One of Fresno City College’s newer classes, Grassroots Democracy (POLS-17), has begun its third fall semester in the Old Administration Building. This course offers both applied and theoretical training for students of social justice.

Professor Nick Hernandez teaches the class, but he emphasized the independent aspect of the course. 

“There’s a lot of student autonomy. It is 100% student-led, meaning that students are responsible for identifying the issue that they want to address,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez believes this course gives students more agency and room for collaboration with others on campus. The class focuses on community issues that directly impact students. Campaigning is one way students work towards change. 

“It can be really powerful for students, instead of relying on some of these other more powerful institutions, to find solutions,” Hernandez said. 

Within the class, communication is key. Students work together in pairs or groups to tackle problems in their community. Discussion is encouraged to share new ideas.

“The benefit of the class is you get students from different backgrounds to participate in it, because they bring with them such diverse perspectives,” Hernandez said.

Students Natali Silva Aguilera and Grey Fletcher voiced their excitement for the semester, while another student, Jamie Ruiz-Hernandez, expressed fatigue over the course load. 

“To be honest, [I’m] exhausted. There’s a lot going on. I’m not used to classes going at it very quick,” Ruiz-Hernandez said. “I like the challenge, though.”

Students were eager to tackle their chosen subjects despite potential obstacles. Aguilera explained that she’s excited to step in on her chosen topics, the environment and physical disabilities, citing them as important subjects to her personally.

“I’m pretty excited. I got to learn a lot about how we’re gonna be going through the process of getting to know people and getting to try to solve the problem that other people have,” Aguilera said. 

Fletcher shared their passion for aiding the homeless by spreading awareness of limited food and water resources. To better support their community, Fletcher hopes to gain more confidence throughout the semester. 

“Unless you’ve ever really been homeless, you wouldn’t understand how difficult it is to actually access food and water, and how many people discriminate against homeless people,” Fletcher said. 

Placing his studies in mental health and gender-based violence, Ruiz-Hernandez seeks knowledge from the class to help people involved. Though Ruiz-Hernandez holds a passion for many social issues, he specified the importance of awareness in his chosen topics. 

“Violence against women, I think that’s something people really need to grasp the concept on, because it’s still going on everywhere,” Ruiz-Hernandez said. “Also, a focus on sociopathy and narcissism. People don’t seem to really get the undercurrent behind it in our politics or in our daily lives.” 

Students are expected to begin work on their projects in the coming weeks. 

“Some projects may fail, and that’s okay. Some deadlines aren’t met and that’s okay, as long as they’re picking up those skills, working towards a goal and learning something about an issue,” Hernandez said.