Week of September 11, 2023

Hi Clovis Fam,

I hope everyone had a wonderful and restful weekend. It’s always a pleasure to enter the building on Monday morning and to see all your smiling as you come in, or as I pass by your offices where you are preparing to make a difference in the lives of our students.

As I think you know, its rare that my week actually starts on Monday. This week I had the pleasure of volunteering at a yard sale fundraiser for Soroptimist International of Clovis. We started at 7:30 am on Saturday morning and ended at 12:30 pm. We raised over $1500 to support efforts to empower girls and women through education. When I came here in the spring, one of the first community events I spoke at was the Soroptimist group. They gave out $37,000 dollars in scholarship money to high school and college students. Of the 32 students who received scholarships, 20 attended Clovis. This is the same organization that Dr. Chahal, Kira, Gurdeep, and I spoke to last week.

On Sunday, I came by the college like I usually do right after church. I hung out with our model airplane group . This time they had a helicopter which was cool, and I watched them repair a wing of one of the fighter plans that had just had a midair crash. I then came over to tell the grounds guys, Jerald, Angel, and Josh, our newest member to the Clovis family, thank you for coming in on the weekend to help clean up the campus. I hope you can see all the hard work these guys are putting in to catching up (being short staffed) to get our grounds back to the beautiful reflection of who we are that we are accustomed to. Nice work guys, and thank you!

Monday was an interesting day. As I started my day, I was met by Dan Pattillo. He approached me, while driving the golf cart, as I was walking form my car to the building. He told me that his wife met me during the Clovis Scholarship Reception last week. I, of course, remembered meeting his wife and one of his daughters. His wife and I talked for some time, and I enjoyed her outgoing spirit. I had President’s Council, and our meeting was delayed due to notifications of possible COVID exposures at the District. I had the opportunity to talk with David Navarro about his weekend and the amazing food he had prepared by his daughter who was interning as a chef at the restaurant where they ate. I had a student come to me and tell me all about his week at a resort in Washington where he had the time of his life enjoying a family wedding.

Then I had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of our “Remembering 911” event. Before the start of the presentation, Sasha Fisher shared with me that her son gave a 911 presentation at his school. I am so happy that she was able to be there to see him give his speech and to support him. I met this young man and know that he is destined for greatness. Great job, mom, and thanks for letting me cheer him on with you.

We had a great turn out of students, faculty, and classified professionals. I gave a brief account of where I was and what I did during 9/11/2001. I shared that as I was driving to a meeting in Chicago, I got the call to abort my trip because of fear that the Sears (now Willow) Tower could be a target. I talked about the loss of my friends in the Pentagon, and I talked about my concerns for my friends from the Muslim community and how I called the Mosque to see if they were safe. I then turned the remainder of the time to our guest speaker, our very own Criminology instructor, Dennis Montejano. Dennis gave the most vivid, heart wrenching account of that day and how it impacted our travel, our view of people who were different, how we came together, the health concerns that continue to effect the survivors, and how he was personally involved with making sure Fresno was safe. He was with the Fresno Police at that time. They had to secure the water and utilities as well as secure the airport. He told us that there was a no-fly order and planes were directed to Fresno International Airport as the closest airport to be grounded. His presentation was riveting and brought tears to my eyes as he reminded me of that horrific day. He generated lots of questions and we discussed how to bring diverse voices to discuss this next year.

Monday afternoon, I had Chancellor’s Cabinet, and our meeting was cut short due to the need to evacuate the building because of a power outage. Luckily for me, we had already moved our meeting from in person to Zoom due to the possibility of COVID exposure. Once we finished our meeting, I received notification from SCCCD PD that there was a report of smoke coming from AC3. As I rushed out I could see a thick smoke bellowing from the direction of the building. I met the Fresno Fire Department there and we went to the center of the construction to assess the situation. I was able to show a sigh of relief when it was discovered that the tar trailer was the source of the smoke and that it was far enough from the structure to not cause any damage. SCCCD PD arrived and told me that they had already contacted the construction company.

I was then able to spend some time at the Welcome Black event hosted by Clark-Lauren Richard and Sasha Fisher. Several faculty and classified staff were in attendance to support our African American students and let them know of all the resources and supports that are available. There was also a group of people from FCC who came to support our students and to solidify a community approach. I had the pleasure of walking out and talking with Clark-Lauren’s aunt who is so proud of the difference Clark-Lauren is making in the lives of students. I was so touched and wonderfully reminded that we are a communal people and that we value and support family. I was proud that through Clark-Lauren, Sasha, James Sewell, Von Torres, Dr. Kizzy Lopez, Caryss Johnson, and others, we provide a community, a sense of family, a village.

Later that night, I attended and spoke at the Clovis City Council meeting. The agenda focused on reviewing and updating their mission, vision, and values statement. This had not been done since 2010. We then spent just under 2 hours on the Brown Act. The meeting adjourned at 9:30 pm.

