As LBCC students find themselves inching toward the end of the spring semester, school officials use the first week of April to highlight this month’s celebration of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility for students and staff of LBCC.
On April 2 the TCC campus hosted a kickoff celebration with interactive activities, provided meals and hosted club information booths and cultural performances.
All students on campus were invited to join the celebration ceremony, which provided hot food available for every participant, including asada quesadillas and California burritos.
While participating students ate their choice of meal, several school officials began their speeches on the importance of diverse representation across LBCC campuses.
Bernadette Gonzalez, the director of the Disabled Students Program and Services, opened the kickoff ceremony with a land acknowledgment of the Tongva people who were forcibly removed from the area, noting that “Long Beach City College honors and respects the Gabrielino-Tongva ancestors and their connection to this land.”
Several cultural performances were showcased at the kickoff, such as the Drummers of Compton, the Mexican Payaso de Rodeo dance and a Native American hoop dancer.
Lumbee hoop dancer Eric Hernandez dances during the kickoff event for April as DEIA month on April 2 at the TTC Campus. (Alyssa Redrup)
The Board of Trustees president Uduak-Joe Ntuk, the first African-American board member since LBCC’s founding in 1927, mentioned in his speech, “DEIA awareness month is not just a recognition, it’s making sure the values we espouse are reflected in our classrooms, our programs and the support we provide for every student.”
Many school officials gave speeches in regards to the importance of diversity at LBCC, with
Ntuk emphasizing, “Just representation isn’t enough, we must look closely at the systems we are working in and make sure they are serving all of our students, especially those historically underserved.”
Students and staff were invited up to the stage to engage in interactive activities such as the Payaso de Rodeo dance, the electric slide and a Native American Lumbee hoop dance lesson by performer Eric Hernandez.
Students and staff dance the electric slide during LBCC’s kickoff event for April as DEIA month at the TTC Campus on April 2. (Alyssa Redrup)
Hernandez gave the background and cultural significance of the Lumbee hoop dance he was set to perform, explaining that the dance itself was seen as a “healing ceremony that tells the story of us as humans and our journey through life.”
He continued on, highlighting that different imagery and symbols can be found throughout the course of his dance, through different figures created with the hoops. In his dance he created the figures for butterflies, birds, scorpions, alligators and more.
The presence of celebrations across LBCC’s campuses to highlight diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility across the month of April, show the school’s pride in the diversity of their student body, and the resources they provide for them.
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