College Opportunity News

Volume 4, Issue 7, April 3, 2009

In this issue:

1)		CCO Congratulates Board Member John Trasviña on his nomination to President Obama's Cabinet John Trasviña was recently nominated by President Barack Obama to serve in the administration as the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. << Learn more
2)		Early Commitment to College launches in Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Francisco Unified School Districts during "Save Me a Spot in College Week" Only six months after the signing of Senate Bill 890 by Governor Schwarzenegger – four of the largest and most diverse school districts in California voluntarily launched the program. << Learn more
3)		The Challenge to States: Preserving College Access and Affordability in a Time of Crisis The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education released a statement on the importance of preserving undergraduate access and affordability in spite of the economic challenges facing States across the nation. << Learn more
4)		Campaign for College Opportunity Opens New Office in Sacramento Associate Director, Jessie Ryan will be leading our policy work from the new downtown office << Learn more

CCO Congratulates Board Member John Trasviña on his nomination to President Obama's Cabinet
John Trasviña was recently nominated by President Barack Obama to serve in the administration as the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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John Trasviña who has served on the Board of the Campaign for College Opportunity for several years and is the current President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve in the administration as the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

John Trasviña, MALDEF President & General Counsel, now Presidential Nominee for Assistant Secretary for the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

John has been an incredible supporter and contributor on the Board of the Campaign for College Opportunity. We are proud of the great leadership he will provide as he enters this new phase of work serving our country.

For the past two decades, Trasviña has played a major policy role at local and federal levels on immigration and civil rights matters affecting immigrants, minority communities and women. He has written and spoken nationally on topics including voting rights, immigration policy, worker rights, English only policies, diversity and education. Trasviña began his career at MALDEF in Washington, DC as a legislative attorney. He later worked under Senator Paul Simon as General Counsel & Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. In 1997, President Clinton appointed Mr. Trasviña to be Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices. As Special Counsel, he headed the federal government's only office devoted solely to immigrant workplace rights and was the highest ranking Latino attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice. Prior to re-joining MALDEF in 2005, Trasviña was the Director of the Discrimination Research Center in Berkeley and Los Angeles and taught Immigration Law at Stanford Law School.

A native of San Francisco, Trasviña is a graduate of Harvard University and Stanford Law School. He was a member of the San Francisco Elections Commission, president of the Harvard Club of San Francisco, and a board member of the La Raza Lawyers Association, CORO of Northern California, the Lowell High School Alumni Association, the League of Women Voters and the Pacific Coast Immigration Museum. He also serves on the boards of the Latino Issues Forum and the Harvard Club of Southern California.

Early Commitment to College launches in Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Francisco Unified School Districts during "Save Me a Spot in College Week"
Only six months after the signing of Senate Bill 890 by Governor Schwarzenegger – four of the largest and most diverse school districts in California voluntarily launched the ECC program.
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Thanks to your support and dedication, the Campaign for College Opportunity, in partnership with the California Department of Education and Superintendent Jack O’Connell, successfully launched Early Commitment to College (ECC). Only six months after the signing of Senate Bill 890 by Governor Schwarzenegger – four of the largest and most diverse school districts in California voluntarily launched the ECC program during "Save Me a Spot in College Week” and another twenty more are preparing to participate in the Fall of 2009. Thousands of students across the state signed pledges- promising themselves and their families to prepare for, attend, and eventually graduate from college. The students and families also learned important information about the opportunities and resources available to help them prepare for college and access financial aid.

Photos from L to R: Students from Fresno Unified School District sign their "Save Me A Spot in College" pledges; Assembly Member Kevin de Leon joins LAUSD School Board President Monica Garcia to award scholarships to students at Washington Irving Middle School in Los Angeles; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O'Connell congratulates the students from Long Beach Unified School District; Students from San Francisco Unified School District fill the auditorium and raise their hands to show their desire to go to college.

Key highlights from the events include:

Long Beach Unified School District collected over 16,000 signed pledges from students at each of their 23 middle schools (four middle schools had 100% of their students return their pledges)
At all four events, leaders from K-12, community colleges and four year universities committed their support for students to reach their college dreams including Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O’Connell
Over $16,000 in scholarship dollars were distributed to selected students through our grant support from the College Access Foundation and Citi
Students raised their powerful voices to share why they want to go to college ranging from their dream to become a pediatrician, wanting to help their communities, and as one student shared, “I don’t want to live paycheck to paycheck like my family.”

The program is housed in the California Department of Education (CDE) in collaboration with higher education and financial aid agencies. This effort comes at the perfect time as the growing demand for educated workers by industries across our state coincides with a disturbing decline in the number of students that go directly from high school into college. Early Commitment to College is especially critical for the rising number of young Californians who will be the first in their families to go to college and may not be aware of their opportunities to attend a community college or four year university and receive financial aid. It is also an essential tool to help establish the strong partnerships between k-12, community colleges and four year universities necessary to prepare students for college and ensure their success. We are especially excited by the commitment from higher education leaders to promote collaboration through efforts like the CSU’s Early Assessment Program and dual enrollment and guaranteed fee waivers at community colleges for participating students.

To hear more about these events in the news, please follow the links below:

To see more pictures and student profiles from the events, please visit our website at www.collegecampaign.org. Many of us are the first in our families to go to college, we are certain that through this effort thousands more will follow us in that path.

The Challenge to States: Preserving College Access and Affordability in a Time of Crisis
The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education released a statement on the importance of preserving undergraduate access and affordability in spite of the economic challenges facing States across the nation.
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The statement includes specific recommendations for what policymakers, higher education leaders and administrators can do to ensure capacity, appropriately fund higher education and increase productivity.

"In this time of economic distress and difficult fiscal choices, states and their colleges and universities must preserve undergraduate access and affordability. Recession cannot once again become the rationale for reducing opportunity and increasing the financial burden on students and families."

To read the full statement please visit www.highereducation.org.

Campaign for College Opportunity Opens New Office in Sacramento
Associate Director, Jessie Ryan will be leading CCO policy work from the new downtown office
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On March 31st the Campaign moved into our new Sacramento office at 770 L Street where Jessie Ryan, the Campaign's Associate Director will be based. Jessie will lead our outreach and policy efforts at the Capitol and will work closely with statewide organizations, education leaders and policymakers on critical issues of priority to the Campaign.

The new office at 770 L Street, Suite 950 in Sacramento, California.

With a regular Capitol presence, the Campaign for College Opportunity hopes to significantly impact the development of a public agenda for higher education by our state leaders that is based on ensuring access to all eligible students, promoting student success and allocating appropriate funds for higher education. We encourage you to visit our new office at 770 L Street, Suite 950 or call us at 916-449-3988.

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