The APSA Community College Faculty Award is presented annually by the American Political Science Association (APSA) to honor exemplary contributions that advance the multi-faceted goals of community college faculty.
Citation from the Award Committee:
Randy Villegas has made exceptional contributions to the lives of students, faculty, and their broader communities. He organized different events (like Know Your Rights forums) and notable public speakers (like Jim Acosta and Dolores Huerta); and volunteered for a drumline instructor for a local high school and two independent percussion groups, El Ritmo Percussion, and Valley Independent Percussion. He also developed an important teaching guide on immigration politics through an APSA grant. In total, his work reinforces the classroom as a porous category that stretches beyond physical space into the lives, practices, and thoughts of those who inhabit it.
Dr. Randy Villegas is a Professor of Political Science at College of the Sequoias and a trustee for the Visalia Unified School District Board of Education. A product of public education institutions, Villegas earned his Associate’s Degree in Political Science from Bakersfield College and later earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from CSU Bakersfield. He obtained his Master’s in Political Science from the University of California Santa Cruz, and completed his Ph.D. in Politics with a designated emphasis in Latin American and Latino Studies.
Before beginning graduate school, Villegas worked as a journalist and a community organizer in Bakersfield, CA. Villegas has written many reported pieces as well as opinion editorials in publications like the Los Angeles Times, the Bakersfield Californian, South Kern Sol, and El popular, a Spanish newspaper in Bakersfield.
Dr. Villegas has been a recipient of numerous awards, including the 2020 CARE-UC Innovation Fellowship, and the American Political Science Association (APSA) Fund for Latino Scholarship. He is currently featured in the California State Capitol Museum, in their Unity Exhibit for his work around social justice issues in the Central Valley. After being appointed to the Visalia Board of Trustees in December of 2021, he was elected by the voters of Area 6 to continue serving in November of 2022. Most recently, Randy launched his campaign for Congress in California’s 22nd Congressional District to fight for working families and students. Randy is honored to serve our students, families, and the Central Valley.
APSA thanks the committee members for their service: Dr. Matt Evans (Chair) of Northwest Arkansas Community College, Dr. Helen Chang of Hostos Community College, Dr. Christina Sciabarra of Bellevue College, and Dr. Deborah Leonie Toscano of The University of New Orleans