News

Sadly, we are writing about another senseless act of violence. We have been learning about what appears to be a targeted horrific mass shooting that occurred on Saturday evening in Monterey Park that killed 10 people and injured 10 others. In addition, authorities are also investigating another incident in neighboring Alhambra, where thankfully no shooting occurred.

IVC’s Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Club hosted an “Inclusion and Equity Through Art” event in the SSC quad on December 7 as part of the club’s service project. The event offered a variety of creative outlets such as chalk art, canvas painting, and rock art for students to express challenging experiences, particularly microaggressions. The project team selected the theme of the event to support IVC’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) efforts which is part of the college’s mission.

For Minoush Nikham, engineering isn’t just a career, it’s her passion. And when it comes to getting an education, she says her experience at IVC is the cornerstone for her accomplishments thus far. 

“At IVC, I learned I could do it,” states the proud engineer. 

Before enrolling at IVC, Nikham began her engineering journey at another local community college. Expecting to launch into an unstoppable career, she quickly found the college wasn't a good fit.

After two and a half years of giving speeches virtually, the IVC Speech Team was finally able to return to in-person competition this semester. IVC Speech dominated their competition by taking home a total of 37 awards. The awards ranged from events such as NPDA (team) debate, IPDA (individual) debate, impromptu speaking, informative and persuasive speaking. 

IVC Electrical Technology Professor Massimo Mitolo ranks in the top two percent of the most-cited scientists in the world, according to a list published by Stanford University. The updated list for "science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators" was published last month.

After a three-year hiatus, IVC’s Model United Nations (MUN) team returned to the National Model United Nations Conference in Washington, D.C. While having one of the smallest delegations in the college’s MUN history, IVC won the top team award “Outstanding Delegation,” three position paper awards, and one best delegate award.

The implementation of the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program is under development at IVC, estimated to launch in Spring 2023. MESA is a college and career prep program, created to increase the number of economically and educationally disadvantaged students that achieve academic and career success in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

Congratulations to Director of Technology Services Nick Wilkening for being named IVC’s 2022 Manager of the Year! Nick, who recently returned from deployment with the US Air Force Reserve, was instrumental in assisting the college with technology needs during the COVID pandemic.

After nearly 40 years of quality career education, there are enough Irvine Valley College success stories to fill a book. And while these passion-to-paycheck tales tend to share certain plot elements: a Laser-focused determination, an independent spirit… they don’t always start out on the same page.