Bay Area

Court Ruling Temporarily Blocks Mills College Merger with Northeastern University

Mills College began formal talks to merge with Northeastern in June. In March, the college had said “mounting financial challenges” meant it would most likely close after 2023.

Published

4 years ago

August 11, 2021

Isabelle Price

Photo courtesy of element5digital via unsplash

Mills College in Oakland has temporarily been blocked from moving forward with its plans to merge with Northeastern University in Boston after a trustee alleged the school was withholding information about the merger.

Mills College began formal talks to merge with Northeastern in June. In March, the college had said “mounting financial challenges” meant it would most likely close after 2023.

But under the pending agreement, it would remain open as Mills College at Northeastern University and become gender-inclusive for all students. Previously, Mills College’s undergraduate program was only open to women and nonbinary students.

That agreement was halted August 5 after an Alameda County Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order based on a motion by Tara Singh, a former member of the school’s board of trustees, and Viji Nakka-Cammauf, a current trustee and president of the Alumnae Association of Mills College.

In the motion, Nakka-Cammauf alleges that the college has withheld financial information and planning documents, among other information, that has kept her from performing her duties as a member of the board.

College President Elizabeth Hillman said in a statement that Nakka-Cammauf was given “more than ample” information about the potential partnership and the Board of Trustees as a group was confident in the amount of information it had received.

In July, the school administration offered Nakka-Cammauf the opportunity to review hard copies of the information on campus so long as she did not bring legal counsel or financial analysts with her or make copies of the documents without the school’s approval.

Nakka-Cammauf rejected the offer and petitioned the court to require the school to provide the documents in an accessible manner, a move that Hillman called an “unfortunate side-show engineered by the AAMC and its lawyers,” but Alexa Pagonas, vice president of the Alumnae Association of Mills College Board of Governors, said it was necessary to push the college for more transparency about its financial state.

The merger has been opposed by the Save Mills College Coalition, a group of students, faculty, staff, parents and alumnae founded after the initial March announcement that Mills College would likely close in 2023.

In a statement, the group said the merger would “certainly terminate Mills’ historic mission, character, and status as an independent women’s college.”

The coalition commissioned a report by Stefano Falconi with the consulting firm Berkeley Research Group that said assets such as Mill’s endowment, alumni support, valuable land and artistic and literary collections could be used to keep the college open without a merger.

In February 2020, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges’ Senior College and University Commission reaffirmed Mills College’s accreditation and commended their “significant strides” in identifying alternative sources of revenue such as land resources.

In its report, the commission states that the college’s auditors did not identify any significant issues and that the U.S. Department of Education has rated the school as “financially sound” for the past several years.

However, the commission also identified that Mills College had been incurring operating losses from fiscal years 2011 through 2018 due to decreasing enrollment and was operating on a significant deficit in its budget for fiscal year 2020. The report also notes that the school had not met several of its key initiatives in its 2017 Financial Stabilization Plan designed to balance the budget.

Despite this, the commission reported that “If the market continues to perform well, there are sufficient reserves to support operational deficits for several years” — a point the Save Mills College Coalition stresses in its argument to remain open without the merger.

“It is deeply disappointing that the AAMC claims surprise and seeks to assign blame for financial challenges that the College, and smaller liberal arts institutions like it all across the nation, have been facing — and publicly addressing — for many years,” Hillman said in a statement.

The court’s action stops Mills College from taking any action toward potential partnerships, including the merger with Northeastern University. However, the judge also did not immediately grant access to the information Nakka-Cammauf requested, instead setting an August 16 hearing on the motion.

A Board of Trustees vote on the merger previously scheduled for August 12 has also been canceled.

Isabelle Price

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Asm. Corey Jackson Proposes Safe Parking for Homeless College Students Sleeping in Cars

Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley), a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), is the author of AB 90, which would require community colleges and California State University campuses to create overnight parking programs where students can sleep safely in their vehicles. With one in four community college students in California experiencing homelessness in the past year, Jackson says the state must act urgently.

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April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Assemblymember Corey Jackson. File photo.

By Bo Tefu
California Black Media

As California’s housing crisis continues to impact students, new legislation, Assembly Bill (AB) 90, promises to allow college students without stable housing to sleep in their cars on campus, offering a stark but practical solution aimed at immediate relief.

“This just deals with the harsh realities that we find ourselves in,” he said at a recent hearing.

The bill passed its first committee vote and is gaining attention as housing affordability remains a top concern across the state. California rents are more than 30% above the national average, and long waitlists for student housing have left thousands in limbo. CSU reported more than 4,000 students on its housing waitlist last year.

