Bianka Sanchez is studying philosophy at San Diego City College. Twice a week, the 19-year-old takes an astronomy course in the school’s planetarium.
“It's the part of my day that I look forward to on my Tuesdays and Thursdays,” she said.
City College’s planetarium opened in 2014. Professor Lisa Will taught the first astronomy lecture there that spring.
“What I remember the most from that day was, a student said, ‘It's good to see City College finally getting what it deserves,’” Will said. “I think what that student meant was, really, it's good to see the City College students finally get what they deserve. They deserve the best equipment. They deserve a room that excites them, that makes them want to come to class.”
More than a decade later, it’s no longer the best equipment. The computers haven’t been upgraded. One of the projectors takes 25 minutes to warm up, Will said.
“They don't manufacture these projectors anymore,” she said. “Every time I boot it up, I'm kind of worried that this will be the day that it doesn't.”
Will knows just how good the planetarium could be. She’s also the resident astronomer at the Fleet Science Center, which uses software called Digistar. There, she can easily access data from agencies around the world, like NASA and the European Space Agency.
Having the Digistar software at City College would also allow her to show constellations beyond the 88 the International Astronomical Union officially recognizes, like the Kumeyaay constellations or the Chinese calendar.
“There are beautiful stories to tell across different cultures,” Will said. “When I show them the constellations, I try to include that. But the constellations that we're showing have the 88 stories that are connected to the constellations that professional astronomers use.”
That kind of cultural relevance is something City College has been working to incorporate throughout its classes. Administrators realized the outdated software limited those efforts.
They got permission from the U.S. Department of Education to spend some Title III grant funding focused on Latino and low-income students in STEM on the planetarium. Over the last four years, they’ve also spent that funding on tutoring, counseling services, faculty development and research opportunities for students.
Improving the planetarium aligns with the mission to make science education more accessible, said Claudia Diaz-Carrasco, dean of inclusion, diversity, equity, anti-racism, accessibility and sustainability.
“The reality is that a lot of our students don’t have the ability to go into the field or do field trips in the K-12 system,” she said. “Here at the City College, we are really lucky that our faculty and our dean envisioned to have a space that could provide hands-on learning without leaving campus.”
In February, the San Diego Community College District’s board of trustees voted to spend more than $400,000 from that Department of Education grant on the planetarium.
“Given that the Yo Soy STEM federal funds may be frozen in the near future due to closure of programs that support DEIA initiatives, we are in a position to encumber and spend the funds as expeditiously as possible,” the agenda item read.
Diaz Carrasco said the funding for the upgrades is secure.
“Our particular grant is meant to support low-income, Hispanic or Latino students,” she said. “We haven't received any legislative action that says that that mission is going to change.”
Will said it’s important for federal funding to support resources like the planetarium. She said much of the data planetariums use come from taxpayer-funded agencies like NASA.
“I think sometimes the general public hears of these datasets or these missions and they don't feel a connection to them,” she said. “But they are owed the right to witness them, they’re owed the right to see that data, because they paid for it and it’s theirs.”
She expects the new equipment to be installed this fall.
Fall 2025 will mark the last year in a five-year Title III grant for City College. Diaz Carrasco said it’s been transformative for students.
“They are transferring to four-year institutions, they are being recognized in national conferences,” she said. “We want to continue to do that type of work regardless of who funds it.”
She said administrators will apply for other grants, like those available through Title V. The Department of Education website says a Title V grant competition is “contingent on the administration's priorities and the congressional appropriation” for the Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program.
