Fremont, CA, adjacent to Silicon Valley, has been voted the happiest city in America. It is a city with beautiful scenery and the ability to live and be a part of the community. 

In an interview with Fremont’s Mayor, Lily Mei, she mentions that she “wants to be a part of the solution rather than a part of the problems.” It is very clear that Mayor Mei is very dedicated to keeping the city that she represents happy and healthy, and frequently boasts about things she and her team have been able to accomplish throughout her term. 

Speaking of accomplishments, Fremont was recently recognized by the Department of Energy, also in the interview with Mei, she says, “We were just recognized by the Department of Energy as being the first so-smart platinum city in the United States.” Which means that Mei and her team were trying to get people to go solar, and “give people incentives through solar app plus.” 

For example, she expressed the importance of building a downtown event center in order to bring the community together. In the interview, Mei states, “Since it’s opened, we’ve had at least 180 rentals and about 800 events there, so things like that can bring the community together.” 

Lily Mei prides herself on the diversity within the community, she states that “We [Fremont] have one of the nation’s largest Asian community by percentage.” Fremont also hosts Indian Heritage events, as well events for other communities. 

Fremont has 64 parks, said Mayor Mei, as well as seven East Bay Regional Parks and Trails, and has built 500 units for senior living, with a bunch of activities for the seniors who live in Fremont, too. 

Mayor Mei takes immense pride in community events too. Speaking of which, the city of Fremont had it’s second annual Restaurant week, an event from March 22- March 30 catered to finding new diverse restaurants. Fremont will also be hosting bike month, as well as a July 4 parade. 

Mayor Mei said that it was “her second and final term as mayor,” and she is focused on education. Fremont currently holds the title as having the only School for the Blind in the state of California, and one of two Schools for the Deaf.

Lily Mei believes that the biggest part of a community is unity and that it is a great place to call home. Fremont is home to so much cultural diversity, religious or otherwise. Fremont is also working on affordability and cost of living.

Part time health care options for faculty will drastically improve next year. The District and the Faculty Association (FA) have signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)  that will extend to part time faculty, the very same benefits that are provided for full time faculty.

As of now, the District offers health benefits to those who don’t have access to coverage through another source, Kelsey Piaz, who is an adjunct instructor in Communication Studies, and the part-time representative on the Faculty Association at Chabot added, “the role of the Faculty Association is to discuss issues that directly concern the faculty within the Chabot-Las Positas District.”

These changes to health benefits will be effective in Fall 2024, which are the same benefits that are provided to full time faculty, as previously stated. These changes are more accurately described in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Both the MOU and Collective Bargaining Agreement are available on the District HR website.

Enrollment periods for part time faculty occur twice a year, as staff must re-enroll for benefits. To receive benefits, faculty must be eligible, which, according to the FA, means “that staff must work 40% or more over the past year, and affirm that they don’t have paid health care by another source.” The eligibility requirements will remain the same, except for a minor change involving the eligibility year, including the summer term for the July open enrollment period.

The memorandum of understanding, is a document that applies to the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District, as well as the Chabot-Las Positas Faculty Association (FA). In this document, eligibility criteria, medical plan, and enrollment, payments, multi-district part time Faculty, continuity of coverage for part time faculty, and continuing eligibility and cessation of eligibility are thoroughly evaluated, and discussed. The MOU was signed by David Fouquet, the FA President, and Ronald P. Gerhard, the Chancellor of the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District on December 12th, 2023.

Recognizing who made this possible, Chancellor Ron Gerhard, and Vice Chancellors Wyman Fong and Jonah Nicholas, all of whom acknowledge the importance and influence of implementing this new system for part time employees who need it.

Chabot College’s closed bookstore, building 3800, is set to be transformed into the Gladiator Hub, a new space dedicated to supporting student equity and success, as announced by Director Saleem Gilmore. The Hub will offer study areas, computing resources, and a lounge area for student engagement.

Since the Bookstore was removed, Saleem Gilmore, the Director of Student Equity and Success, has a very important role in the revival of the building. In the words of Mr. Gilmore, “The Student Equity Office is to support students’ basic needs in an effort to ensure success, and in time, we’ll have areas for students to study, computers for students enrolling in classes, and a lounge area for students just kick it.”

