Honoring Golden Award Recipients

They are respected by their peers, cherished by their students, and embody the very best of San Diego City College. That’s why their passion and dedication were recognized in one of the most meaningful ways possible: with the 2025 Golden Awards voted upon by City College students.

This year’s honorees include Justin Akers and LeAnn Taylor, who received the Golden Apple Award for Ful-Time faculty; Edgar Henderson III, who earned the Golden Apple Award for Part-Time Faculty; Wendy Wang, recipient of the Golden Pillar Award for Administrators; and Edwidge Dupard, honored with the Golden Star Award for Classified Professionals.

Akers, Taylor, Henderson, Wang, and Dupard were highlighted before their peers at City College’s Fall Convocation. Here is a little more about each honoree:

Wendy Wang oversees administration of all financial aid and scholarship programs, ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations. That means responsibility for daily operations, staff training, budget management, and continuous improvements in efficiency and student-centered service. Her journey in financial aid began more than 30 years ago as a federal work-study student at Los Angeles Pierce College. What started as a student job soon grew into a lifelong passion and career dedicated to student success. Along the way, she served in financial aid roles across community colleges, the California State University, and private for-profit and private nonprofit institutions. In 2022, after reflecting on her late father’s advice to follow her heart, she returned to the community college system and joined San Diego City College as Director of Financial Aid & Scholarships. “I am truly honored and deeply touched to be selected as this year’s Golden Pillar Award recipient. Knowing that this recognition comes directly from our students and executive team makes it even more meaningful.”

“What fills me with the most pride,” she adds, “is knowing that my work helps students pursue their dreams whether it’s their very first semester or the final step before graduation. I see financial aid as more than funding; it’s a bridge to opportunity, hope, and possibility.”

Justin Akers Chacón, Ed.D., an educator, activist, and writer, is a professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies and co-advisor of the City College MEChA club on campus. Raised in a working-class Mexican barrio in Ventura, Chacón’s lifelong activism was heavily influenced by his experiences as a youth and has been involved in social justice causes throughout his life. Initially hired as a part-time professor in 2004, he has been teaching full-time since the 2005-06 academic year. Highlights during his tenure include serving as President of the City College Academic Senate, co-coordinator of the City College Latina Graduation Ceremony, and publishing three books in the field of Chicana/o Studies, including his most recent, The Border Crossed Us: The Case for Opening the US-Mexico Border (Haymarket 2018). “I am most proud of the students who come through the Chicana and Chicano Studies classes,” he said. “Our students are amazing. They are rising scholars, talented artists, creators, and writers. The are social justice minded and dedicated.”

What makes City College unique? “It is a family-like community that welcomes, supports, and cares about our student success. Working at City College is a labor of love that motivates everyone on campus to want to play a role in supporting our students grow, thrive, and succeed.”

Edgar Henderson III is a City College alum and adjunct instructor who has been with the Department of Cosmetology at San Diego City College's School of Business since 2008. His teaching goes well beyond the classroom: he is generous in donating his time supervising students at San Diego’s Project Homeless Connect, an annual event providing a variety of services for unsheltered residents, and with and Veterans Stand Down resource fair. Inclusiveness is part of his core; he was once a Franciscan Third Order Regular, Province of the Immaculate Conception, in Washington D.C., where his responsibilities included serving as a literacy tutor at Mount Carmel House for Homeless Women in Washington, D.C. His professional skills encompass cosmetology, barbering, fine arts, food-service management, and more. “I am most proud of my role being a mentor both to my City College Cosmetology/Barber Conversion students, Community Outreach Coordinator for my department, and to my military barber apprentice students at the MCAS Miramar Consolidated Brig.”

Added Henderson: “San Diego City College is most special because it feels like a professionally loving, passionate, devoted, and caring working family of students, faculty, staff, administration, and SDCCD Board members – all working together to authentically embody our campus' mission statement and mantra, “You Belong Here!”

LeeAnn Taylor, a native San Diegan and graduate of the San Diego Community College District, went on to earn master’s degrees in exercise science and nutrition. She began her career teaching  at Holy Family School in Linda Vista while also coaching softball at Point Loma Nazarene University. After a brief stint teaching and coaching at her alma mater, Cal State Northridge, Taylor came back to San Diego and became City College’s softball coach in 2004. In addition to coaching, she teaches Health 101, Nutrition 150 and 153, PE in the Elementary Schools, Golf (she’s the 2025 Balboa Golf Course Women's Club Champion), and fitness. Among her early goals was winning the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference softball championship, which City achieved in 2007 for the first time. Taylor was named PCAC Softball Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2007, and PCAC Female Sports Coach of the Year in 2006. She is especially proud of her numerous student-athletes who graduated and transferred to four-year universities at all levels, including a few who have competed internationally. Many former players are now coaches themselves. Asked what makes City College unique, Taylor points to diversity and resilience. “The persistence and determination of our students amaze me. Most people would likely give up in their situations, but not City College students. They are the best!”

Edwidge Dupard is a Student Services Technician, but, as anyone who knows her can tell you, her job title doesn’t begin to describe the impact she has had on the campus. Among the testimonials that have been written on her behalf: “Edwidge is an amazing employee at City College who always goes above and beyond for students and staff. She has the ability to connect with everyone she meets. She works extremely hard to ensure that the peer lab meets the needs of students. When helping students through the matriculation process, she goes the extra mile in connecting students to proper resources and staff to provide support.”

Added another employee: “She embodies a compassionate and selfless attitude that instantly makes all those around her, feel included and loved. She is role model and mentor to the students she leads and supervises at the Peer Advocate Program. She leads & empowers her team to be their best! I am always amazed by all the long hours (behind the scenes)she commits to the students-that she serves at City College. That speaks highly of her work ethic.”

Dupard has earned multiple honors at City, including City College’s Classified Woman of the Year at the 2023 San Diego Chapter of the American Association for Women in Community Colleges annual recognition event.

 

Selected entirely by student vote, the annual Golden Awards reflect not only professional achievement, but also the deep connections these individuals have fostered across campus.