The Clark College Columbia Writers Series continues its 2021-2022 season with writer and critic Lincoln Michel. This event, which is free and open to the public, will be held virtually on Thursday, March 3, 10:00-11:00 a.m. The event will be held on Zoom (passcode: Clark).

Lincoln Michel’s debut novel, The Body Scout (Orbit), was named one of the ten “Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2021” by the New York Times. He’s also the author of the story collection Upright Beasts (Coffee House Press) and the co-editor of the anthologies Tiny Crimes and Tiny Nightmares (Catapult). His fiction appears or is forthcoming in The Paris Review, Granta, NOON, Lightspeed, and elsewhere. His essays and criticism appear in the New York Times, The Guardian, and Lit Hub, among others. You can find him online at lincolnmichel.com and @thelincoln.

Readers can request Lincoln Michel’s books Upright Beasts (2015) and The Body Scout (2021), among others, through Clark College Libraries or find them at Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries and Multnomah County Library.

The Columbia Writers Series was launched at Clark College in 1988, bringing local, national and international authors to the college and the region. This year’s lineup of authors will continue with award-winning poet Morgan Parker on May 12.

Individuals who need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services (DSS) Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901 (VP). The DSS office is located in room 013 in Clark’s Penguin Union Building.

High school students can learn how to take the next step in their education by attending one of three optional Virtual Running Start Information Night sessions hosted by Clark College. 

The identical sessions will be held 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 8; Wednesday, Feb. 23; and Thursday, March 10. All three events, which are free and open to the public, will be held virtually over Zoom.  

Running Start allows eligible juniors and seniors to earn college credit while they fulfill their high school graduation requirements. Running Start students attend Clark classes along with other college students. They can choose from a full range of academic and professional and technical courses. 

The program, which can significantly reduce the cost of a college degree, has proven popular in Southwest Washington. Some Running Start students are so motivated that they earn their associate degree from Clark at the same time that they earn their high school diploma. These annual information nights frequently attract hundreds of interested students and parents.  

These information sessions are for students and families who want to know more about beginning the program in Fall 2022. While the sessions are completely optional, they are a good opportunity to hear current Running Start students candidly describe their experiences in the program and to learn about the program benefits, eligibility criteria, expectations, timelines, and more.  

An American Sign Language interpreter, live captioning, and Spanish/Russian interpreters are available for all event dates. Additionally, sessions will be recorded and made available in March at www.clark.edu/runningstart.  

Running Start students pay for books, transportation, and some fees, but do not pay full Clark College tuition. Students can attend part-time or full-time under the Running Start program. Fees are subject to change by the Washington State Legislature. A fee waiver is available for those demonstrating financial need.  

Individuals who need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901 (VP) as soon as possible. 

For more information on Running Start, visit the Clark College website at www.clark.edu/runningstart. For information about Running Start Information Nights, call 360-992-2078.  

Clark College is honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a day of virtual events on Wednesday, January 19.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Black Wellness: A Day of Healing.” Find Zoom links and additional details at www.clark.edu/cc/mlk. Events include:

Black Education Leaders Panel Discussion

Learn more about leading at educational institutions
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.

Meditative Stretching: Keyonda McQuarters

Join us for guided practive all levels welcome
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Lunch

Free lunches (selection of pork, chicken or portobello) available for pick up at the McClaskey Culinary Institute, no advanced orders, first come first serve, while supplies last.
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

Keynote speaker: Velynn Brown

We Shall Overcome: Reflections on the Spiritual Practice and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King
1:00 – 2:30 p.m.

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving is often a sleepy time at Clark College, as students and faculty prepare to take time off for the long weekend. But this year, it was abuzz with activity, as students, staff, and faculty all worked to provide their community with holiday meals.

The event was a collaboration between the college’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter, the culinary arts programs, Student Life, the Penguin Pantry, and the Clark College Alumni Association. Many Clark College employees donate funds for the project each year through Clark College Foundation.

Volunteers provided 333 Thanksgiving meals prepared by Cuisine Management students, baked goods from the Professional Baking program, bread donated by sponsors Meineke, as well as to the regular monthly food boxes provided to Penguin Pantry recipients. In total, 122 students and their households–481 people in all–were provided with 4,326 pounds of food.

Established four years ago, the Penguin Pantry provides Clark College students with food, other basic goods, and connections to resources. Learn more at www.clark.edu/cc/penguinpantry.

The day before, Cuisine Management professor Earl Frederick and his students worked to make Thanksgiving meals for families with a member in hospice. Read the Columbian article about the project.

