{"id":88275,"date":"2025-12-09T23:01:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T23:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/88275\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T23:01:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T23:01:17","slug":"lbcc-student-receives-national-award-for-empowering-and-transforming-his-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/88275\/","title":{"rendered":"LBCC Student Receives National Award for Empowering and Transforming His Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n LONG BEACH, CA\u00a0\u2013 Long Beach City College
\n (LBCC) student, Edgar Rosales, has been selected as a 2025
\n honoree of\u00a0The
\n Courage Project<\/a>,\u00a0a national recognition awarded to only
\n 12 individuals or organizations across the country who
\n demonstrate extraordinary courage and compassion within their
\n communities. Rosales was honored for his leadership at LBCC and
\n his unwavering commitment to empowering unhoused and low-income
\n students.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cEdgar\u2019s courageous leadership represents the very best of Long
\n Beach City College,\u201d said Uduak-Joe Ntuk, President of the Long
\n Beach Community College District Board of Trustees. \u201cHe turned
\n his own hardship into a powerful call to action, and his advocacy
\n is helping shape a more compassionate and responsive LBCC. We are
\n incredibly proud of Edgar and grateful for the positive change he
\n is creating for our student body.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cEdgar embodies the spirit of resilience and community that
\n defines LBCC,\u201d said Dr. Mike Mu\u00f1oz, LBCC
\n Superintendent-President. \u201cHis leadership has helped elevate the
\n needs of our most vulnerable students and has pushed us to
\n continually improve our support systems. We applaud Edgar for
\n this well-deserved national recognition, and we thank him for
\n reminding us what courage looks like in action.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n After becoming homeless in 2023, Edgar, a 40-year-old student at
\n Long Beach City College, founded\u00a0Voz, a student
\n group that amplifies the voices of unhoused and low-income
\n students at the college. His leadership helped destigmatize
\n homelessness on campus and encouraged the college to strengthen
\n its support systems and to take more compassionate, practical
\n action toward addressing student housing insecurity, including
\n through safe-parking and basic needs programs.\n<\/p>\n

\n The Courage Project\u2019s \u201cpay it forward\u201d model allows honorees to
\n designate a nonprofit aligned with their values. Rosales selected
\n the Long Beach City College Foundation to receive the $25,000
\n award on his behalf. The donation will help support ongoing basic
\n needs programs, emergency aid, and student success initiatives
\n across LBCC.\n<\/p>\n

\n Launched in May 2025 with an initial $5 million commitment, The
\n Courage Project\u2019s awards are announced throughout the year in
\n alignment with moments of civic reflection\u2014including
\n commemorative dates, cultural observances, and milestones that
\n reflect the values at the heart of the project. The awards range
\n from $10,000 to $50,000 and are distributed to organizations and
\n individuals who are exhibiting acts of courage and compassion in
\n their communities by standing up for what they believe in,
\n helping their neighbors, and building bridges across communities.\n<\/p>\n

\n The Courage Project is a collaborative, nonpartisan initiative
\n supported by partners including CFLeads, the Freedom Together
\n Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, the John D. and
\n Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation,
\n the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, Pisces
\n Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, The Skillman
\n Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation.\n<\/p>\n

\n The Courage Project accepts public nominations on a rolling
\n basis. To learn more about The Courage Project, learn more about
\n the awardees, or nominate a courageous individual or
\n organization, visit\u00a0www.thecourageproject.org<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n MEDIA CONTACT:\n<\/p>\n

\n Steph Derstine
The Courage Project
steph.derstine@berlinrosen.com<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n About Long Beach City College
Long Beach City College
\n consists of two campuses with an enrollment of over 35,000
\n students each semester and serves the cities of Long Beach,
\n Lakewood, Signal Hill, and Avalon. LBCC promotes equitable
\n student learning and achievement, academic excellence, and
\n workforce development by delivering high quality educational
\n programs and support services to our diverse communities. Visit
\n www.LBCC.edu<\/a> for more information
\n about Long Beach City College.\n<\/p>\n

\n MEDIA CONTACT\n<\/p>\n

Stacey Toda,
Director of Communications & Community Engagement
Long Beach City College
stoda@lbcc.edu<\/a>
(562) 938-4004<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONG BEACH, CA\u00a0\u2013 Long Beach City College (LBCC) student, Edgar Rosales, has been selected as a 2025 honoree…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-88275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88275","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=88275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}