Supporters stress that the bill is not a long-term solution, but a humane step toward helping students who have no other place to go. A successful pilot program at Long Beach City College has already shown that safe, supervised overnight parking can work, giving students access to restrooms, Wi-Fi, and a secure environment.

However, the CSU and community college systems oppose the bill, citing funding concerns. Critics also worry about safety and oversight. But Jackson and student advocates argue the crisis demands bold action.

“If we know students are already sleeping in their cars, why not help them do it safely?” said Ivan Hernandez, president of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges.

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Faces Around the Bay: Author Karen Lewis Took the ‘Detour to Straight Street’

“My life has been a roller-coaster with an unlimited ride wristband! I was raised in Berkeley during the time of Ron Dellums, the Black Panthers, and People’s Park. I was a Hippie kid, my Auntie cut off all our hair so we could wear the natural styles like her and Angela Davis.

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April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Karen Lewis. Courtesy photo.

By Barbara Fluhrer

I met Karen Lewis on a park bench in Berkeley. She wrote her story on the spot.

I got married young, then ended up getting divorced, raising two boys into men. After my divorce, I had a stroke that left me blind and paralyzed. I was homeless, lost in a fog with blurred vision.

Jesus healed me! I now have two beautiful grandkids. At 61, this age and this stage, I am finally free indeed. Our Lord Jesus Christ saved my soul. I now know how to be still. I lay at his feet. I surrender and just rest. My life and every step on my path have already been ordered. So, I have learned in this life…it’s nice to be nice. No stressing, just blessings. Pray for the best and deal with the rest.

Nobody is perfect, so forgive quickly and love easily!”

Lewis’ book “Detour to Straight Street” is available on Amazon.

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Barbara Lee Accepts Victory With “Responsibility, Humility and Love”

“I accept your choice with a deep sense of responsibility, humility, and love. Oakland is a deeply divided City,” Lee said in an April 19 statement. “I answered the call to run to unite our community, so that I can represent every voter, and we can all work together as One Oakland to solve our most pressing problems.”

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6 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Barbara Lee. File photo.

By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌,
California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

As a candidate for mayor, former U.S. Representative Barbara Lee released a “10-point plan” last week to reassure residents that she will tackle Oakland’s most pressing challenges.

Now that she has edged out her competitors in the ranked-choice special election with 50% or more of the vote, the former Congresswoman, who represented parts of the Bay Area in the U.S. House of Representatives, can put her vision in motion as the city’s first Black woman mayor.

On Saturday evening, Taylor conceded to Lee. There are still about 300 Vote-by-Mail ballots left to be verified, according to county election officials. The ballots will be processed on April 21 and April 22.

“This morning, I called Congresswoman Barbara Lee to congratulate her on becoming the next Mayor of Oakland,” Taylor said in a statement.

“I pray that Mayor-Elect Lee fulfills her commitment to unify Oakland by authentically engaging the 47% of Oaklanders who voted for me and who want pragmatic, results-driven leadership.”

The influential Oakland Post endorsed Lee’s campaign, commending her leadership on the local, state, and federal levels.

Paul Cobb, The Post’s publisher, told California Black Media that Lee will bring back “respect and accountability” to the mayor’s office.

“She is going to be a collegial leader drawing on the advice of community nonprofit organizations and those who have experience in dealing with various issues,” Cobb said. “She’s going to try to do a consensus-building thing among those who know the present problems that face the city.”

Born in El Paso, Texas, Lee’s family moved to California while she was in high school. At 20 years old, Lee divorced her husband after the birth of her first child. After the split, Lee went through a tough period, becoming homeless and having to apply for public assistance to make ends meet.

But destitution did not deter the young woman.

Lee groomed herself to become an activist and advocate in Oakland and committed to standing up for the most vulnerable citizens in her community.

Lee traveled to Washington, D.C. to work for then U.S. Congressman Ron Dellums after receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mills College in Oakland in 1973. Lee later won a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) fellowship to attend the School of Social Welfare, and she earned a Master of Social Work from the University of California-Berkeley in 1975.

Lee later served in the California State Assembly and State Senate before she was elected to Congress in 1998.

After serving in the U.S. Congress for more than 25 years, Lee ran unsuccessfully for California’s U.S. Senate in the 2024 primary election.

Lee joins current Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass and former San Francisco Mayor London Breed as Black women serving as chief executives of major cities in California over the last few years.