Bay Area

Former Holy Names University Education Students Struggle to Complete Credentials, Call on HNU Trustees to Honor Commitment to Pay Teacher Training Scholarships

A group of former Holy Names University (HNU) education students are seeking support from local leaders and members of the public to push the HNU Board of Trustees to honor its commitment to use a still existing $55 million endowment to pay tuition for its education students who are now at other teacher training institutions after the university closed and abandoned them.

Published

2 years ago

June 7, 2024

Oakland Post

Former Holy Names students who are teaching while finishing their teacher training are shown online during a Zoom meeting. Courtesy photo.

By Ken Epstein

HNU trustees still administer the affairs of the university, though they closed the school in Spring 2023 and sold the campus to private real estate developers. Many of HNU’s former education students currently teach in public, charter, and private school classrooms around the Bay Area while struggling to pay the high expenses of finishing their teaching credentials, often at the cost of over $1,300 a unit.

About 90 former HNU education students signed a letter to Attorney General Rob Bonta, asking the institution’s trustees to use the $55 million endowment for its intended purpose, which was left to the university as part of an estate to support training for new East Bay teachers.

The HNU Board responded in an email to the issues raised in this article, saying that they were operating within the court-ordered requirements, which leave them with no discretion.

Though $50 million of the endowment is still tied up in probate court, approximately $5 million has been disbursed to provide scholarships to help students who need financial support. Some students have received a little money, but while the HNU trustees had pledged in probate court to reach out to all former students about the availability of scholarships, that has not happened, and the scholarship amounts have been arbitrary and partial, according to students.

“We’ve been reaching out to let people know how to apply,” said members of the student group. “The Attorney General informed us that they (the HNU trustees) said they were going to contact everyone, but that never happened. No one from the School of Education, who this money was intended for, has heard from them.”

When students originally enrolled in HNU, the university had promised that the Logan endowment would pay 50% of their tuition. Yet the HNU Board, led by chair Steven Borg, now is distributing varying amounts, generally not over $3,000, which does not pay for a single three-unit class.

Some students are taking three units per semester, while others are taking 12 units and received the same amount of money. Those who have received scholarships, report that the money was not issued in a timely way. Many students are graduating this semester after having paid out of pocket, and no retroactive funds are being distributed.

Scholarships must be issued promptly because students cannot graduate if they have an outstanding overdue balance, and much of the money students received was “not based on anything solid, not based on units they were taking,” said another student.

In interviews with the Oakland Post, some former HNU students, all of whom take classes at the University of San Francisco while teaching in K-12 classrooms, discussed some obstacles they have faced since HNU closed.

Adrianna Castaing, who teaches first grade at a private school in the East Bay, said she attended HNU since 2017, completing her undergraduate degree and then entered the teacher training graduate program.

Though she received no money for fall semester, she said she did receive a small amount after “little to no communication from HNU,” but the amount was not in any way equal to the amount she had to pay for her coursework, which she expects to complete this semester,

Donna McClinto, who teaches elementary school in Oakland, said she was denied any money because HNU said she still owed HNU, though she had never heard that before, and because she was not enrolled in classes at HNU toward the end, when the school stopped offering classes that she needed. One of her classmates in the same situation did receive funding. There is no clear formula for distribution and students feel that the amounts are arbitrary.

Alice Thiuri, who teaches high school at a private school in Oakland, said she received $3,000 which did not cover her tuition. “I requested a little more, but they said no, though I gave them receipts for five classes I took.” They said the scholarship amount was not based on her expenses, but when she expected to graduate. She said she was told that the amount she received was determined by the Attorney General.

Kassandra Solano, an elementary teacher in Oakland who started at HNU in 2018, had completed all the classes for her masters’ degree except for one or two. “I reached out for counseling, advising, but heard nothing. They kept changing advisors. I never found out what other class I needed to take,” she said.

“I reached out for a scholarship but was told I didn’t qualify because I wasn’t registered for classes,” she said. “HNU changed advisors three times, and there was never an answer from any of those advisors,” she continued. “I was very upset.”

HNU failed to create a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with any school of education, so that students could transfer, though the trustees had promised to do so.

“Every student was left to fend for themselves,” said Dr. Nirali Jani, a former education professor at HNU who is currently teaching at the University of San Francisco.

Many of the students emphasized that the closing of HNU and failure to maintain the scholarships only exacerbates the teacher shortage that is hitting Oakland and other districts across the state and country.