For more than a decade, Clark College has honored the cultures and traditions of indigenous peoples with an annual celebration and powwow held in early November. This year, as in 2020, that celebration needed to be held virtually due to COVID-19. A video including interviews with community leaders and images from past celebrations has been posted on the college’s web page devoted to the event. It is also posted below.

On September 9, Clark College hosted a free workshop for women interested in advanced manufacturing and the mechanical trades on the college’s main campus. More than 30 women attended the event, which included hands-on activities and tours of the college’s Automotive, Diesel, and Welding labs, as well as the chance to speak with professors.  

The following video, narrated by Interim Dean of Workforce Professional Technical Education & STEM, captures some of the excitement from the event as well as the motivation behind it. Properly trained  technicians are in high demand in the advanced manufacturing and mechanical industries, and these careers can be rewarding both financially and professionally. However, a recent study found that only 1 in 3 manufacturing professionals are women. 

Two $1,800 scholarships will be made available to students who attend this event and enroll in a Clark College Automotive, Diesel, or Welding program by fall 2022. One scholarship was made available by Madden Industrial Craftsmen, the other through an anonymous donor.  

See more photos from the event on the college’s Flickr site.

Clark College is hosting a free workshop for women interested in advanced manufacturing and the mechanical trades on Thursday, September 9 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Clark College’s main campus. 

This roll-up-your-sleeves event is designed specifically for women to learn about the exciting career opportunities that are available in the mechanical and advanced-manufacturing fields. Guests will be able to tour the college’s Automotive, Diesel, and Welding labs, participate in hands-on activities, and speak with professors.  

Closed-toe shoes and long jeans are required; long-sleeved shirts are recommended. Safety goggles and masks are required and will be provided. 

Properly trained technicians are in high demand in the advanced manufacturing and mechanical industries, and these careers can be rewarding both financially and professionally. However, a recent study found that only 1 in 3 manufacturing professionals are women. 

“We know that, even in this day and age, women can be discouraged from pursuing careers in fields like automotive technology and welding,” said Armetta Burney, Clark College Interim Dean of Workforce Professional Technical Education and STEM. “And yet for years we’ve seen our female students succeed in these programs and enter the workforce. The college is holding this event in hopes of showing women the range of career opportunities available to them.” 

Two $1,800 scholarships will be made available to students who attend this event and enroll in a Clark College Automotive, Diesel, or Welding program by fall 2022. One scholarship was made available by Madden Industrial Craftsmen, the other through an anonymous donor.  

Women interested in attending the event can learn more at https://tinyurl.com/yfb6e6qk or contact Hernan Garzon at hgarzon@clark.edu. The event is free and open to the public, though prior registration is encouraged. Guests will meet in the Automotive Technology lab on Clark College’s main campus (near the Orange 1 parking lot), 1933 Ft. Vancouver Way. Maps and directions are available at www.clark.edu/maps. If you need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event, you should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-992-0901 VP, as soon as possible.   

Clark College expressly prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, perceived or actual physical or mental disability, pregnancy, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, creed, religion, honorably discharged veteran or military status, citizenship, immigration status, or use of a trained guide dog or service animal in its programs and activities. Learn more at www.clark.edu/nds.    

On June 17, students and faculty lined up in Clark College’s Red parking before crossing Ft. Vancouver Way to Christensen Soccer Field for the college’s 2021 Commencement ceremony. The ceremony, held outdoors in chairs spaced 6 feet apart, allowed for no guests due to Covid-19 safety precautions. It was, in many ways, a first: The first ceremony on the soccer field, the first without guests (though some proud family members lined up on a hill above the field to cheer on their grads), and the first presided over by Clark College President Karin Edwards.

“It is an honor and privilege to stand here before you tonight,” said Dr. Edwards as she addressed the Class of 2021, as well as some members of the Class of 2020 who were making up for missing an in-person ceremony the previous year. “This time last year, we could not assemble on campus or anywhere due to the coronavirus.”

Many speakers at the podium remarked on the unique challenges faced by this graduating class: pandemic, quarantine, a massive switch to online learning, and a turbulent environment of political strife and racial inequity.

And yet, as novel as this year’s ceremony was in many ways, there was much that remained the same: tassels were turned, caps were tossed, and the look of pride on graduates’ faces as they crossed the stage was as incandescent as ever. As is tradition, the recipients of both the Exceptional Faculty Awards and the Community College Presidents’ Scholarship in Honor of Val Ogden were announced. All told, more than 500 Penguins marched to receive their commemorative scrolls and celebrated their achievements together.

View more photos of Commencement 2021 on Flickr.

A fully captioned video from the live-stream of the ceremony will be available at www.clark.edu/go/grad by July 3.

