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“Bracing for Impact”: Students and Faculty Prepare for Impending Trump Policies Harry Britt (June 8, 1938–June 24, 2020) served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 1978, when Harvey Milk was assassinated, until 1993. Photo Illustration by John Adkins. Reference from photograph by Janet Fries.

Multi-Use Building Rebranded in Honor of Harry Britt By John R. Adkins jradproduction@gmail.com

he City College community will not forget the life and contributions of former San Francisco Supervisor and activist Harry Britt. On the morning of Feb. 14, employees of Integrated Sign Installations pried the gold letters from the building at 55 Frida Kahlo Way, discarding the former title of Multi-Use Building, and effectively renaming the structure to Harry Britt Building. The Harry Britt Building, formerly MUB, is most noted for being the meeting place of Trustees. As the work of local politicians is so intricately tied to the politics of City College, so is Britt’s legacy tied

to the many Trustees who championed his values on the college’s oversight board. On Dec. 7, 2023, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the proposal to rename the City College building in honor of the former supervisor. Discussions about the renaming began shortly after Britt’s passing on June 24, 2020. Nearly five years later, that idea has finally been realized. Former Chancellor David Martin said in 2023 that this was the college’s first opportunity to implement its process of renaming a building. However, this aligns with City College’s tradition of honoring artists, civil rights activists and members of the LGBTQ community. In 2018, the City College community voted to rename Phelan Avenue after bisexual Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

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fter traveling 2,500 miles up from Veracruz, Mexico, El Rey still had one last journey to make. Only this time, the move was across the street. On Friday, Feb. 21, the 9-foot-high, 14-ton replica of the ancient Olmec head was relocated to a small concrete pad to the left of the new STEAM building. There, it is featured more prominently for the campus community and can be

easily admired by the passing traffic on Frida Kahlo Way. Its new home was also selected due to its close proximity to where the Diego Rivera mural will be relocated. The giant Olmec head, “El Rey,” was carved by renowned Mexican sculptor Maestro Ignacio Perez Solano. It is a reproduction of the original piece unearthed in San Lorenzo, Mexico, also known as San Lorenzo #1. Archeologists have speculated that the ancient Olmec head represents one of their rulers, hence the name El Rey,

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It was 6 a.m. on Valentine’s Day when Atthowe Fine Art Services—a company

aculty and students at City College are taking action to educate, organize and prepare for President Donald Trump’s policies being enforced across the United States that threaten immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities. On Jan. 23, the Board of Trustees adopted a resolution supporting undocumented and LGBTQ+ students at City College. Later in their discussion, Trustee Susan Solomon proposed an amendment to the resolution, calling for the chancellor’s assembly of a working group that included representatives from the groups working directly with the affected students, as well as the students themselves. Involved parties would include CityDREAM, the Queer Resource Center, Women’s Resource Center, Women’s Gender Studies, LGBT Studies, Family Resource Center and DSPS. “We needed some actual teeth and action in that resolution,” said Mary Bravewoman, president of the local teacher’s union AFT 2121, who stressed concern for Maria Rodriguez and Leticia Silva of CityDream during her president’s report at the Jan. 23 meeting. Both Rodriguez and Silva were absent from the meeting as they were driving fearful students home in response to a rumor of a federal immigration enforcement agent stepping onto a Muni bus and approaching a middle school student that afternoon. Cynthia Herrera Araúz, secretary of the Associated Students Council at Mission Campus, was in the CityDREAM office the day a student claimed to have seen the federal agents on the bus and returned in visible distress. “The student ran in here crying, she was so scared,” Araúz recalled. The mayor’s office and federal officials were able to conduct a review and later confirmed there was no federal immigration enforcement action on a Muni bus that day. The Participatory Governance Council came together for a meeting on Feb. 6. When Interim Chancellor Mitch Bailey came forward for the Chancellor’s report, he acknowledged the exhaustion and stress of the past two weeks, but emphasized his focus on “this little corner of the world,” and added that his focus would remain on said corner until his last day at the college. “I’m calling an advisory group together to advise me on how we continue to respond to, support and communicate with our broader community, particularly our undocumented students and our transgender students,” said Bailey. “I don’t want the conversation to get lost, as there are other populations who are under attack.” In response to a question about the privatization of spaces, Bailey mentioned a need for the proper language to formulate a “time, place and manner” policy at City College. The Cal State University system states the policy is a set of standards that allow for a university to “maintain an environment where its operations and work can be safely conducted without disruption in accordance with the highest standards of institutional integrity, and with recognition of the rights, privileges and responsibilities of university community members and members of the public.”

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City College is also the historic home of the first queer studies department in the United States. Britt was committed to carrying on the legacy of his predecessor and mentor, former supervisor Harvey Milk. Like Milk, Britt mentored countless activists and LGBTQ people running for public office, among them were members of the Board of Trustees and the greater City College community. Former Supervisor Tom Amiano and former Trustee Tim Wolfred, both close to Britt, proposed renaming a City College building before former Trustees Shannell Williams, Tom Temprano and Alex Randolph—all members of the LGBTQ community—introduced the resolution to begin the process on July 30, 2020. Multi-Use Building continued on page 2

Colossal Olmec Head Finds New Life Beside City College STEAM Building By John R. Adkins

By Kyra Young

which translates to “the King.” For the last 20 years, El Rey has lived on a concrete collar in a courtyard outside the old Diego River Theatre, between the Creative Arts Building and Judson Avenue.

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