In response to this article, Bernard D. Bollinger of HBU wrote:

“The terms for the distribution of Logan Fund Scholarships for transfer students are delineated in … (an) order of the Superior Court (a public record). Paragraph 1 … permits scholarships to be provided to ‘students who were enrolled at Holy Names University during the 2022-2023,’ (if) they continue to meet academic performance requirements of the Logan Fund gift instrument.

“It does not require that the scholarship recipients attend a school of education. Distributions from the Logan Scholarship are specifically limited to the provisions delineated in court orders and the terms of the gift agreement, so neither HNU (nor any other party) has discretion on how to award those funds.

“As a result, HNU did not focus on getting MOUs with ‘schools of education’ but with schools that HNU believed to be attracting large numbers of transferred students from HNU in order to assist as many students as possible.

“The list of 11 schools that HNU has entered into an MOU with (including USF) can be found on HNU’s website (at) https://hnu.edu/resources/formerhnustudents/#tinstitutions

“That section of the HNU website has a list of several resources for former students including under Financial FAQs. At the question ‘Is my HNU scholarship still available?’ students can provide information and get in contact with HNU representatives via that link that is provided there in addition to readily available information on the HNU website.

“Student outreach was significant, with multiple emails and paper letters to former students.”

The student group will hold an information session for former HNU education students on how to apply for scholarships and to complete their teacher training programs Saturday, April 27, 3 -5:30 p.m. at Wild Child Schoolhouse, 160 41^stSt. in Oakland.

A happy hour will follow at Cato’s Ale House, 3891 Piedmont Ave. in Oakland.

For more information, email reclaimlogan@gmail.com.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 24 – 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 24 – 30, 2025

Published

2 days ago

December 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Bling It On: Holiday Lights Brighten Dark Nights All Around the Bay

On the block where I grew up in the 1960s, it was an unwritten agreement among the owners of those row homes to put up holiday lights: around the front window and door, along the porch banister, etc. Some put the Christmas tree in the window, and you could see it through the open slats of the blinds.

Published

6 days ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

Christmas lights on a house near the writer’s residence in Oakland. Photo by Joseph Shangosola.

By Wanda Ravernell

I have always liked Christmas lights.

From my desk at my front window, I feel a quiet joy when the lights on the house across the street come on just as night falls.

My father, the renegade of the block, made no effort with lights, so my mother hung a wreath with two bells in the window. Just enough to let you know someone was at home.

Two doors down was a different story. Mr. King, the overachiever of the block, went all out for Christmas: The tree in the window, the lights along the roof and a Santa on his sleigh on the porch roof.

There are a few ‘Mr. Kings’ in my neighborhood.

In particular is the gentleman down the street. For Halloween, they erected a 10-foot skeleton in the yard, placed ‘shrunken heads’ on fence poles, pumpkins on steps and swooping bat wings from the porch roof. They have not held back for Christmas.

The skeleton stayed up this year, this time swathed in lights, as is every other inch of the house front. It is a light show that rivals the one in the old Wanamaker’s department store in Philadelphia.

I would hate to see their light bill…

As the shortest day of the year approaches, make Mr. King’s spirit happy and get out and see the lights in your own neighborhood, shopping plazas and merchant areas.

Here are some places recommended by 510 Families and Johnny FunCheap.

Oakland

Oakland’s Temple Hill Holiday Lights and Gardens is the place to go for a drive-by or a leisurely stroll for a religious holiday experience. Wear a jacket, because it’s chilly outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at 4220 Lincoln Ave., particularly after dark. The gardens are open all day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with the lights on from dusk until closing.

Alameda

Just across the High Street Bridge from Oakland, you’ll find Christmas Tree Lane in Alameda.

On Thompson Avenue between High Street and Fernside drive, displays range from classic trees and blow-ups to a comedic response to the film “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Lights turn on at dusk and can be seen through the first week in January.

Berkeley

The Fourth Street business district from University Avenue to Virginia Street in Berkeley comes alive with lights beginning at 5 p.m. through Jan. 1, 2026.

There’s also a display at one house at 928 Arlington St., and, for children, the Tilden Park Carousel Winter Wonderland runs through Jan. 4, 2026. Closed Christmas Day. For more information and tickets, call (510) 559-1004.

Richmond

The Sundar Shadi Holiday Display, featuring a recreation of the town of Bethlehem with life-size figures, is open through Dec. 26 at 7501 Moeser Lane in El Cerrito.

