Investing in our future

Katelyn's career at the SRJC began 25 years ago as a dual enrolled high school student. As a lifelong learner she has seen how this institution has grown and changed over these last two and a half decades. Her love of education is what compelled her to return as a full-time student three years ago. She received her associate’s degree in philosophy last spring and has been accepted into UC Berkeley's Undergraduate Philosophy program.

Along the way, Katelyn saw firsthand the challenges the SRJC is now facing. She gained this unique perspective not only as a student, but also as the parent of a student. She was elected as a student representative on a taskforce considering Generative AI's place on our campus. Katelyn took part in the Teaching Fellowship where she was a teaching assistant for a philosophy professor, which included lesson planning, running study sessions, grading and lecturing. Last year Katelyn was selected to be a student representative for the college at the statewide Faculty Association of California Community Colleges (FACCC) conference, where she learned about many of the challenges community colleges across the state are facing and lobbied to state representatives for our school. All of these experiences opened her eyes to the challenges our beloved junior college is up against.

One example of the issues she will address is the 2022 bill, AB 1705, that was passed by state legislators and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom. This law requires the state’s community colleges place anyone with a high school degree or equivalent directly into transfer-level English and Math classes. While this was done in the hopes of promoting equity, the results in our community have been anything but equitable. A large reason for this is due to how SRJC leadership decided to implement this law. While other community colleges decided to continue offering their pre-transfer level courses as voluntary options, our board and administration decided to cut such classes. This choice has disadvantaged many of our students, particularly those who struggled through the COVID-19 pandemic, English as a second language learners, as well as returning adult students like Katelyn herself. But it doesn't need to be this way, and that is why Katelyn is running for this position.

She believes that disadvantaged and non-traditional students deserve the same opportunities to succeed as everyone else and is prepared to step forward and speak out for their futures. The SRJC is a community college that should be available to provide education and a path to fulfillment for anyone who is willing to do the work. Not only does education open doors but it is valuable in and of itself. Katelyn sees the uncertain times we are living in and wants to ensure we have a well-informed and thriving community. We have a wonderful resource in our local college, but some changes are needed to ensure that it remains a beacon of promise for everyone in our community.