Our three Student Equity Learning Communities — Black Scholars, Guardian Scholars, and La Comunidad — are designed to provide a supportive and safe environment for students by granting a sense of belonging and community on the GCC campus.

These programs offer services to help students reach their potential, and achieve their academic and personal goals. Students in these learning communities make connections with staff, peers, and with the campus community as a whole. Through these programs, students gain opportunities to participate in social activities and events with their peers, learn important academic skills, and make lifelong friends, all the while receiving support and guidance throughout their academic journey here at GCC. Students also get help with transportation, books, and other support as needs arise. Several university trips are coordinated throughout the year to help expose our students to transfer opportunities. El Vaquero gathered testimonials from students who found community through these programs.

Learning Community: Guardian Scholars

Student Name: Richard Lloyd Enloe

Major: English

My academic goal isw to gain a teaching degree. I am in the Guardian Scholars Learning Community. I ended up hearing about Guardian Scholars while in the GCC cafeteria. I was in there, just checking out what they had and I didn’t have any money at the time. One of the cafeteria employees turned to me and said that I should go check out the Student Equity program and might be able to get help through meal cards. When I went to the office, I found out about the different learning communities and saw that I was eligible for Guardian Scholars so I joined and never regretted it. Honestly, this learning community has been a help in many ways — more than food. For me, it has been an open door to connect to people as long as I put in the effort. The counselors are all great. They are fun to talk to and if you need guidance for almost anything they can help you out. The biggest thing that happened to me while being in the program was the university tours. The thing that it presented was the ability to open my mind to all of the possibilities. When visiting the universities, it went from being a picture to a tangible thing I can grasp and that can really light a fire under you. And without the program, I wouldn’t have experienced that. 

Learning Community: La Comunidad

Student Name: Eliseo Ruiz

Major: Administration of Justice/Psychology

The fact that I had two older brothers who didn’t graduate high school and weren’t able to provide me with any support in college made it very difficult to even think about going to college. I joined La Comunidad for the guidance and to better my education and life. La Comunidad is not just a program but a family that cares about you in every way that will help you succeed.

La Comunidad has helped me prevail in every way, as a student and as a person in general. La Comunidad guided me with motivation, aspiration and has always influenced me to never give up.

La Comunidad counselors have become a huge part of my life with all the love and support that they have given me. I could never forget any one of them, as they will always be in my heart forever.

Learning Community: Black Scholars

Student Name: Nicole House 

Major: Journalism

I joined Black Scholars because it was good to know that, even as an adult, there’s someone else out there who has my back, who is rooting for me. Black Scholars has been there for me when I thought no one cared.

They called me, emailed me, and were always available when I needed someone to talk to and just to get me excited for school. The counselors have been helpful with guiding me in planning the correct classes to get me aligned with transferring. The program has been helping me afford things like a parking pass or a book voucher to help me afford school supplies.

Going to social mixers and hearing some of the issues or problems other students have had, and listening to their solutions or even what routes they took in solving those problems has given me so much insight.

For more information on how to get involved with these programs, go to: glendale.edu/equity 

Eduardo Carreño reached at [email protected]