Week of April 22, 2024

Hi Clovis Family,

How is everyone? I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as it was beautiful outside and people were out everywhere.

Well, I had the pleasure of being the keynote speaker at a Women’s Conference on Saturday morning. So unfortunately, I was not able to attend the Honor Program Symposium where I was proud to hear that our students took top honors for their research. I want to thank Dr. Omar Ruiz for spearheading the event. I saw him as I was leaving campus on my way to the Women’s Conference. I was very thankful that our very own, Akyia Ervin joined me and she was a fabulous representative of the College. I enjoyed having her at my side. I truly appreciate all the support that I get from all of you, especially with off-campus and community partnership development.

The topic of the Women’s Conference was “Going Beyond the Mask.” I talked about the importance of being your authentic self especially as it deals with talking about sexual assault, domestic violence, sexual and racial harassment, and our roles as leaders to remove our own mask, be transparent and vulnerable so that someone else can see that they are not alone and that they can have incredible lives even after experiencing childhood trauma.

On Sunday, I went to church and then took Jade to a place where I could bathe her. We both had fun playing in the water. After, we went for another adventure walk. I cooked the eggplant that I got from our Farmer’s market. All was right with the world. 😊

I started my Monday morning outside on a beautiful day. We (faculty, classified professionals, and students) joined together for Earth Day to beautify the campus by planting flowers, clearing, and de-weeding an area on the north side of campus on International and Willow. I had the pleasure of giving opening remarks to the volunteers. I was followed by our student speaker, Haiden, who spoke with understanding and a deep passion for taking care of the college and the earth. I was proud to not only hear his passion but to experience his commitment to making the campus and community a better place. There were several sponsors to this event: ASG, the Speech and Debate Club, and Student Activities to name a few. We kicked off the morning with Zumba, and then the volunteers went off to their sessions. The gloves, vests, and trash pickers were donated by Beautify Fresno. It was great seeing everyone work together. I think of “community and inclusion” when I think of what was done…working together for a common goal.

After I kicked off the beautify campus event, I attended President’s Cabinet where we talked about our upcoming Board Retreat and the KPI presentation, and the format for the Accreditation presentation that we were also giving at the Board Retreat. I then went to Chancellor’s Cabinet where we spent considerable time running through the actual KPI presentation and reviewed the agenda for the retreat. I was thankful that Ryan and all the College’s IR Directors joined us for this part of the meeting. After they left, we continued talking about the upcoming May Board meeting. This meeting lasted longer than usual. I was thankful that Clark-Lauren was able to attend a Listening Session for the Fresno Black Community. Where as my representative she was the voice of higher education. I was so very thankful to have her attend as she brought back not only valuable information but she also let the community know that we value them by her taking the time to attend the meeting.

On Tuesday, I had the honor of taking a Clovis Delegation to meet with the Delegation from Bulgaria. Yes, I said Bulgaria.😊 This was a follow-up meeting based on an early meeting I had with Councilman Drew Bessinger from the City of Clovis with a group of investors from Taiwan who are interested in building a semiconductor plant in Clovis. We met at CART High School and I was proud of the delegation from Clovis; it included: Vice President of Instruction Dr. Monica Chahal, Vice President of Administrative Services Lorrie Hopper, Interim Vice President of Student Services Kira Tippins, Dean Whitney McAfee, and Dean Dr. Ruben Diaz. As this is an excellent opportunity for us to be on the ground level for huge economic development for our region, I was proud to stand by these talented colleagues and let the representatives from Taiwan and Bulgaria know that we came to the table ready to talk. We had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Rick Watson, the CEO of CART, people from the Fresno Economic Corporation, and most interesting was the opportunity to listen to and learn from the Minister of Innovation, Minister Stoycheva. She not only talked about the importance of Bulgaria as a leader in Technology in Europe she also gave a geography lesson about where they were located across the Black Sea from Ukraine. We also learned some history about the relationship between Russia and Ukraine. They currently are the third leading computer country in the world. This was important to their partnership with Taiwan in the expansion of producing semiconductors in the United States. All of the delegates were not able to attend due to travel issues and restricted access to visas due to the war in Ukraine.

