For students navigating immigration fears, identity-based discrimination or other instability, getting help can begin with a simple but difficult question: Where do I go first?
At Delta College, that question is part of what S.P.A.R.K. — Student Protection for Advocacy, Resources and Knowledge — was created to address. Established in February 2025, the cross-campus initiative brings together faculty, staff and administrators to better coordinate support for vulnerable student populations through advocacy, education and resource-sharing.
According to the project charter, its goals include creating a rapid response network, defining safe campus spaces, increasing visible support online and on campus, hosting town halls and providing professional development.
But the problem SPARK is trying to solve is not just a lack of services. It is also the challenge of navigating them.
“Students are already carrying so much fear, stress, sometimes trauma and then we ask them to navigate multiple offices, retell their story over and over and figure out systems that were not designed with them in mind,” said Tina Leal, coordinator of Delta’s Dreamers Success Center and a SPARK member.
For undocumented students and students from mixed-status families — households in which relatives may have different immigration or citizenship statuses — Leal said trust and safety are often major barriers to seeking help, even when resources exist.
She said SPARK has the potential to “connect the dots” across campus by making support systems feel more coordinated.
“I see SPARK as an opportunity to connect the dots across campus,” Leal said. “We already have strong support systems, but they can feel siloed.”
That emphasis on coordination is also how the college describes the initiative. Director of Marketing and Communications Alex Breitler said SPARK was established to bring together a broad cross-section of the campus community and create a more intentional approach to supporting students.
While Delta has long offered support for immigrant students, LGBTQ+ students and other historically underserved groups, Breitler said SPARK is meant to align those efforts and make them more responsive.
Some of that work has already taken visible forms. Breitler pointed to expanded resource materials online and on campus, a dedicated resource hub for immigrant and undocumented students and multilingual “Know Your Rights” materials.
In a fall 2025 presentation, SPARK members also described workshops tied to rights education, allyship and peaceful protest. One event, “Posters with Purpose,” brought students together ahead of a local “No Kings Day” protest not only to make signs, but also to learn how to protest peacefully and stay safe before, during and after demonstrations. Speakers also highlighted outreach through social media, referrals across centers such as the Dreamers Success Center and Pride Center, and a SPARK podcast hosted through Delta’s digital media platform.
SPARK members themselves have framed the initiative as more than a committee. In that same presentation, faculty and staff involved in the effort described it as a collective grounded in both lived experience and advocacy.
Adriana Brogger, a Digital Media professor and co-chair of the Chicanx/Latinx Faculty Task Force, said the effort is about making sure district policies, practices and resources are aligned with an equity-driven approach.
“Education at San Joaquin Delta College means education for all,” she said.
The initiative also exists within a broader equity landscape at Delta. The college’s 2025-28 Student Equity Plan shows inequities across major stages of student success, from successful enrollment to persistence, completion of transfer-level math and English, degree completion and transfer.
Black students were identified as disproportionately impacted in multiple categories, while first-generation, Hispanic, LGBT and male students also appeared across the plan’s equity gaps. In reflecting on those disparities, the plan says the causes include limited access to academic and financial support, underrepresentation in decision-making and campus climate — whether students feel safe, welcomed and supported.
It says Delta has responded by expanding programs such as the Dreamer Success Center for undocumented and mixed-status students, Puente for culturally responsive transfer support, Umoja for Black student success, EPIC for Asian American and Pacific Islander student support, and Pride Scholars for LGBTQ+ students.
The plan also points to greater use of disaggregated data — student outcomes broken down by group — and equity-focused professional development for faculty and staff.
For Leal, SPARK’s value lies in whether students experience support differently in practice.
“Meaningful implementation would look like less barriers and more flow,” she said. “Students would come in once, share their needs, and be supported through a coordinated system without having to repeat themselves.”
Her concern, she said, is that even a strong framework can fall short if it does not fully reach the students it was created for.
“If we’re not intentional, the same students who already struggle to access services may still be left out,” Leal said. “Trust is everything. Without that, even the best systems won’t be utilized.”