Saleem Gilmore, who formerly taught in Oakland and San Francisco, produced comfortable spaces for the purpose of student engagement in the college environment. In the interview, Gilmore explained that he wanted to provide students with resources.

Gilmore mentioned that “As an entrepreneur, He developed many programs specific to students, So I partnered with school districts,” Gilmore reflected on his other experiences establishing leadership development programs. The College Access Center at the University of San Francisco and the Center for Student Equity and Success Center at Cal State East Bay are both examples of the work he and his team have done to create a welcoming atmosphere for students.

Gilmore and his team have worked tirelessly to find the best way to improve the experience of what will soon be known as the Gladiator Hub. This Hub will provide a sense of community for students and will feature a fresh market pantry so students and staff can make coffee and get food for free.

 Nicole Harden, Khammany Mathavongsy, Elizabeth Maggio (Director, SparkPoint), Stefanie Montouth (Interim Student Resources Program Manager in the Student Equity Department), Saleem Gilmore, and Muna Taqi-Eddin (CalFresh Outreach Specialist) are the ones behind the creation of the Resource Hub, and are responsible for making this change happen.

The Chabot College Lunar New Year Event kicked off on Feb. 2  hosted in the 700 building. The celebration was presented by the Asian Pacific Islander Education Association (APIEA) and was in collaboration with the Association of China Club and the Movement Learning Community.   

A few people came to speak and say a few words at the beginning of the event. Chabot’s President Susan Sperling attended the event and spoke, she voiced that it is important to recognize all of the people for whom Lunar New Year is celebrated. She then thanked and and gave a shout out to various individuals for supporting the event altogether. 

The President of the Association of China Club spoke as well. She stated the facts and traditions of the Lunar New Year that occur in China and thanked the audience for coming out to show love and support. 

Fong Tran, a spoken word poet, educator, and public speaker shared a beautiful poetry during the event. For example, one of the poems titled “I Hate” conveyed Tran’s battle with accepting his ethnicity and who he is. The series of spoken word poetry was very powerful, it seemed to have quite an impact on the audience.  

To end the event, there was a fun activity the audience could participate in. At the beginning of the event, the people flooding in were required to take an envelope from the entrance table, that envelope would contain a scratch card in it. This card however, would not win us the lottery, but 10 special cards would let us know if we won a prize that varied from a gift card to a large squishmallow. 

The event was attended by a series of different people who wanted to learn more and were interested in the program. The overall goal was about sharing space and culture within the community, and creating a safe space for people to feel comfortable within themselves.

Lunar new year is a time for big celebrations for many people all around the world. On Jan. 21 2023 at the Hayward Library, we had an astonishing Lunar New Year celebration. The Hayward Library is a seemingly recent library, with it being built in 2019, this event was the first that the Hayward library has hosted and was well attended.

More than 300 people came to observe and participate. The celebration’s hosts, Librarian Wenny Wallace, and Jayanti Addleman, the Director of Library services, wanted to bring the community together with performance art in dances and singing to make people feel comfortable just the way they are.  

The Lunar New Year is a celebration of the arrival of a brand new Lunar calendar year, the holiday honors the heritage and brings people, both young and old, together from many different Asian cultures and backgrounds. In an insightful interview with Wenny Wallace, she says “This is to bring the community together. I saw some people start to talk to each other. That is the reason why I feel Lunar New Year is important, one, to keep the heritage, and two, is to bring together the whole community, not only small communities like Chinese, Korean, or Vietnamese communities. Bring all of them together.”

 Lunar New Year celebrations are not the same everywhere. For example, in some places, people would visit their families and stay with them, eat various foods, and have a good time. While in America, celebrations are likely a community event. The holiday isn’t only celebrated in Chinese culture, many festivities take place in Korea, Vietnam, and more.

Lunar New Year traditions, which have a history of about 3,500 years, in the words of Wenny Wallace, are “Like Christmas,” where you take your time to visit family and friends. These traditions and elements hold different significance. For example, 2023 is the year of the rabbit on the Chinese Zodiac calendar, and that represents peace and prosperity. Also, the importance of the color red is a key thing to mention, which represents luck/good fortune. Firecrackers also play a big role in Lunar New Year celebrations used to scare away bad luck and bad energy from the year prior. 

With the event’s big turnout, a monumental moment for them, so much so that they are open to doing another one next year. In the words of Wenny Wallace, “You should feel proud about your own culture.”