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

3 years 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 February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

4 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.