Yuba College’s Window to the Outside World

Crossing Borders, Building Bridges serves to inform Yuba College students about diverse cultures, religions, and other issues of significance that are not common knowledge to most people despite their closeness to them. For fourteen years Neelam Canto-Lugo has run the Crossing Borders, Building Bridges events at Yuba College with the goal being to expose students to other world views that they otherwise might have to travel to learn about. Lori Arney, Canto-Lugo’s assistant, who started helping with the events after coming to see them as a student herself, said that humans like to stereotype. These events seek to inform people on many topics so they can learn the reality for themselves. However, Crossing Borders, Building Bridges does more than just inform it seeks to actually help when it can. The series held a fundraiser for Haiti earthquake victims two years ago and six years ago held a fundraiser titled “Operation Shoebox” that sent materials to soldiers in Iraq. Though the series allows for special cases such as these, Crossing Borders, Building Bridges does normally follow a certain pattern giving presentations that coincide with national events, celebrations, special months etc. Following this rule the series began the Fall 2011 semester with a presentation on Ramadan just after the Islamic holy month ended. Future presentations planned to match up with outside events include a presentation on the Mexican Day of the Dead and the Indian Festival of Lights. In some presentations such as the semi annual Japanese American Internment event, the local community plays a large part in the process.  This is an example of how something can be very much present in the local community and yet relatively unknown by al those not directly related. This fall semester two more events were held in September. On September 15th “My Sisters House”, an organization that helps victimized women gave a presentation on sex trafficking in room 724 at 12 noon. This is the standard room and time for the majority of these events. Then on September 22nd a film tittled “Out of Cordoba” was shown at 7pm at the Yuba College theatre. The film showed the relations of the Jews and Muslims in Spain and took on the issues of different religious cultures interacting. These events were the first of a series that seeks to accomplish a common goal. This September concludes with a presentation on suicide awareness on the 29th at the standard time and place. This also ties in to the overarching goal of the events. When Neelam Canto-Lugo was asked if it was important to connect college with the outside world she said “absolutely”. That is the purpose of Crossing Borders, Building Bridges.