By Cynthia Hubert

June 14, 2024

Sacramento State is aligning with community colleges to create a seamless pathway for students to transfer into its new Black Honors College (BHC).

At a June 13 ceremony that was part of the CSU’s Juneteenth Symposium, representatives of 16 community colleges signed memorandums of agreement (MOA) signaling their partnership with the University and the BHC, an event administrators called “a momentous occasion.” More community colleges are expected to join the initiative in the coming months.

The BHC will welcome its first cohort of transfer students in the Spring 2025 semester.

The MOAs “are a first step in longer-term formalized partnerships,” said Jenni Murphy, interim vice president of Enrollment and Engagement for Sac State.

“Our work to help our Black students cannot just be performative. It has to be meaningful. It has to be work that changes lives. This is the real deal, and I’m extremely excited about it.” -- Albert Garcia, Sacramento City College president

Interested students can apply beginning Aug. 1. Eligible students who have earned at least a 3.8 GPA from partnering community colleges will receive guaranteed admission to Sac State and the BHC. The University will work with individual colleges to support students in activities such as faculty exchanges, special lectures and other opportunities.

Community college transfers, many of whom are people of color and have low incomes, represent “some of the best students we have,” Sac State President Luke Wood said. “We want to have the largest transfer population in the state.”

Sacramento City College President Albert Garcia said the initiative was especially meaningful for his institution.

“Sac State had its beginnings on Freeport Boulevard,” Garcia said, referring to the University’s first few years housed at Sac City, which is on Freeport. “It’s so wonderful to have our colleges connected in this way.

“Our work to help our Black students cannot just be performative. It has to be meaningful. It has to be work that changes lives. This is the real deal, and I’m extremely excited about it.”

The BHC, touted as the first institution of its kind in the country, is designed for students from all backgrounds who are interested in Black history and culture. The college will offer high-achieving students of all majors a comprehensive curriculum focusing on the Black and African American experience.

Sac State enrolls more Black students than any of the other 22 universities in the CSU system. The California Assembly recently recognized the University as the state’s first Black-Serving Institution, and the CSU designated Sac State as headquarters for its Statewide Central Office for the Advancement of Black Excellence.

“Too often, students from California want to go out of state for college because they believe that public education in California is failing them,” said Aniesha Mitchell, the University’s vice president for Student Affairs.

“Unlike anything else in the state, the Black Honors College is specifically designed to meet the needs and aspirations of Black students,” she said. “We are intentionally cultivating the courageous leaders of tomorrow.”

Elijah Martin, a transfer student who earned his undergraduate degree at Sac State in 2022 and now is pursuing a graduate degree, said he would have welcomed the opportunity to be a BHC student.

“Transitioning from a community college can be isolating,” said Martin, now a BHC recruiter. “You can lose that sense of belonging. I wish I would have had the Black Honors College.”.

Wood shook hands with each of the community college representatives who attended the June 13 signing ceremony and made them a powerful promise.

“We plan on being the best partners you’ve ever had in supporting your students on our campus,” he said.

“When you send your students to us, we take that seriously,” Wood said. “We will make sure that they have everything that they need to walk across that stage at graduation.”