It’s the final week of the fall semester, which brings the end of a year defined by change at both campus and countrywide levels. Take a moment to look back at the top 10 stories that The Viking News covered in 2025.
1. ICE RAIDS: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement increased its presence in Southern California in early June, with raids occurring in the Long Beach area. Students have voiced their fears about the targeting of immigrant communities, as the college is not able to do much given their legal frameworks. A Dia de los Muertos celebration was held at LAC despite the city of Long Beach’s own parade being canceled for community concern regarding increased ICE activity. The celebration at LBCC featured ofrendas, including one that honored lives of those lost while in ICE custody.
2. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CUTS: The U.S. government had its longest shutdown in the country’s history of 43 days, which cut support lifelines for community college students like SNAP and WIC for the first half of November. SNAP benefits were briefly sent out on Nov. 7 and LBCC increased resources given out through food drives and assistance forms. An additional $150 was disbursed by LBCC using emergency funds to students on SNAP on Nov. 17 to offset the initial cut.
3. PART-TIME PAY LAWSUIT: LBCC lost a lawsuit turned class-action, served by two part-time professors for its failure to pay adjuncts appropriate wages for their work outside of the classroom, with the college having to pay out wages from as far back as 2019. The ruling sets a precedent for other community college adjuncts to ask for fair wages.
4. STUDENT ACTRESS SCHOLARSHIP: Daisy Johnson, lead actress of LBCC’s first musical production in 18 years, died a month after the debut of “In the Heights.” A scholarship was created in her name as a collaborative effort between her family and the college to support students in future productions.
5. WOMEN’S WATER POLO CHAMPIONS: Vikings women’s water polo won their first back-to-back state championship since 2004. They continued to dominate in the pool with their tenth straight win in the South Coast Conference Regional Championship. The Vikings also went undefeated in conference for their most recent season.
6. FLAG AT HALF-STAFF: Following the death of controversial right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, President Trump ordered the U.S. flag to be flown at half-staff from September 10 to 14. LBCC kept its flag down for this duration, and when asked why, claimed it to be an “operational oversight.”
7. FOOTBALL COACH REPLACED: Vikings head football coach Brett Peabody was replaced after a journalist on Twitter/X shared messages Peabody had sent criticizing the journalist’s coverage of Trump, which he then retracted. While some players on the team petitioned for Peabody to continue coaching, he resigned in March following backlash from the community and was replaced by the previous defense coordinator, Marques Cooper.
8. COUNSELOR REINSTATED: Counselor Kashara Moore was reinstated after Moore allegedly elbowed a student during a 2022 commencement speech. The college ruled that the elbowing was intentional, but reinstated Moore this spring semester, with neither Moore nor LBCC elaborating on the rehiring.
9. HBCU CARAVAN RETURNS: 21 historically Black colleges across the U.S. convened at LAC for the second HBCU Caravan since 2017. Other community colleges were invited to the event to access the resources provided, as well as the chance the be guaranteed admission to these colleges.
10. CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION: Following November 2024’s approval of Measure AC, $990 million has been invested into future constructions on campus, such as student housing on Clark Avenue and Lew Davis Davis Street, and the demolition of the old student center for a new one.
