBCC and when she started having kids, she took them to the Child Development Center at TTC, formerly PCC.
“The Child Development Center at LBCC taught me many life lessons, that made me a better parent and a better leader, and I still have friendships with folks to this day that I met there, when our kids were really little,” Kerr said.
The Director of Basic Needs at LBCC, Justin Mendez, felt extremely humbled to have been the recipient of the Campus Friend Award and that many of his coworkers came to the event to celebrate him.
“I care about the work I do and we do a lot of great work, and none of it would be possible without this whole community,” Mendez said.
Superintendent-President Mike Munoz, was very excited to recognize some of the distinguished alumni, as LBCC has a deep legacy of producing outstanding civic, entrepreneurial community leaders that make an impact on their community.
“Long Beach City College is a place that transforms lives and I think that as you listen to the testimonials of the different recipients, you’re going to hear the impact Long Beach City College had on them, which allowed them to essentially create impact for others,” Munoz said.
Long Beach Congressman, Robert Garcia, also made an appearance at the event to celebrate all of the honorees, as he knows a few of them very well.
Garcia worked at LBCC for about six years as a communications instructor and was also the Director of Communications on campus for a period of time, prior to being in politics.
“It’s a great college and it’s a great program, so it’s really great to see all the support tonight,” Garcia said.