On Tuesday, we held President’s Council at Herndon so that we could be at the grand opening of the Clovis Clothing Closet. I gave them brief updates regarding enrollments and the progress with AR review, and then we discussed process improvement opportunities. I then went to the grand opening of the most incredible Clothing Closet on either side of the Mississippi. Dianna Whaley and her Career Center team did an amazing job making the converted classroom into an upscale boutique environment where anyone would be proud to shop. Channel 30 covered the ribbon cutting. Stephanie Babb and Cindy Stafford handled the media and covered the event with the highest level of professionalism and pride. It was wonderful watching Dianna cut the ribbon . There were several dignitaries in attendance, including: Rico Guerrero and Kelly Joos from the SCCCD Foundation who provided the funding for the Clothing Closet; Vong Mouanoutoua, City of Clovis Councilmember; Omar Hernandez, Fresno City Council, District 7; Deena Combs-Flores, Clovis Unified School Board Trustee; Greg Newman, CEO of the Clovis Chamber of Commerce; Bill Smittcamp, both his sons and his daughter form Wawona Foods; and representatives from the Office of Jim Patterson, Senator Shannon Grove, and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, All the VPs and several of you came out in support of this incredible day and resource for our students. To everyone involved since 2017 until now, wow! You can see and feel how much love you put in to helping this Clothing Closet become a reality.

I returned to campus and had the opportunity to participate in webinar led by our own Dr. Stepanie Briones to launch Hispanic Heritage Month. The Title V Directors decided to host this event and asked that SCCCD Chancellor Goldsmith and all four of the Districts’ Presidents present on the following topics: 1. What is your definition of HIS servingness? What are some current examples of servingness within your institution? 2. How do you intend to continue the efforts of servingness and/or expand on these efforts in the future? Some of the common themes across all colleges were the importance of including families and the community in efforts to support our students recognizing the importance of family, and the importance of providing opportunities to engage and create space for our Hispanic/Latinx students to feel a sense of belonging.

I then had the unique opportunity to watch Kirtley King teach their Photography 2 class downstairs in the AC1 lobby where they had their students, and also students not in their class, interested in talking about their art that is on display. During the discussion of their art, a conversation between two people took shape. One of the people was an army veteran who had been deployed to Iraq, the other was a young man who was a child in Iraq during wartime. To hear their different perspectives on that was powerful. They talked about how the young boy was taught the Americans were coming to save them from the Taliban. How he, at the age of 8, carried a gun to protect himself and is family. They the got into a discussion about who should be “allowed” to tell these stories or depict them though art. A Jewish woman then spoke and addressed the issues surrounding whose voice is to be heard. Kirt then masterfully talked about the use of the word “ allow”, and then also talked about the power of art to bring forth this conversation that may not have occurred in a different space. It was beautiful to see the diverse views and the multitudes of perspective, all brought forth by art.

I then went to the double-header soccer home game. This was my first opportunity to see a soccer game in person. They gave me an autographed soccer ball from the women’s team. I was so so proud. We threw out tee-shirts and towels, and there was a large crowd, some sitting on the bleachers, but most sitting in the shade in their own chairs and under their umbrellas. We won both games each with a score of 1 to 0. It was Coach Yaw Danso’s first win at the college level. Congratulations Yaw!!! Looking forward to your continued success. And the women took the win against FCC. Congratulations, Orlando!! I had fun talking a lot of trash… asked where Dr. Pimentel was… sent a video message asking if he were scared to come to My House!!!! I talked trash the following day at College Night at the Fresno Convention Center. The FCC people said that they would come over next time to make sure we had a trash talk’n smack down. It was a true home game feel. Tony Gennaro had his students come out and do a drumline. The national anthem was marvelously played (he jazzed it up for sure) by Max Hembd. I saw our wonderful athletic trainer, Megan, take incredible care of our injured students. Megan was on it and she doesn’t play when it comes to the health and safety of our students. I was so proud of the collegiality and team spirit that I saw. It was a great night!

On Wednesday, I had the AANHPI Report Tool Work Group. This is a group of colleagues from across the state who work together to bring best practices with regards to how we build capacity and success with our Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander students. We discussed the importance of having disaggregated data, as this is a heterogeneous group and should not be viewed as “Asian American” in our reporting. The group developed a list of identifiers and we discussed how to best identify AANHPI students when they select two or more races on the survey. They would like the AANHPI designation to have priority in the “two or more” selector as is currently the case with Hispanic students selecting “ two or more”. I am currently the only president serving on this group. We talked about the importance of having presidents involved so that the message about disaggregating the data can be on the forefront at the State Chancellor’s level.

