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The past year of the COVID-19 pandemic might feel like one of the most profound and exhausting years in a generation.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration announced a $749,810 CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to the University Corporation at Â鶹´å on Thursday, April 8. The grant will provide technical assistance to coronavirus-impacted small businesses and support the economic resiliency of the Â鶹´å region. It is expected to create 35 jobs, retain 200 jobs, and generate $3 million in private investment, a news release.

Â鶹´å’s Department of Education and Leadership and the Center for Black Student Success collaborated on an April 7 virtual panel discussion, Men of Color in Education, in an effort to encourage more men of color to consider going into the field of teaching and education.

The Santa Cruz-based GetVirtual project launched in the summer of 2020 to fortify small businesses from the economic toll of the pandemic shutdown. It has worked by partnering with colleges and universities like Â鶹´å.

The Pandemic Year changed everything: how we work, study, play, shop, travel, socialize. It changed how we touch and breathe. But with the widespread use of masks, observing of social distancing, and the increasing prevalence of COVID-19 vaccines, Â鶹´å — and the country — sees a return to normal in sight.

Â鶹´å has been awarded a grant for $1.4 million by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program. The Rural Integrated STEM Education Ready (RISE Ready) program cultivates STEM majors (science, technology, engineering, math) to become 6th - 12th grade science and math teachers in high-need and rural schools and school districts.

The Monterey County Unit of the National Association of Social Workers has honored Lynne White Dixon, clinical supervisor at Â鶹´å’s Personal Growth and Counseling Center, as 2021 Social Worker of the Year. The award presentation took place at an event on March 12 celebrating National Social Work Month.

Among four-year higher education systems in the country, the California State University system is the largest, is considered one of the best values, and nets enormous positive impact on people’s lives.

Armando Arias, a professor in the School of Social, Behavioral & Global Studies, has written a book titled Theorizing Cesar Chavez: New Ways of Knowing STEM. It received an honorable mention at the 2020 International Latino Book Awards.

Best known for founding United Farm Workers (UFW) with Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta has worked all her life advocating for social justice. She shared about her passion for equity and justice as well as her experiences as an activist in the Ignite! Social Justice keynote event hosted by the Otter Cross Cultural Center (OC3) and Otter Student Union (OSU) on March 12.