Overview
ACC has established four campus centers focused on providing students with a supportive environment where they can connect and build helpful networks with students, faculty, and staff. More broadly, these campus centers enrich the student experience by offering cultural celebrations and events open for the entire ACC community. The four centers are the African-American Cultural Center; Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Center; El Centro Latin American Cultural Center; and the Asian American and Pacific Islander Cultural Center. The centers also serve as a resource for students who want to learn more.
Accomplishments
In 2022–23, ACC launched the Asian American and Pacific Islander Cultural Center, the fourth center, which already has a track record for reaching out with free activities and events that attract the broader ACC community. In 2023, El Centro celebrated the its expanded new space, and it too is off to a strong start with free activities and events welcoming to all. Among the campus events led by the centers were the Lunar New Year Celebration, the National Week of Racial Healing, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Juneteenth celebration.
Impact
These campus centers foster a sense of belonging and purpose for ACC students, faculty, and staff who tap into the opportunities to learn more about their cultures. For struggling students, they offer a community of support and sense of belonging that can help them get and stay on track to learn job skills and earn degrees and certificates so that they can find jobs that pay well enough to succeed in life. The centers are an increasingly important contributor to student success.
Next Steps
- Complete construction of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Cultural Center at ACC Northridge Campus.
- Increase awareness of campus centers offerings so more people can avail themselves of these opportunities.
- Share best practices among the campus centers to emphasize student success.