Ric Alviso (center) and his band Masanga Marimba
Ric performing at the Harvest Moon Gathering
Sherri Bradford & SMC team at the statewide Umoja Community Conference in San Jose
SMC's Black Collegians Umoja at the XXI Umoja Conference
Global Studies first-year student Roxanne Gama sharing her aunt's immigration journey
in class
The Santa Monica Unity and Service Baha'i Club Council, October 2025
A meeting of the Santa Monica Unity and Service Baha'i Club Council
SMC Accounting students ABWA scholarship recipients
SMC Global Trade & Logistics students at AltaSea
Bob Myers receiving a recognition from Penn State
Calvin Madlock on being named to the Northwest Mississippi Community College Hall
of Fame
Roxanne Captor at the Newport Beach Film Festival
Greg Schreiner presents "Hollywood Revisited"
- Spanish Professor Alejandro Lee reported that alongside Hugo Díaz-Rodil (American River College and Sierra College), Sarah Harmon (Cañada College), and Cristina Moon (Chabot College), he presented “Conversemos, Escuchemos, Hablemos: Communicative Assessments in Spanish OER,” at the Open Education Conference, on October 30, 2025. Alejandro was also invited to present on “OER in Modern Languages” at Pitzer College on November 11, 2025.
- Senior Career Services Advisor Joan Kang shared some great news from SMC alum: Adriana Jaramillo Castillo, an SMC Psychology alum (AA ’19), transferred to UCLA and earned her BA in 2021 and MA in Education in 2023. She recently celebrated her
first, first-authored publication, “Leveraging LCFF Funding to Implement Comprehensive School Counseling.” Her case study highlights how a rural Central California district supported student
wellness through comprehensive counseling, drawing on interviews and multi-year data
spanning the pre- and mid-pandemic years. Adriana was also a former student worker
in the Career Services Center.
- Longtime Music instructor Ric Alviso performed at the Harvest Moon Gathering, a fundraising festival for the Painted Turtle Camp, alongside his band, Masanga Marimba. His group opened the festival which also featured
Neil Young, Beck and Lana Del Rey. “Masanga Marimba connects Africa and Latin America cultures through the marimba, an instrument that was brought to the Americas by African
slaves,” Ric wrote.
- Black Collegians Umoja Community Faculty Leader Sherri Bradford and others from SMC attended the statewide Umoja Community XXI Conference held in
San Jose from November 6 through 8, 2025. Funding from SMC’s Umoja grant allowed 20 students,
counselors, staff and instructional faculty to attend. The conference brings together
Umoja programs from across the state of California and Washington state. At the end of the conference, SMC Black Collegians Umoja won two awards: 1)
The Tutankhamun Achievement Award which recognized our program for top student success
and high achievement; 2) The Umoja Award for the institution with the most degrees
awarded in the history of Umoja.
“It was a great time to be in community with each other as well as with other programs!” Sherri wrote. Congratulations, and #ProudToBeSMC! - English Professor Susan Turner Jones is proud of first-year student Roxanne Gama, who wrote an excellent essay interviewing her aunt about her immigration journey,
an essay which she shared in class as well as at the Global Studies Teach-In on Migration,
Mobility, and Movement on October 27, 2025, where her non-fiction essay was warmly
received.
Susan also shared that The Santa Monica Unity and Service Baha'i Club is dynamically active this fall, launching a service-oriented start, by participating in two SMC Club Fairs. The club has packed and delivered over 100 lunches for a food drive, participated in an art and devotions project in Santa Monica, and joined together in council style discussions about current issues and life experiences. As advisor, Susan finds their willingness to work after-hours to participate in service work is both delightful and humbling. - Accounting Professor Ming Lu shares that The Alliance of Black Women Accountants, which provides annual scholarships
and lifelong mentorship to underrepresented minority women pursuing careers in accounting,
honored Naomi Henderson, one of his former students and mentee with a $5,000 grand prize scholarship. Besides
Naomi, there were two other SMC accounting students—Iyana Frazier and Rachel Roundtree, who each received $1,000 scholarships. “Considering that applicants came from community
colleges and 4 universities across the U.S., it’s an incredible achievement that three
of the seven winners were from SMC,” Ming wrote. Indeed!
