Fullerton College was honored for its work in rewarding Associate Degrees for Transfer to Latinx students and named an Equity Champion of Higher Education for 2021. Awards were given out by the Campaign for College Opportunity to recognize California Community Colleges and CSUs in rewarding ADTs to their students.

Nov. 16 marked the fifth annual ceremony CCO held this event.

Data drove each award. CCO was able to see which schools performed with the intention to guarantee Latinx, Black, or students in general who have a transfer goal to earn an ADT.

FC made certain a high proportion of Latinx students that sought a degree for transfer received an ADT in the 2019-2020 academic year and transferred 1,199 students.

Director of Campus Communications at Fullerton College Lisa McPheron is pleased to know the campaigns and programs offered on campus make a difference.

“We are a Hispanic serving institution which means we have a large Latinx student population and we’re a community college. We need to provide high-quality education to the community which we reside in. We are responding to the needs of our community by serving members in our community,” said McPheron.

The Associate Degree for Transfer is one of many degrees Fullerton College offers. Associate Arts degree and Associate Science degree are two other options.

The creation of programs such as the Puente program to build community amongst students and celebrate events such as Hispanic Heritage Month helped to set a foundation of trust and admiration from the college to its Latinx students.

“It’s good to see a lot of my peers, who I would consider Latinx students as well, that connection that we all share is really important…I feel like Fullerton College has really embraced my community,” Fullerton College student Alejandro Aguilar said. He will transfer in the fall of 2022.

Aguilar was not surprised Fullerton College was recognized with this award and noted the campus has done its diligence for its students, specifically Latinx students.

“It doesn’t shock me that Fullerton College has received this reward, like I said they’ve really embraced the culture, tradition and holidays. It’s way more than I expected from a school to be honest… they really made me feel welcomed,” said Aguilar.

Fullerton College has its own procedures to further its efforts of inclusion but also stays up to date through NOCCCD’s Diversity and Compliance department. The department pushes an agenda of equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism to help address gaps that challenge students, faculty and staff through its programs and events.

“There’s always room for improvement and no school will ever be perfect but I really believe that Fullerton is the model school,” said Aguilar.