Bay Area

SEIU 1021 Joins Communitywide Effort to Maintain Higher Education at Holy Names: HNU officials indicate willingness to consider placing HBCU on campus

In the wake of Holy Names University’s sudden announcement that it will close the institution at the end of the semester and sell the 60-acre Oakland hills property to the highest bidder, a local union that represents some HNU faculty is working with city officials and other community leaders to save the campus as a center for higher education in Oakland.

Published

1 year ago

March 14, 2023

Oakland Post

Kimberly Mayfield, Sister Carol Sellman, Theresa Rutherford

By Ken Epstein

In a recent letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, SEIU Local 1021 President Theresa Rutherford called on the attorney general to join those who are committed “to preserving higher education for the residents of Oakland.”

“As the collective bargaining representative for the adjunct professors at Holy Names University, we support the call by members of the Oakland City Council to maintain a nonprofit college in Oakland geared towards educating first-generation college students from the East Bay as well as training workers in education and health care fields specifically. We want to preserve jobs and services,” the letter said.

The SEIU letter disputes HNU’s rationale for closing its doors.

“We believe that the Holy Names Board … decided to close without exhausting every possibility to keep the school open and without transparency to the community about the basis for their decisions. Holy Names can and should remain open,” the letter said.

The union’s experience with other higher education institutions indicates that these small universities did not need to close. “We have come to believe that each of these schools actually closed not because of the pandemic or unavoidable national trends, but because of lack of transparency in decision-making, and administrators and board members complicit in a combination of self-dealing and negligence. Holy Names was no exception,” the letter said.

Further, the letter said that if the board does not want to continue operating HNU, “they should step aside in favor of others who want to preserve the school and its function.”

As an alternative to continuing HNU, SEIU supports the goal of Oakland City Council members to bring a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) to take over the campus and operations.

“SEIU stands ready to work with all stakeholders to maintain vital educational resources in Oakland and to make history by bringing an HBCU to Oakland,” the letter said.

In a reply to the SEIU letter dated March 7, Holy Names leadership has indicated that it may be considering turning the campus over to an HBCU as the union and city leaders are proposing.

“The HNU board continues its efforts to find a successor university for the HNU campus. Each of the Historic Black Colleges or Universities has been contacted by HNU in the hope that the HNU campus will continue to be used for educational purposes,” according the HNU letter signed by Board Chair Steven Borg and Acting President Sister Carol Sellman.

Responding, Kimberly Mayfield, deputy mayor of Oakland, told the Oakland Post, “It would be an amazing opportunity for the city to be home to an HBCU.”

A former faculty member, who served on the HNU Faculty Senate, speaking in an interview with the Oakland Post, thanked the Post for publishing truthful information about what is happening at the university.

“All the other news media just repeat what the university puts in its press releases,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Based on his experience, he said he remains skeptical of statements and promises made by HNU’s leadership.

“The Faculty Senate has been completely shut out of the process. Many faculty members have had to leave. We’ve asked for transparency for years, but the stories shift, and there’s no accountability and no transparency.”

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

6 days ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland

Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.

Published

1 week ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.

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Bay Area

State Controller Malia Cohen Keynote Speaker at S.F. Wealth Conference

California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco. The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

American Business Women’s Association Vice President Velma Landers, left, with California State Controller Malia Cohen (center), and ABWA President LaRonda Smith at the Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the ABWA at the Black Wealth Brunch.

By Carla Thomas

The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

“Our goal is to educate Black and Brown families in the masses about financial wellness, wealth building, and how to protect and preserve wealth,” said ABWA San Francisco Chapter President LaRonda Smith.

ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and national recognition.

“This day is about recognizing influential women, hearing from an accomplished woman as our keynote speaker and allowing women to come together as powerful people,” said ABWA SF Chapter Vice President Velma Landers.

More than 60 attendees dined on the culinary delights of Chef Sharon Lee of The Spot catering, which included a full soul food brunch of skewered shrimp, chicken, blackened salmon, and mac and cheese.

Cohen discussed the many economic disparities women and people of color face. From pay equity to financial literacy, Cohen shared not only statistics, but was excited about a new solution in motion which entailed partnering with Californians for Financial Education.

“I want everyone to reach their full potential,” she said. “Just a few weeks ago in Sacramento, I partnered with an organization, Californians for Financial Education.

“We gathered 990 signatures and submitted it to the [California] Secretary of State to get an initiative on the ballot that guarantees personal finance courses for every public school kid in the state of California.

“Every California student deserves an equal opportunity to learn about filing taxes, interest rates, budgets, and understanding the impact of credit scores. The way we begin to do that is to teach it,” Cohen said.

By equipping students with information, Cohen hopes to close the financial wealth gap, and give everyone an opportunity to reach their full financial potential. “They have to first be equipped with the information and education is the key. Then all we need are opportunities to step into spaces and places of power.”

Cohen went on to share that in her own upbringing, she was not guided on financial principles that could jump start her finances. “Communities of color don’t have the same information and I don’t know about you, but I did not grow up listening to my parents discussing their assets, their investments, and diversifying their portfolio. This is the kind of nomenclature and language we are trying to introduce to our future generations so we can pivot from a life of poverty so we can pivot away and never return to poverty.”

Cohen urged audience members to pass the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.

“When we come together as women, uplift women, and support women, we all win. By networking and learning together, we can continue to build generational wealth,” said Landers. “Passing a powerful initiative will ensure the next generation of California students will be empowered to make more informed financial decisions, decisions that will last them a lifetime.”