By Brenda Verano
The John Delloro Transfer Program in Social Justice is a two-year transfer program intended to provide students academic guidance through their community college experiences.
The Delloro program was first founded by Eileen Le, a sociology professor, and Michael Colling, a history professor at ELAC.
Professor Raeanna Gleason, director of Delloro, witnessed the founding of this program first hand.
“The vision they first had, and that I have carried on, is that we wanted a program that would allow students to grow academically, while also thinking deeply about how to empower their communities and address social justice issues,” Gleason said. This directly ties into the social justice component of the Delloro program, a fundamental priority that emphasizes, not only in student academic greatness, but students personal achievement in the outside world, specifically in their communities.
The program is designed to have students transfer out of ELAC in only two years, terminating students’ fears of staying in community college for too long.
In previous years, 88 percent of their students have transferred to a four-year university in two years.
Once accepted into the Delloro Program, students begin with a cohort of socially-conscious individuals and complete the pre-planned program together.
Although students join a cohort community and are expected to finish the program together, each student is granted a personalized educational plan from a Delloro counselor each semester.
This helps them keep a comprehensive, tangible plan throughout their two years.
“I believe that a cohort learning community, where students take all their general education courses together, allows for the creation of strong bonds and support networks that help encourage students toward successful transfer,” Gleason said.
Delloro provides students with guaranteed enrollment in their particular general education courses.
General Ed Courses that, unlike many other, are relatively tied to social justice based curriculum, that not only helps students think critically but that also highlight a students personal identities.
Delloro’s mission for students to transfer to a four-year university is shown in various ways.
Additional resources the program provides consist of academic tutoring, close faculty-student relationships, transfer workshops and universities campus tours.
The guidance that Delloro provides goes beyond campus, extending to other part of students life. Citlalli Lopez, a current Delloro Program student, who is only one year away from transferring, said that the Delloro Program has been beneficial to her in various ways.
She described her academic experience before and after joining the Delloro Program.
“Being first generation (college student), I didn’t know what I was doing in college. (I) didn’t know what classes I had to take… our families want to support us, but they don’t really know how, and for me that’s where Delloro stepped in,” Lopez said.
Lopez is getting ready to transfer and said that Delloro has mentored her in various parts of her life.
“Thanks to Delloro, I was able to get a job on campus… coming from South Central and having barely graduated high school with a 1.9 GPA, I felt like I didn’t belong in college,” Lopez said.
“…Having Delloro’s support has really helped me keep pushing forward, and empowered me to create a space for myself in these institutions, and realize I belong here and have every right to be here.” The Delloro transfer program is now accepting applications for Fall 2019.
“We are looking for folks who are interested in being part of a two-year learning community cohort, who are interested in social justice and community empowerment,” Gleason said.
To qualify, students must be majoring in Sociology, English, Social Work, Ethnic Studies, Communications, History, Political Science, Art, Anthropology or Philosophy. They must also have completed English 28, be ready to enroll in English 101 in the fall and must currently have cumulative 3.0 GPA. If interested, students can apply at https:/www.elac.edu/academics/programs/JohnDelloro.htm, no later than June 19.