Chaparral 2024-2025: Golden Reflections and a Fond Farewell from Aisha and Romy

We are so pleased to invite you to look back on a golden year of Chaparral as directed by your friendly neighborhood spaceman and musical innovator David Bowie. As public employees and engaged citizens, we sometimes get overwhelmed with the sheer amount of bad news, horror stories, and questionable interactions we might have every year. In this May 2025 issue of Chaparral, we wanted to pinpoint a specific moment that our leaders and GCC employees could be proud of, a golden light to illuminate a shadowed or dark time we find ourselves in. You will see these reflections from our Guild and Senate leadership, a conversation with an overall wonderful person and GCC Psychology student Jahkara Smith, and your milestones!

To get us started, we, as your Chaparral co-editors, will share our favorite conversations and discoveries this year:

Aisha: One of my absolute favorite things about being a Chaparral co-editor is meeting and getting to know employees across our departments and units. Being a co-editor gives me an excuse to engage with the corners of campus and reach out to people without that awkward stranger danger energy we feel on our own. That being said, this year chatting with Donna Diamond and editing all the wonderful GCC history from the mind of guest columnist Jean LeCuyer has been a highlight for me. I have learned much about how GCC operates on the back end from Donna and the many systems we use (that may not communicate nicely with one another). From Jean, I have learned names from GCC past that established and grew the support services and events we so love: the Parker Award, the Math Discovery Center, and Chaparral itself. It is my reminder of the wisdom of our elders and the necessity of retaining histories from the people who make these institutions possible.

Romy: I love working alongside Aisha on the Chaparral. One of my favorite parts is sharing with others, in turn uplifting community mutual aid. For example, marching in Sacramento with our Guild as part of a national protest movement was a definite highlight for me. I attended protests as a kid and have continued that work as an adult, but this was the first time I joined my employer in a protest (a unique first for me!) I loved talking with my colleagues on the drive up and back, meeting new people in Sacramento, and learning more about their journeys with social protest movements. But my favorite moments were as we marched to and stood underneath our state capital building with my colleagues & new friends, chanting and listening to their stories and feeling the warmth of community, solidarity & hope. Then, sharing with our Guild once we got back home. All of these recent, interconnected moments as an adult remind me why I began protesting as a kid, and reaffirm why I keep showing up even in the face of unending & unyielding oppression.

Thank you, Chaparral readers and listeners, for your continued and kind support. This will be our last issue of Chaparral for now. We look forward to seeing you on campus and online soon.