UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships and Pasadena City College Celebrate 10 years of partnership: A Transformative Partnership built to Last

Earlier this month, students, alumni, public officials and university leadership gathered at Pasadena City College’s Westerbeck Recital Hall to commemorate a decade of formal partnership between Pasadena City College (PCC) and the UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships (CCCP).

Together, PCC and UCLA support students throughout their transfer journey to four-year universities while strengthening the institutional relationships and transfer culture that make those pathways possible. CCCP guides community college students through the UCLA transfer process with application support, personalized advising, and summer transition programs. At some partner colleges, including PCC, a dedicated CCCP program coordinator supports prospective transfers with their questions and helps connect students with transfer opportunities and resources.

Related story: Helping transfer students close the higher education gap for 25 years

The event included remarks from José A. Gomez, president of PCC and Jonli Tunstall, Associate Vice Provost for Student Diversity and Director of the Academic Advancement Program. Public officials including Assemblymember John Haranedian, Councilmember Jason Lyon, and Congresswoman Judy Chu also shared remarks and presented certificates of recognition to PCC and the UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships in recognition of their decade-long partnership and its impact on students.

“Over the past ten years, PCC and UCLA have built more than a partnership, we have built trust, shared knowledge, and a lasting commitment to what is possible for community college students,” said Claudia Salcedo, Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Partnerships at UCLA and Director of CCCP. “The impact of this work extends beyond the students who transfer to UCLA. It strengthens the transfer culture, creates opportunities for families and communities, and shows what is possible when institutions remain committed to showing up for students together.”

Related story: Hear from CCCP alum about their experiences with the program

Alumni voices were also featured at the celebratory event, including Yazmin Gonzalez, a double Bruin who graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s in Latin American studies in 2016 and a master’s in the same field in 2017, and Tristin Fowler, who graduated from UCLA in 2023 with degrees in history and African American studies.

Gonzalez’s keynote reflected the deeply personal impact of the PCC-CCCP partnership and the community that surrounded her throughout her transfer journey. “What transformed me was not any one of these experiences in isolation” Gonzalez said. “It was their convergence. Faculty challenged me intellectually. Peer mentors showed me what was possible. Counselors and staff helped me navigate systems I did not yet understand. And a community recognized something in me that I had not yet fully recognized in myself.

“Together, PCC and CCCP created an ecosystem in which my circumstances did not determine the boundaries of my potential. I found my voice at PCC. I found myself at UCLA. And through CCCP, I found my purpose.”

View a gallery from the event below.