Marin County

In Marin, the go-to spot for ‘oohs and ahhs’ is the Holiday Light Spectacular from 4-9 p.m. through Jan. 4, 2026, at Marin Center Fairgrounds at 10 Ave of the Flags in San Rafael through Jan. 4. Displays dazzle, with lighted walkways and activities almost daily. For more info, go to: www.marincounty.gov/departments/cultural-services/department-sponsored-events/holiday-light-spectacular

The arches at Marin County Civic Center at 3501 Civic Center Dr. will also be illuminated nightly.

San Francisco

Look for light installations in Golden Gate Park, chocolate and cheer at Ghirardelli Square, and downtown, the ice rink in Union Square and the holiday tree in Civic Center Plaza are enchanting spots day and night. For neighborhoods, you can’t beat the streets in Noe Valley, Pacific Heights, and Bernal Heights. For glee and over-the-top glitz there’s the Castro, particularly at 68 Castro Street.

Livermore

The winner of the 2024 Great Light Flight award, Deacon Dave has set up his display with a group of creative volunteers at 352 Hillcrest Avenue since 1982. See it through Jan. 1, 2026. For more info, go to https://www.casadelpomba.com

Fremont

Crippsmas Place is a community of over 90 decorated homes with candy canes passed out nightly through Dec. 31. A tradition since 1967, the event features visits by Mr. and Mrs. Claus on Dec. 18 and Dec. 23 and entertainment by the Tri-M Honor Society at 6 p.m. on Dec. 22. Chrippsmas Place is located on: Cripps Place, Asquith Place, Nicolet Court, Wellington Place, Perkins Street, and the stretch of Nicolet Avenue between Gibraltar Drive and Perkins Street.

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Alameda County

Oakland Council Expands Citywide Security Cameras Despite Major Opposition

In a 7-1 vote in favor of the contract, with only District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife voting no, the Council agreed to maintain its existing network of 291 cameras and add 40 new “pan-tilt-zoom cameras.”

Published

6 days ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

At the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Flock Safety introduces new public safety technology – Amplified Intelligence, a suite of AI-powered tools designed to improve law enforcement investigations. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

The Oakland City Council this week approved a $2.25 million contract with Flock Safety for a mass surveillance network of hundreds of security cameras to track vehicles in the city.

In recent weeks hundreds of local residents have spoken against the camera system, raising concerns that data will be shared with immigration authorities and other federal agencies at a time when mass surveillance is growing across the country with little regard for individual rights.

The Flock network, supported by the Oakland Police Department, has the backing of residents and councilmembers who see it as an important tool to protect public safety.

“This system makes the Department more efficient as it allows for information related to disruptive/violent criminal activities to be captured … and allows for precise and focused enforcement,” OPD wrote in its proposal to City Council.

According to OPD, police made 232 arrests using data from Flock cameras between July 2024 and November of this year.

Based on the data, police say they recovered 68 guns, and utilizing the countywide system, they have found 1,100 stolen vehicles.

However, Flock’s cameras cast a wide net. The company’s cameras in Oakland last month captured license plate numbers and other information from about 1.4 million vehicles.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Council meeting, Fife was critical of her colleagues for signing a contract with a company that has been in the national spotlight for sharing data with federal agencies.

Flock’s cameras – which are automated license plate readers – have been used in tracking people who have had abortions, monitoring protesters, and aiding in deportation roundups.

“I don’t know how we get up and have several press conferences talking about how we are supportive of a sanctuary city status but then use a vendor that has been shown to have a direct relationship with (the U.S.) Border Control,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Several councilmembers who voted in favor of the contract said they supported the deal as long as some safeguards were written into the Council’s resolution.

“We’re not aiming for perfection,” said District 1 Councilmember Zac Unger. “This is not Orwellian facial recognition technology — that’s prohibited in Oakland. The road forward here is to add as many amendments as we can.”

Amendments passed by the Council prohibit OPD from sharing camera data with any other agencies for the purpose of “criminalizing reproductive or gender affirming healthcare” or for federal immigration enforcement. California state law also prohibits the sharing of license plate reader data with the federal government, and because Oakland’s sanctuary city status, OPD is not allowed to cooperate with immigration authorities.

A former member of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission has sued OPD, alleging that it has violated its own rules around data sharing.

So far, OPD has shared Flock data with 50 other law enforcement agencies.