On Tuesday, the Board of Trustees voted to acknowledge and amplify three historically underrepresented groups in the renaming of the North, South, and West campus forums, which have historically not had given names.

The push to rename the classroom spaces comes from the Black Faculty Taskforce, the Chicanx Latinx Faculty Taskforce, and the Faculty Caucus for Asian Pacific Equity in conjunction with the Asian Pacific Islander American Staff Association.

The three task forces have agreed that a starting point in making the campus a more welcoming area is by renaming the forums in honor of the underrepresented groups that Delta has neglected to acknowledge for so long. 

“The college is predominately people of color; Hispanic students make up 50 percent of the student population. And yet, there are no buildings named after Hispanic community members.” said Professor Mario Moreno, who is a member of the Chicanx Latix Faculty at Delta.

The groups led movements for the renaming, which included presentations to the campus Heritage Committee on Sept. 19.

 The Asian Pacific Islander American Staff Association (APIASA) and the Faculty Caucus for Asian Pacific Equity (FCAPE) worked to rename the West Forum to the Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon Forum to honor the Delta alumni and advocate for the Little Manila Historic Site in Stockton who died in 2018. The Black Faculty Task Force (BFTF) worked to rename the North Forum to the Tony Fitch Forum. Fitch worked as a counselor at Delta for 45 years and received Martin Luther King Jr.  Humanitarian award for his service. The Chicanx Latinx Faculty Taskforce (CLF) chose to rename the South Forum to the Campesino Forum, in honor of the campesino workers who are underrepresented in the history of California.

The support for the renaming has been active for some time.

“The student government has been overwhelmingly supportive of this change. Both the Spring 22’ semester and this semester, the elected officials of the Associated Students of Delta College have unanimously supported the renaming of all three forums.” said Moreno in an interview.

Talks about renaming the forums have been going on since at least a semester ago, and the petition to rename the West Forum in honor of Mabalon was submitted March 1st of this year. The renaming of the West Forum had been halted due to the Heritage Committee “needing more time with their constituents.” 

For the South Forum renaming process, the issue appeared to be an issue of wording. AP 6620, the code that determines the guidelines for the naming of college buildings, states that a building can be named after an individual or individuals of importance to the college or community. Campesinos, which is a general term for a group of people, does not easily fall under the guidelines. 

Despite the hurdles, all three forums will be renamed to the new names the faculty task forces worked tirelessly to achieve. 

Dr. Lisa Aguilera Lawerson, president/superintendent of Delta College, voiced her support for the renaming of the Campesino forum in particular, stating: “A sense of belonging is indicative of student success.”