Foreword

Dear Merced College Colleagues, I have often said that as a community college, one of the things we’re most proud of at Merced College is the way we respond to the needs of our community. Nowhere is that more apparent than at our downtown Business Resource Center (BRC), which is home to many programs that directly benefit our community, such as:

• workforce training, which provides incredible value to local businesses and organizations by helping their employees grow their skills and abilities in leadership, customer service, conflict resolution, and more;
• adult education, which provides timely and robust certificate programs that help local residents find good-paying jobs in fields like medical assisting that are highly in-demand; and
• noncredit education, which provides learning and enrichment to improve the lives of community members in a wide variety of ways.

The programs housed at the BRC provide countless opportunities for thousands of students every year. The success of those programs, and those students, is so great that it’s easy to forget the BRC did not even exist only a couple of decades ago. It was the leadership of Dr. Ben Duran, then president of Merced College, that led to the creation of the BRC in 2008. Among the many major accomplishments in Dr. Duran’s 14 years as president, the establishment of the BRC might be the most meaningful, because of the impact it has had on students as well as our college’s relationships with the local community. When it came time to commemorate Dr. Duran’s legacy of leadership at Merced College, the BRC was a perfect fit. And so in December, our Board of Trustees voted to rename the building the Dr. Benjamin T. Duran Business Resource Center. During the board meeting, we heard from a long line of community supporters and former colleagues who enthusiastically sung the praises of Dr. Duran and his remarkable tenure at Merced College. The new name will be unveiled — and Dr. Duran and his wife, Dr. RoseMary Parga Duran, will be honored — at the annual State of the College event to be held at the BRC in April. In the meantime, please enjoy this issue of the Blue Devil’s Advocate, which highlights the great programs and people currently serving our community through the programs at the BRC. This is an incredibly important element of our mission at Merced College, and we are so proud of the work they do every day to support our community and our students. Sincerely,