Each student delivered a heartfelt speech expressing gratitude to those who helped shape their journeys. Some of the names mentioned included Sherri Bradford, Janet Robinson, and Ridgway Knight (part-time accounting faculty). All three students spoke with pride about their time at SMC. - Global Trade & Logistics (Business) Instructor Katya Rodriguez took her Business students, along with Professor Laura Rink and her Aquaculture students, on a field trip to AltaSea, where they learned about the Blue Economy, ocean-related careers, and marine science
through hands-on activities and interactions with experts. The students thoroughly
enjoyed the experience, participating in experiments and exploring potential internship
and career opportunities.
- Campus Counsel Bob Myers was the subject of an article “Adult learner finds ‘antidote to aging’ through geography program,” by The Pennsylvania State University. Penn State highlighted Bob’s many accomplishments,
including obtaining a master’s degree in geographic information systems (GIS) in 2018
and master of science in spatial data science earlier this year.
- Chief Director of IT Calvin Madlock—also a Northwest Mississippi Community College’s basketball alumnus—was named a Northwest Sports Hall of Fame recipient at the Northwest
Foundation’s annual Homecoming celebration on October16, 2025 at the Haraway Center
on the Senatobia campus. Calvin was one of six outstanding former athletes inducted during the event.
A native of Sardis, Mississippi and graduate of North Panola High School, Calvin began his collegiate career at Northwest, where he played a key role in securing two major division titles, including a State Championship and a Sweet 16 appearance in the National Junior College Athletic Association basketball tournament. After Northwest, Calvin transferred to Northwestern State University where he had a great career. In 2013, he was selected alongside several of his teammates to join the Demons’ “Fab 50” all-time century basketball team which was developed to celebrate 100 years of NSU basketball. - Communications and Media Professor Roxanne Captor’s two films "Dickens of a Christmas" and "Rhythm and Harmony: Stanley Clarke" documentary
produced with Broadstage and SMC had sold out audiences at the Newport Beach Film
Festival. Additional screenings were added.
- Piano instructor Greg Schreiner presented his show, Hollywood Revisited, on October 18 at the 2000 seat Kirkland Fine Arts Theater on the campus of Millikin University in Decatur Illinois.
- Veterans’ Resource Center Senior Student Services Specialist Martha Romano reports that the California Leadership Conference she organized, was featured in the National ALA (American Legion Auxiliary) Magazine for the month of November. The conference is an annual weekend- three (3) day conference for girls 8 to 17 years of age for the entire state of California. View the November issue of the National ALA Magazine.
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SMC in Focus Volume XI, Issue 6
Jazz Building Blocks
A team of SMC architecture and interior architectural design majors recently earned national recognition with a design inspired by Kansas City’s deep roots in jazz and blues. Read Article
Toward Zero
Santa Monica College’s award-winning Sustainable Materials Management program turns zero waste principles into healthier surroundings — and successful careers. Read Article
From WongCo to WongCuts
An IT staffer is preparing for life’s next chapter—and fulfilling a long-buried aspiration—as a student in SMC’s nascent Barbering Program. Read Article
Sense of Belonging
SMC’s Student Equity Center builds community, supports identity and creates space for students to grow, lead and take pride in who they are. Read Article
Bragging Rights
Black Collegians Umoja wins two statewide awards. SMC accounting alum garner scholarships. A Music instructor performs at Harvest Moon Gathering. Read Article
A Hub for Discovery
SMC’s new Math & Science Building brings together four academic departments and a world-class planetarium + observatory, offering new opportunities for discovery and exploration. Read Article