{"id":166580,"date":"2026-02-06T10:44:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T10:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/166580\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T10:44:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T10:44:51","slug":"bc-celebrates-recognition-as-a-black-serving-institution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/166580\/","title":{"rendered":"BC Celebrates Recognition as a Black Serving Institution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Thursday, February 5, 2026<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, faculty, staff, students, and community members gathered on the<br \/>\n                        CSS Lawn to kick off Black History Month and celebrate Bakersfield College\u2019s recent<br \/>\n                        recognition as a California designated Black-Serving Institution (BSI). The distinction<br \/>\n                        is an important milestone highlighting BC\u2019s commitment to advancing equity, access,<br \/>\n                        and student success for Black students.<\/p>\n<p>The event featured remarks from BC administrators, BC faculty, and community members,<br \/>\n                        including BC President Dr. Stacey Pfluger, BC Faculty member Dr. Tommy Tunson, NAACP<br \/>\n                        President of the Bakersfield Branch Patrick Jackson, and others. The event also included<br \/>\n                        a special singing of \u2018Lift Every Voice and Sing\u2019 by the Agapeland Christian Academy<br \/>\n                        choir and concluded with food samples and a time for networking. It was an exciting<br \/>\n                        way to kick off Black History Month at Bakersfield College.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Pfluger talked about the importance of the BSI designation and Black History Month.<br \/>\n                        \u201cBlack History Month is a time to honor the resilience, achievements, and enduring<br \/>\n                        impact of Black Americans,\u201d she said, \u201cthis designation affirms the work being done<br \/>\n                        across our campus to support Black students and reinforces our commitment to creating<br \/>\n                        an inclusive environment where all students can thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Khalfani Mackey, BCSGA President, talked about the significance of the BSI designation.<br \/>\n                        \u201cThe BSI designation creates opportunity and responsibility,\u201d he said, \u201cThis means<br \/>\n                        the college now has a greater ability and obligation to invest in culturally responsive<br \/>\n                        programming, support systems, and strategies that directly improve retention, completion,<br \/>\n                        and overall student success for African American students. There is an expectation<br \/>\n                        from the state, the community, and the students that progress will be intentional,<br \/>\n                        measurable, and sustained.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bakersfield College is excited to celebrate Black History Month and receive recognition<br \/>\n                        as a California designated Black Serving Institution. The month of February features<br \/>\n                        a variety of Black History Month events at BC. Please visit the online events calendar<br \/>\n                        for a full list of activities and celebrations.<\/p>\n<p>                              <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bhm-kick-off-BSI-Jan2026-news-SQ2.jpg\" alt=\"adult female standing on a stage with several elementary age children\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                              <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bhm-kick-off-BSI-Jan2026-news-SQ1.jpg\" alt=\"several elementary age children singing to an audience\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                              <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bhm-kick-off-BSI-Jan2026-news-SQ3.jpg\" alt=\"adult male in military uniform talking at a podium\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                              <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bhm-kick-off-BSI-Jan2026-news-SQ5.jpg\" alt=\"three event participants standing together on a lawn area\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\"\/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bhm-kick-off-BSI-Jan2026-news-H2.jpg\" alt=\"Event speakers and BC administration posing together under event tent\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                              <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bhm-kick-off-BSI-Jan2026-news-SQ6.jpg\" alt=\"food tasting tent\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                              <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bhm-kick-off-BSI-Jan2026-news-SQ4.jpg\" alt=\"African American female speaking from a podium\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thursday, February 5, 2026 Earlier this week, faculty, staff, students, and community members gathered on the CSS Lawn&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":{"0":"post-166580","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bakersfield","8":"tag-bakersfield","9":"tag-bakersfield-headlines","10":"tag-bakersfield-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}