by Dianne Anderson

For students at Irvine Valley College, a recent all-expenses paid HBCU tour was an eye opening experience for students who may have grown up in Orange County, a bit off the beaten path of Black American experience.

Heather Johnson, IVC counselor, said the cool thing about their Black student population at the college, a whopping 250 in all, is that they represent so many cultures within the vast Black Diaspora.

“Even in the tour, students from Belize, Brazil and Nigeria, it was interesting to see different lived experiences and how they experience the HBCUs,” said Johnson, Student Equity and Achievement Counselor.

Now in its second year, the “Educating Students Together Tour” visits seven different HBCUs and three African American museums over six days. For their touring students, she said that Clark Atlanta University also opened applications, and if accepted, a $40,000 scholarship.

Among the HBCUs, they attended Cheyney and Delaware universities, Bowie State, Morgan State, Howard, Hampton and Norfolk State universities. They also visited the Blacks of Wax Museum, the National African American Museum of History and Culture, and the Chrysler Art Museum.

Along with colleague counselor Taliah Chatterfield, Johnson created the Black Student Success Scholars program. She said it was responding to the need for resources, and students need intentional outreach and support.

“I’ve noticed the way I have to interact with my Black students is they have to know first that I understand where they are coming from and meet them where they’re at,” she said.

Even with the smaller representation of Black students at IVC campus, it’s not stopping them from taking on bigger programs and projects.

On Wednesday, April 17, Black Student Success Scholars and Pride Scholars invite the community out for a film screening of Paris is Burning, a documentary and discussion on the intersectionality of race, LGBTQIA+ and the origins of the dazzling New York ball culture.

“We’ve been big on talking about intersections of Black identity and marginalized identities, how the ball culture of late 80s early 90s was started by Black queer culture. It’s interesting to see how it has evolved over the years,” she said.

On a wider scale, the whole California Community College system also celebrates the last week of April as Black Student Success Week. This year, they focus on innovative approaches to ensure that Black and African American students succeed at community colleges.

From Monday, April 22 to Friday, April 26, the daily Black Hour webinar is hosted from noon to 1:00 p.m. with educators, faculty and staff across the state community college system exploring strategies to best serve Black students.

That is followed by the After Party with small group discussions in a forum from 1-2:00 p.m., and later each evening, Student Hour runs from 6-7 p.m. where topics range on how students can take advantage of available resources.

“A lot of times, higher education systems weren’t built for us,” Johnson said. “There has to be a dismantling of those systems, look at how they were built, and how we can be more equitable and accessible.”

Of various career pathways at IVC, she said several fast-tracked programs, such as the popular electrician training can be completed within two semesters and offer a great living wage. Their paralegal program is another popular choice, completed with an associate’s degree, and available with evening and online classes.

“It’s a great career to get started. Within two years and they can go straight into a lucrative career,” she said.

But most of all, she credits their intentional counseling as a huge component for Black student retention, along with specific outreach to ensure they stay on the right track through personalized guidance and counseling.

“There’s a theory that says for students to do well in college they have to have a connection with at least two people on campus that are not students. My thing is we try to do that with student development. You’re pretty frontal cortex of your development until you’re 25,” she said.

Early on, the need to reach Black students at IVC campus was obvious to herself, and Chatterfield. Nothing was available.

“That’s the reason why me and my colleague started this. It didn’t exist and no one told us to do it. I’m like, I’m ready let’s go,” she said “When I see a student, they say, you work here? They’re excited to see a Black counselor.”

But as a counselor, she is especially proud of the HBCU tours. Last year, because so many of their students are from Orange County and have attended predominantly white schools. She could see they had a new level of awareness.

For Johnson, who grew up in San Bernardino, it is interesting to watch as students learn for the first time about the Black experience in America

“Even when we consider the African American Museum, we would have these conversations with students, they said, Heather, I didn’t know,” she said. “As a first-generation Black American, why didn’t I know? You feel like their eyes are opening.”

Because of the experience, they wanted to come back and jumpstart the IVC Black Student Union.

These past two years, getting the tour together has not been an easy process, but she said it has been well worth it.

“Having those experiences seeing people like them doing well and thriving, the HBCU tour is so important. It’s a lot of work, but as soon as it’s over, it’s like, what are we going to do for next year?”

For more information on:

Black Student Success Scholar Program, see
https://www.ivc.edu/bsss

For more Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Month events, see
https://www.ivc.edu/equity/deia