I returned to campus, just filled with knowledge that I did not have about Bulgaria. Once back on campus, I had the opportunity to attend some of the Sexual Awareness presentations. Renee did a great job bringing the speaker and it was encouraging to see a few students in the training. This is definitely something that is of value and we will continue and grow. I ended my day in the most perfect way. We had our annual CCC Service Award. It was nice to see everyone who was being recognized for 5, 10, 15, 20, and even 35 years of service to the college and our District. We celebrated them individually which is always a special and personal touch. We then celebrated and honored our retirees: Lorrie Hopper, Karen Ainsworth, Marco De La Garza, and Michael Stannard. It was heartwarming to hear how everyone celebrated these distinguished people. I enjoyed finding out that Teng went to elementary school, high school, and /or college with everyone at Clovis. We laughed and had a great time. Thank you all for letting the Chancellor and our Board President see our Clovis culture.

On Wednesday morning, I had the pleasure of continuing in celebratory mode by saying thank you to our administrative professional assistants (it was Administrative Professional Day). They are truly the backbone of all that we are able to accomplish. I also saw lots of celebrations across the college. I then had a preparatory meeting for our Achieving the Dream initiative and had the opportunity to enjoy the Black Student Success Mixer. It was well done and kudos to everyone who took the time to make our students feel a sense of belonging on our campus. Great job Clark-Lauren, Sasha, Caryss, and all of you who helped with the resource fair. I saw students engaging and classified professionals and faculty out there interacting with our students. I am looking forward to seeing these types of DEIA activities grow. Next year will be bigger and better. Great job everyone.

I then did final interviews for the Ethnic Studies position. I continued these interviews on Thursday.

I ended my day going to the 110 years of the Clovis Rodeo where we are a sponsor. I saw our wonderful outreach team there at the Clovis booth and the beautiful display. I saw several people walking around with the Clovis bag. Great job Emilee and team. I shared the rodeo with Machele and a couple of her friends. I saw Board Trustee Rodriguez as well. And a cowboy’s hats off to Stephanie. It was truly a Clovis Community College night!!!! Our sign was on the main shoot where the bull riders came out. Our flag was paraded around the arena at every break. Just our flag y’all !!!!! No other flag at all…how cool!!!! But y’all, they had over 200 drones give a light show instead of fireworks. Magnificent. But wait there is more to top that off!!!!! One of the displays in the light show was our name and the crush mascot!!!!!! I was in absolute awe! It was the most beautiful thing ever! I tried to get a picture and record it but I was soooo excited and screaming so loud. I may have embarrassed you.

Great way to end the night in Clovis Community College style. 😊

On Thursday morning, I was feeling it a bit. I’m older and obviously can’t hang like I used to. It was only 9 pm when I got home. LOL. I started my day continuing Ethnic Studies interviews. Then I drove to Merced for the naming of a building ceremony for Dr. Ben Duran, the former president of Merced College and the CEO of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium. They named the new Business Education Center after him and presented both him and his wife (Drs Ben and Rosemary Duran) with the President’s Medal of Honor. I then drove back and continued with the final interview deliberation for Ethnic Studies. Again, I must commend the interview committees for Ethnic Studies and Sociology for their intentional and deliberate work as well as their commitment to academic excellence and our students. Great job and thank you.

On Friday and Saturday, I will be at our annual Board Retreat. And Sunday, I get to go to the final Day of the rodeo.

It looks like it will be another beautiful weekend. I hope you all get to enjoy it and share it with your family and friends. Hug each other tight and cherish your time as people pass on and children grow up, graduate, and leave. This time of year is a time to be grateful and to reflect on all that we have.

Please be safe and I look forward to seeing you all next week.

In service,

Kim E. Armstrong, Ph.D.