Oct 21, 2024 Ventura County NAACP recognizes CSUCI President Richard Yao with community empowerment award

Oct. 21, 2024 - The Ventura County NAACP recently presented CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) President Richard Yao with their Community Empowerment Corporate Award in recognition of his commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and more.

Yao accepted the award on behalf of the campus at the local NAACP's Annual Freedom Fund Award Banquet, held on Oct. 12.

"This is especially meaningful to me in relation to what I've seen as the maturing of our campus' relationship with the Black community in our region," Yao said. "When I arrived at CSUCI in 2018, this relationship seemed to be forged through the impressive contributions of a few individuals on our campus rather than through authentic connection and collaborations by the University as a whole. In recent years, we've been intentional in our efforts to strengthen this relationship, ensuring that good things are not just happening in pockets, but are embedded throughout the University."

NAACP Ventura County Branch president Regina Hatcher-Crawford describes the banquet as more than a gathering, but a chance to celebrate the organization's accomplishments, and the individuals in the community who have shared and advanced the NAACP's values of justice, equality and positive change.

"We remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring political, educational, social and economic equality to for all," Hatcher-Crawford wrote as part of her President's Message in the program. "As we commemorate these significant milestones, we proudly celebrate who we are and the progress we have made together."

Yao credited the local NAACP with helping the University strengthen relationships with groups like the Pinkard Youth Institute, the Community Advocacy Coalition, and local churches, adding how honored campus members are to be seen as a partner to the Ventura County NAACP.

As CSUCI continues to build relationships with the Black community in the region, Yao talked about the concept of a "circle of care," which the University hopes to help provide for Black students who enroll at CSUCI. It was a concept explained to him by CSUCI Director of Major Gifts Carrick DeHart, who felt that circle of care in his community when he was growing up as a young Black man.

"This is the metaphor he offers all of us who care about the dreams, goals and challenges of Black youth in our region," Yao said. "Carrick describes the elders in the Black community here in Ventura County as that circle of care, holding fiercely onto one another's hands to keep it strong and whole, ensuring that it will not break when the challenges are many and the circle is stretched thin."

"It's an honor to be a link in that circle of care," Yao added. "We will strive every day to deserve our place in that circle."