I hope this update finds everyone in good spirits as we head into the new week. Below is a brief recap of my Campus and Community Engagement activities from the previous week.

Campus Engagement

• Attended events throughout the week celebrating Undocumented Student Action Week. I especially enjoyed the sneak peek event for our new Undocumented Resource Center. We at Palomar are making every effort to support all students. This new facility will help us increase our ability to specifically support our undocumented students and employees. Thank you to our Undocumented Workgroup who did an amazing job establishing the Resource Center. Palomar College is committed to serving all students, regardless of immigration status.
• Attended a few of this week’s Political Economy Days lectures. This was the first in-person Political Economy Days since the pandemic. The lectures were also available virtually. The purpose of Political Economy Days, now in its seventeenth year, is to broaden students’ exposure to political, economic, and historical topics. Thank you Professors Peter Bowman, Jennifer Herrera, Anastasia Zavodny, and ADA Kellis Neidiffer for leading the charge with these efforts.
• Attended Noche Havana, an evening of Cuban/Brazilian music and dance. This was a fantastic event! I felt like I was transported into another world when I walked into the theater. A special congratulations to Professor Patriceann Mead on her successful 25^th annual Noche Havana event!
• Participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for our new Softball and Football stadiums. The new stadiums are expected to be unveiled in time for the Comets’ 2023 football season, allowing us to host home games on campus for the first time. I am excited for our student-athletes and our Palomar College athletic legacy! Please enjoy our Groundbreaking Flickr Album. Also, here is a fun video of the event from our PCTV colleagues.
• Visited the Umoja counseling class and had the wonderful opportunity to spend an hour with these phenomenal students. Thank you Professor Kyle Owens for the invitation!

Community Engagement

• Received the 2022 Trailblazer award from LATINA Style, Inc. who broke new ground in 1994 by launching the first national magazine dedicated to the needs and concerns of the contemporary Latina professional working woman in the United States.
• Attended the California Community College League’s Monthly Government Relation Webinar. This webinar presents information regarding recent legislation, and proposals, discussed in Sacramento and in Washington, D.C. that impact our college system.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Updates and News

• Next week, our campus has events and celebrations planned for Filipino-American History Month. Highlighted will be, Larry Itliong, a Filipino-American Labor Movement leader, and organizer, that fought for social and economic justice and equality throughout the 20th century. California officially celebrates October 25^th as Larry Itliong Day in honor of the labor leader’s legacy. We invite you to join us to enjoy Lumpia Merienda, a traditional Filipino dish, at the Student Union Quad at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, October 25^th. Also on Tuesday, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., the campus will host an online/virtual film screening of “Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers.” The virtual event will also include a discussion with filmmaker, Marissa Aroy. Here is a link to the flyer for these events. Additionally, the Rancho Bernardo Center Library will have books and images pertaining to Filipino-American History on display. You can also view the display virtually through this link. A statement from the Filipino American National Historical Society states: “The celebration of Filipino American History Month in October commemorates the first recorded presence of Filipinos in the continental United States, which occurred on October 18, 1587, when “Luzones Indios” came ashore from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Esperanza and landed at what is now Morro Bay, California. In 2009, U.S. Congress recognized October as Filipino American History Month in the United States.” We hope you can join in the celebration.
• The Ethnic Studies Department will host events to celebrate Día de Los Muertos on November 1^st and 2^nd in the LRC. These efforts are led by Professors Alex Gómez and Dr. Angelica Yañez who will discuss the importance, and history, of Día de Los Muertos. Here is a link to the flyer.
• A huge congratulations to our fantastic Puente Project who attended the annual Transfer Motivational Conference hosted by the Puente Project Statewide Office. This year the conference was held in person at UC Riverside. Over 1,300 Puente students attended, including 17 Puentistas from Palomar College! Our Puentistas had the opportunity to learn more about the UC system, and left the conference motivated by keynote speaker, Julissa Arce (author of You Sound Like a White Girl). Puente students also participated in workshops with over 20 sessions to choose from with topics such as: Writing Wellness for BIPOC Students, Highlights of Latinx Creative Writing, Doing Math with Bad Bunny, and more! A special thank you to the Puente Project Statewide Office Team for hosting this amazing event, to our awesome Palomar Puente parent-chaperones who volunteered their time to attend, and our fantastic Puente Co-Coordinators Cynthia Cordova and Sonia Gutierrez!

Vision Plan 2035

This past week our Educational and Facilities Planners continued to hold visioning sessions with the campus communities and our partners. They met with the Associated Student Government, students attending our education centers, our planning councils, and our Chairs and Directors. They also engaged with our Foundation Board, K12 and university partners, and members of our business and economic partners. The Task Force reviewed student data and discussed what sustainability means to us as an institution.

A big thank you to Marti Snyder for her incredible support on this project. She went out of her way to travel to the education centers with pizza for our participating students, addressed technology challenges, and ensured our team had all their meeting information. She is an active, and valuable. team member on the task force!

Comets of the Week
The Comets of the week are all those individuals who helped make our stadium groundbreaking ceremony a huge success. I would like to recognize the Planning Committee and all of those who contributed to this community event. Planning Committee members include Dennis Astl, Cara Heise, Julie Lanthier-Bandy, Dan Lynds, Chris Miller, Chief Chris Moore, Stacy Rungaitis, Dianna Trujillo-Hernandez, and Natasha Weligoda. I especially want to thank Dianna Trujillo-Hernandez for taking the lead on every planning detail and collaborating with colleagues across the campus to produce a wonderful experience for all attendees. Other colleagues who contributed include: Margie Adcock, Mary Adsit, Ken Angulo, Jeff Bennett, Matt Coleman, Sasha Craig, Timothy Cross, Thomas Daily, Cindy Davalos, Fernando Franco, Bob Fulmer, Cara Heise, Chris McIntyre, Nick Menotti, Tom Pfingsten, Stephanie Roman, Eddie Seckendorf, Steve Smith, and Natasha Weligoda. Also, thank you to our very talented Performing Arts Jazz Band for their performance throughout the ceremony. The band featured Paul Kurokawa, Chase Bentley, McHenry Duncan, Ryo Hasson, Caruso Limon, Arianna Merritt, Sergio Rojas, and Julian Quinones. Thank you all for your valuable contributions!

Have a great upcoming week. Go Comets!

For pictures of the various events, please follow:
Twitter: @palomardrstar
Instagram: @palomardrstar