Efforts to show support and raise success levels for Black and African American students were continued at El Camino College through a meet and greet event.

This event was held in conjunction with a statewide initiative known as Black Student Success Week.

The Black Student Success Peak week event held on Wednesday, April 27 in the East Dining Room above the bookstore was specifically tailored for the El Camino College community.

The organizer for the event, Keiana Daniel, is also the coordinator for the Black Student Success Center set to open on campus fall of this year. This was one of Daniel’s first on-campus events.

“The purpose of this event was an opportunity for students, black students specifically, to create a community with the different faculty, staff and managers on campus that are here to support them,” Daniel said.

While the Black Student Success Week is a statewide effort, Daniels stated that having an in-person event on campus was vital to show students that El Camino was serious about their education.

“We’re all about action and so this was an opportunity for those that say that they support Black students to show up and show their support,” Daniel said.

The event included a mix of both in-person and virtual speakers.

Black Student Union President Safy Tesfay, counselor Chris Hurd and Extended Opportunity Programs and Services Assistant Director Kristen Johnson all spoke at the event.

The in-person speakers were followed by a webinar panel titled “The Path to Transfer Success: A Clear Highway or Traffic Jam”.

The virtual conference was a part of the statewide Black Student Success week-long webinar series, “The Black Hour.”

The event included community-building activities, games and a free lunch that was provided to attendees.

Board of Trustees member Kenneth Brown was also in attendance at the event to show his support for Black Student Success Week.

“Hopefully, this is just the start of what is to come at El Camino with our Black Student Union and our African American faculty. So I wanted to say thank you and there is more coming soon,” Brown said.