![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/19155829\/student-center-lbcc-1-417451-anoibxkv-837838-IpPLZg2X.avif\")
<\/a>A rendering shows the exterior of Building E planned for Long Beach City College\u2019s Liberal Arts Campus. Rendering courtesy LBCC.<\/p>\nThe three-story Building E will be the \u201cheart of this college,\u201d Vice President of Administrative and Business Services Candace Jones said. The center will support students and foster connection through a range of services, including basic needs, a family center, student affairs, international and first-year student support, a social justice and intercultural center and a new cafeteria, designed to feed an influx of students as more housing is built. All of it, said President Mike Mu\u00f1oz, is intended to promote student belonging and success.<\/p>\n
Several years ago, when LBCC conducted a campuswide survey, only 49% of students reported feeling that they mattered or belonged at the college, a statistic that \u201cblew my mind,\u201d Mu\u00f1oz said. In particular, he added, the survey showed students found the physical space unwelcoming: while the grounds were beautiful, students said, the stark white walls inside felt sterile.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents didn\u2019t necessarily see themselves in the buildings that they were walking through,\u201d he said. It was a wake-up call for Mu\u00f1oz who initiated a campaign to shift the campus culture and create spaces for the student community. In the last two years, student-reported belonging has risen to 92%<\/a>. Mu\u00f1oz said students who graduated years ago tell him that LBCC feels far more welcoming now than it did 10 years ago.<\/p>\n The campus center is core to that mission, said Mu\u00f1oz, who navigated his own community college experience as a single father. \u201cWe\u2019re transforming how we center some of the more marginalized students,\u201d on campus \u2014 everyone from veterans to formerly incarcerated students to student-parents, he said.<\/p>\n This plan has been years in the making, and the budget has grown significantly from early estimates<\/a>. Jeff Connell, associate vice president of capital planning and facilities, attributed the larger budget to market forces as well as design changes \u2014 increased square footage, the addition of glass and steel to create more open spaces \u2014 aimed to be responsive to student needs and input.<\/p>\n<\/a>The LBCC Board of Trustees and other officials participated in a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\n