Later that afternoon, I had the opportunity to meet with people to discuss the Business and Housing Development for East Clovis. This is an exciting initiative that began in 2017 with the goal of building a walkable and integrated community across from the college on Willow (I have had experience in working with the city and developers to accomplish this in Arkansas). This group comprised of Bill Smittcamp (who owns the property), Renee Mathes and David Merchan from the City of Clovis, and representatives from the developers. They showed me the original master plan and we discussed updates, future plans, and concerns with the safety of our students crossing the major intersection of Willow and International. It was a great meeting and I am looking forward to being part of a project that will bring housing opportunities to our students, faculty, and classified professionals. We talked specifically about 5 bedroom units so students can share the rent. We also talked about having 1 and 2 bedroom units to take into consideration our nontraditional students and families. They are most interested in having retail, green space, and bike trails opportunities for recreation. Mr. Smittcamp said that he will be building his final home behind this development as he is giving his current home to his son. He also told me that he already donated shoes and pants to the Clothing Closet.

I ended my day by joining our incredible outreach team, lead by Emilee Slater, at the College Night at the Fresno Convention Center. Y’all, I was so proud; I was busting with joy. Imagine walking into the Convention Center, seeing all the red, seeing all the schools. Then I came around the corner and there was a wall of green and blue balloons, backdrop draping, table clothes, and 20 plus smiling people. Students, our Crush mascot, his handler, all the outreach team, some faculty, and all the Instructional Deans. Our 10 plus tables stayed full of people coming up asking questions. Emilee said no one could sit down. She had no chairs. She wanted them eye level when talking to people. She didn’t allow any cups or water on the tables. She is a true professional and knows how to make a presence as she has us to represent! She also was up at midnight to make sure that we had first selection on location for our set up in the convention center. And, yes she made sure that we had prime property. As soon as you walked in the main door, you saw Clovis. You did not have to hunt for us! Outstanding job Emilee. In addition to us making an impressive visual presence, we brought it with our Clovis spirit!!!!! Everyone- deans, student ambassadors, faculty, and classified professional all engaged with everyone and made them feel important, valued and special. Everyone showed that we “Create opportunities . … one student at a time” is real at Clovis. I had so much fun that I missed my next meeting! LOL

I also had the opportunity to talk with the people from 22 Ways which is the non-profit that organizes the HBCU trips. There was a slight issue with the high school trip that they took students on last week. They visited Louisiana and Mississippi. They reached out to me expressing their concerns. I was able to make a few calls to my president counterparts regarding the upcoming trip and that California has a unique source of funding to assist students with attending an HBCU since there are no HBCUs in the state. I was told last night that the colleges that they visited all opened their doors and provided incredible experiences for our students. I had the opportunity to talk directly with several of the high school students interested in attending HBCUs, and, of course, talked to them about coming to Clovis first.

Thursday, I had President’s Small Council and we talked about the Integrated 2035 data that was presented to the Clovis Advisory groups last month. We talked about gaps in the data presented and the importance of us presenting our own data and narrative. We also reviewed our mission, vision, and values, and had a robust discussion on whether these attributes and statements are reflective of who we are post covid and of who we see our selves as being in 10 years. We also talked about process improvement opportunities with the Action Plan timelines and the selection process for Foundation grants, such as the upcoming mini-grants.

I ended my day by going to the College Night at West Hills and was once again inspired by the passion and commitment of David Navarro and McKay Duran, who never sat down and continued to show that unwavering Clovis Spirit. The event ended at 8 pm. While other colleges were packing up and some were already gone, David and McKay were still talking to prospective students and did not start to clean up until everyone had left. Emilee, your team did you proud.

Today, I had a wonderful meeting with the owner of CircleIN – NSF about the possibility of another HSI, NSF grant. It is an exciting opportunity to bring some more peer based interactive resources to our Hispanic/Latinx students (at scale). If accepted, the grant will start Fall 2024. I told him that the next step would be to have a Zoom meeting with key people here to see if this something that we want to pursue to help strengthen our position as not only a HSI but and an HSI Servingness Institution.

I also received an email from the Fresno Center and they are asking if we want to come to the Center next week to tour the holistic garden, the center, and do yoga. I told her that unfortunately, that I am out of town the next two Fridays and to give us some dates in October.

This afternoon, I am going to the soccer game and am looking forward to it. If the women win, they will be ranked in the top 10 in the nation. Let’s cheer them on!

Lastly, Happy first of Hispanic Heritage month. This month goes from September 15th though October 15th. There have been wonderful activities planned to celebrate our Hispanic culture and students. Please show your pride as an HSI and wear your Corazon De Nuestra Cultura tee shirt. Please come out and support the wonderful activities planned.

Have a great weekend everyone. Keep taking care of yourselves and your family. And please keep having and showing that CLOVIS Spirit.

In service,

Kim E. Armstrong, Ph.D.