Celebrating the Women of 4CD

In honor of International Women’s Day, we’re looking back on how women have shaped our history.

Each March, the world celebrates International Women’s Day, a time when we honor the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women – and recommit to gender equity and inclusion. That includes the countless ways that women have shaped 4CD throughout its 75-year history.

Women have been integral to 4CD from the beginning. Many women joined the workforce during the Second World War to support the military effort, including many at the Kaiser Shipyards. Afterward, some took advantage of the G.I. Bill to enroll in what became CCC and DVC at a time when higher education was dominated by men.

Yet, it took a few decades before our colleges built programs that specifically addressed the concerns and perspectives of women. By 1970, students could take courses in women’s studies. A few years later, a new Women’s Reentry Program focused on supporting stay-at-home mothers who wished to attend college while their children were at school. A Women’s Center brought together these programs and created opportunities for networking and support.

As the number of women faculty and staff members increased, it became apparent that the administration ranks did not fully represent the diversity of 4CD employees and students. In June 1984, Dr. Phyllis Peterson and Dr. D. Candy Rose broke through the glass ceiling and became the first women to serve as president of 4CD colleges — Dr. Peterson at DVC and Dr. Rose at CCC. Women also played critical roles in ensuring effective leadership in other ways, including three women holding long tenures as chancellor’s and superintendent’s secretaries: Isabel Sargeant, Doris Peck, and Jean Courtney.

Today, the majority of 4CD students are women. With online options, working parents of all genders enjoy new ways to juggle work, education, and family life. Women’s and gender studies classes are well established, and women are represented across a variety of faculty and staff roles.

As 4CD celebrates 75 years, we are led by Chancellor Mojdeh Mehdizadeh, and for the first time, 4CD’s chancellor and three college presidents are all women. As a DVC student, Ms. Mehdizadeh was inspired by Dr. Helen Benjamin, the first female Chancellor at 4CD, demonstrating the power of women role models.

Throughout our administration, faculty, and staff, women are well represented. While we are proud to mark progress, our work is far from done, and we continue to strive for greater inclusion — standing on the shoulders of the giants who paved the path.

• Home
• Press Release
• Welcome to 4CD’s 75th anniversary!
• Mojdeh Mehdizadeh - Coming Full Circle
• Bringing the World to 4CD
• Celebrating the Women of 4CD
• John Marquez’s 55+ Years of Building a Stronger 4CD
• 75th Anniversary Boards
• Sharing Memories - Contra Costa Community College District 1948–2008, a collection of stories edited by Bill Harlan