Activism

Community Steps Forward to Protect Holy Names University

The university has served the Oakland community for over 150 years. The student population is 37% Latino or Hispanic, 18% African American, 13% Asian and 21% white. One website summarized the university’s diversity, “The school has very high racial diversity – 79% of students are minorities or people of color (BIPOC).

Published

2 years ago

December 9, 2022

Oakland Post

In an open letter in support of Holy Names, community and local political leaders pledged to support efforts to protect the school

“It is vital to our community that Holy Names continue to be an independent university”

By Ken Epstein

The Faculty Senate of Holy Names University in Oakland voted unanimously this week to work collaboratively with community, civic and business leaders in the wake of simmering budget difficulties.

Already many community leaders and local politicians have come forward to volunteer to work with Holy Names to stabilize and protect the university’s long-term work as a major educational institution in Oakland for undergraduate students and training of teachers, nurses and administrators. And community leaders have proposed a number of solutions to the financial problems.

Post Publisher Paul Cobb, who has been involved in several cooperative projects with the college said, “I’m concerned that Holy Names should not enter into a partnership like the one between Northeastern University and Mills, which destroyed existing Mills College programs and culture.”

In comments to the Post, a faculty member said the school has had decades of significant accomplishments but now needs new top leadership, because the current leadership has not done fund development or worked well with diverse communities.

Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Rebecca Kaplan are drafting a City Council resolution encouraging support and cooperation with Holy Names University.

Post Publisher Paul Cobb, who received an honorary doctorate degree from HNU has also been involved with several cooperative projects to raise funds for HNU said, “I’m concerned that Holy Names should not enter into a partnership like the one between Northeastern University and Mills, which destroyed existing Mills College programs and culture. The City of Oakland and Alameda County can’t afford to lose a vital part of our health and education infrastructure because closing HNU negatively impacts nursing, health workers and teacher graduation rates. The Mayor and city administrators were asleep at the wheel while chasing down and offering money to sports teams while Mills and HNU are being lost, due to our neglect,. We need the county supervisors, Senator Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember to join with the city council and community and save these Universities.”

In an open letter in support of Holy Names, community and local political leaders pledged to support efforts to protect the school:

“We are concerned with the future of Holy Names University,” the letter said. “This 154-year-old local Oakland institution is one of the most diverse four-year colleges in the country and it has educated thousands of Oakland young people.

“Its program for educating teachers is the best in the area; its nursing program is legendary; its sports program is robust; and its graduates include city council members, education leaders, entrepreneurs, and non-profit leaders.

“It is vital to our community that Holy Names continue to be an independent university, responsive to the needs of Oakland and surrounding communities, serving both graduates and undergraduates and expanding its service to more students.

“Toward that end we seek the participation of the government bodies, community-based organizations and individuals that represent Oakland, along with the students, faculty and administration of Holy Names.”

The open letter was signed by:

Rebecca Kaplan, Vice Mayor of the City of Oakland, At-large member of the City Council
Carroll Fife, Oakland City Council, District 3, and Holy Names 2022 Alumnus of the Year
Janani Ramachandran, Oakland City Council Member-Elect, District 4
Gay Plair Cobb, Alameda County Board of Education (ret)
Paul Cobb, publisher of the Oakland Post; Holy Names University Honorary Doctorate
Kitty Kelly Epstein, Ph.D., professor, Host of Education Today, KPFA 94.1 FM
Victor Littles, EdD, Merritt College program leader, and HNU Adjunct Faculty
Walter Riley, John George Democratic Club
Sheryl Walton, MPH, Community Organizer, Activist

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

GM Dealers Servicing Teslas – AutoNetwork Reports 385

Don't Miss

New Car Reviews- AutoNetwork Reports 385

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of July 24 – 30, 2024

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

Published

12 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of July 17 -23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 17 -23, 2024

Published

6 days ago

July 20, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Community Celebrates Historic Oakland Billboard Agreements

We, the Oakland Billboard Economic Development Coalition, which includes Oakland’s six leading community health clinics, all ethnic chambers of commerce, and top community-based economic development organizations – celebrate the historic billboard agreements approved last year by the Oakland City Council. We have fought for this opportunity against the billboard monopoly, against Clear Channel, for five years. The agreements approved by Council set the bar for community benefits – nearly $70 Million over their lifetime, more than 23 times the total paid by all previous Clear Channel relocation agreements in Oakland combined.

Published

2 weeks ago

July 13, 2024

Oakland Post

The Oakland Billboard Economic Development Coalition.

Grand Jury Report Incorrect – Council & Community Benefit

Unfortunately, a recent flawed Grand Jury report got it wrong, so we feel compelled to correct the record:

Regarding the claim that the decision was made hastily, the report itself belies that claim. The process was five years in the making, with two and a half years from the first City Council hearing to the final vote. Along the way, as the report describes, there were multiple Planning Commission hearings, public stakeholder outreach meetings, a Council Committee meeting, and then a vote by the full Council. Not only was this not hasty, it had far more scrutiny than any of the previous relocation agreements approved by the City with Clear Channel, all of which provide 1/23 of the benefits of the Becker/OFI agreements approved by the Council.
More importantly, the agreements will actually bring millions to the City and community, nearly $70M to be exact, 23 times the previous Clear Channel relocation agreements combined. They certainly will not cost the city money, especially since nothing would have been on the table at all if our Coalition had not been fighting for it. Right before the decisive City Council Committee hearing, in the final weeks before the full Council vote, there was a hastily submitted last-minute “proposal” by Clear Channel that was debunked as based on non-legal and non-economically viable sites, and relying entirely on the endorsement of a consultant that boasts Clear Channel as their biggest client and whose decisions map to Clear Channel’s monopolistic interests all over the country. Some City staff believed these unrealistic numbers based on false premises, and, since they only interviewed City staff, the Grand Jury report reiterated this misinformation, but it was just part of Clear Channel’s tried and true monopolistic practices of seeking to derail agreements that actually set the new standard for billboard community benefits. Furthermore, our proposals are not mutually exclusive – if Clear Channel’s proposal was real, why had they not brought it forward previously? Why have they not brought it forward since? Because it was not a real proposal – it was nothing but smoke and mirrors, as the Clear Channel’s former Vice President stated publicly at Council.

Speaking on behalf of the community health clinics that are the primary beneficiaries of the billboard funding, La Clinica de la Raza CEO Jane Garcia, states: “In this case, the City Council did the right thing – listening to the community that fought for five years to create this opportunity that is offering the City and community more than twenty times what previous billboard relocation agreements have offered.”

Oakland Billboard Economic Development Coalition

Native American Health Center	La Clínica de la Raza	West Oakland Health Center
Asian Health Services	Oakland LGBTQ Center	Roots Community Health Center
The Unity Council	Black Cultural Zone	Visit Oakland
Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce	Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce	Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce
Oakland Latino Chamber of Commerce	Building Trades of Alameda County	(partial list)