Clark College celebrated the emancipation of Black enslaved people with its inaugural Juneteenth Drive-Through Cookout on Friday, June 11. The event was organized by the college’s Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and culinary programs. Clark College’s McClaskey Culinary Institute and ODEI provided 100 boxed lunches for students. 

In an email to the college community, Rashida Willard, Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, explained the significance of Juneteenth, which is also known as Emancipation Day and Freedom Day: “On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended, and that Black slaves were now free, nearly two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Many celebrate this holiday honoring Black culture through social gatherings, cookouts, and time with family.”  

Cuisine instructor Earl Frederick said, “Barbecue is recognized as a Black contribution to American culture. It was slaves who passed through the Caribbean, cooking animals over pits on sticks. This style of cooking called barbacoa translates now into what we know as Southern barbecue. They also picked up seeds from hot peppers in the Caribbean, which became an important flavoring for the pork in the South.” 

Cuisine students made smoked turkey, baked beans, collard greens and cornbread. Students in Professional Baking and Pastry Arts made individual hand pies for dessert. Clark’s students made all the food except for barbecued pork, which was donated by Donnie Vercher, owner of Daddy D’s Southern Style BBQ. (Vercher’s daughter, Ramona Vercher, is a Clark College alumna and recipient of the 2013-14 Community College President’s Award.) On the morning of the event, cuisine students were busy in the kitchen packing 100 lunches in boxes highlighting significant people and events in Black history.  

Students had signed up in advance to receive the lunches. During the event, students drove into the parking lot west of Tod and Maxine McClaskey Culinary Institute, rolled down their window and were handed a boxed lunch from a cuisine student.   

Despite persistent rain, it was a party. Deejay Mark Kernell played Earth, Wind and Fire’s “September” as he spun what he called “good ‘70s and ‘80s R&B, backyard barbecue music.” 

Nearby, Clark College President Karin Edwards chatted with Frederick, who was busy stirring a pot of Caribbean-style paella at the wood-fired grill. A pot of gumbo simmered alongside it. 

Frederick said his maternal grandmother, a sharecropper from North Carolina, told him stories about the significance of barbecue. 

“My grandmother told me that barbecue is something that Blacks and whites in the South share,” he said. “When tobacco was harvested in the fall, it was all-hands-on-deck with Blacks and whites working together doing the harvest.” 

Workers hung tobacco leaves in tobacco barns that have slats to let air through. To prevent spoilage, this work had to happen quickly, so a big oak fire was built to cure, dry and smoke the tobacco. Throughout the night, workers stoked the fire, which accumulated hot coals.  

Frederick explained, “The tradition developed to roast a pig using those hot coals. People dug a hole in the ground, put hot coals in the bottom of the pit, put a grate over the coals, and put a butchered pig on the grate to slowly cook the pig. Everybody—black and white—ate the pig together. Something that didn’t happen any other time.” 

Next year when Clark College holds its second annual event, Juneteenth will be a state holiday, thanks to legislation passed in May. The law will go into effect in 2022. 

This will be the first time that the ceremony is held on the soccer field. Traditionally, the college’s Commencement ceremonies have been held at Sunlight Supply Amphitheatre. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the college’s 2020 Commencement ceremony was held completely virtually. This year, as restrictions on public gatherings began to lift, the college surveyed graduates to learn which format of ceremony students preferred: virtual, drive-through, or in-person. The in-person format was the top choice of survey respondents. 

“Our students have navigated through so much this academic year—pandemic, economic downturn, social unrest, struggling with issues like job loss and food insecurity,” said Clark College President Karin Edwards. “It was important to us that we honor their achievement with a ceremony that met their hopes, while still conforming with public health guidelines.” 

Other noteworthy highlights of this year’s ceremony: 

• About 525 graduates are expected to participate in this year’s ceremony, out of approximately 1,650 graduates from the entire academic year. 
• Graduates include those receiving Bachelor of Applied Science and associate degrees, as well as certificates and high school diplomas or equivalents. 
• The Class of 2021 will include the first graduates from the college’s new Bachelor of Applied Science in Human Services degree program. 
• Some of the participants are members of the Class of 2020. When that year’s Commencement was moved online, the college invited graduates to participate in the next in-person ceremony. 
• The ceremony will be led by Dr. Edwards, and will be her first Clark College Commencement as president of the college. 
• The student speaker is Jaelyn Sotelo, a Running Start student who is transferring to University of Washington to pursue a career in political advocacy. Introducing her is student government president Josiah Joner, also a Running Start student, who is in the third generation of his family to attend Clark College and is transferring to Stanford University in the fall. 
• Also speaking are: Clark College Board of Trustees Chair Rekah Strong; faculty union president Suzanne Southerland; and Interim Vice President of Instruction Dr. Genevieve Howard.