An Equity Avenger Continues to Advocate for Social Justice

When it comes to equity in higher education, Dr. Tammeil Gilkerson has been a leader. Her work around students’ basic needs, supporting undocumented and mixed-status students, and achieving social justice through focused racial equity efforts has made her a rising star in community college leadership.

It is no surprise then that Gilkerson, who was appointed chancellor of the Peralta Community College District (PCCD) earlier this year, has been part of The Equity Avengers, an initiative started by Dr. Keith Curry, president of Compton Community College, and Dr. Pam Luster, President Emerita of San Diego Mesa College, focused on creating an equitable higher education landscape and increasing access for those historically marginalized by academia.

Dr. Tammeil Gilkerson“I call Oakland my home, and my roots run deep in the East Bay. These communities, our communities, hold immense significance for me,” Gilkerson said at the time of her appointment. “Within Peralta, I see a wealth of brilliance and remarkable progress happening at the colleges and across the district. I’m eager to play a role in enhancing a multitude of outstanding programs and services, all guided by a commitment to equity and social justice.”

In her new role leading Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College, and Merritt College in northern Alameda County, she will continue to focus on that.

“The mission of this district is really rooted in equity and social justice,” says Gilkerson, whose previous leadership stints included serving as president of Evergreen Valley College and Laney College.

Gilkerson also served as vice president of academic and student affairs at Contra Costa College and was the inaugural diversity, inclusion, and innovation officer for the Contra Costa Community College District. She began as a professor of psychology counseling at Chabot College. She helped lead as vice president of academic affairs at San José City College and dean of Counseling and Matriculation at Evergreen Valley College.

The 60-year-old Peralta Community College District now overwhelmingly serves a large percentage of underrepresented students; many are first-generation college students. Most of the students in her district are Latinx, followed by Asian and Black students.

Gilkerson has been laser-focused on building multiracial coalitions across the district to support the students. She says institutions have a responsibility to serve their surrounding communities and forge strategic partnerships that help to enhance residents’ overall quality of life.

“I’m very passionate about looking at the correlation between basic needs and our ability to support students through their educational goals,” says Gilkerson, adding that the Oakland and Bay area where the district is headquartered, has long been expensive, leaving many students struggling over how to pay for a college education. “The gap between the haves and the have-nots continue to increase, and folks are really struggling. So, we need to change our system to meet the reality for students.”

There are challenges for sure, says Gilkerson, who was a student leader at University of California Berkley. But she says she is excited to reimagine the possibilities around collaboration at the colleges within her district. Since taking the chancellor’s role, she has been a vociferous cheerleader for the colleges in the district, spending face time on campuses to celebrate their successes and to pledge her support.

During the 50th Anniversary of Berkeley City College in April, Gilkerson arrived on campus to celebrate the groundbreaking on the new Berkeley City College West Campus.

“Fifty years of providing, you know, equitable pathways for students, our community to go on right to earn a degree or certificate or go on to a four-year college or university,” she told those who gathered at the block party celebration. “I mean, it’s been incredible.”

Her call to action is guided by the desire to help meet the holistic needs of students.

“She left a legacy of collaboration and collegiality while focusing on student success at Laney College, and we are very much looking forward to her bringing that legacy and focus back home to Oakland,” says Dyana Delfín Polk, president of the PCCD Board of Trustees.

Gilkerson says she is humbled.

“I just feel a huge weight and responsibility,” she says. “I feel the privilege and the nervousness, but it’s good.”