Triple threat: These Two Alumni Share the Same Three Alma Maters in Mt. SAC, Cal, and Michigan

Dr. Linda Chatters and Dr. Tonya Kneff-Chang grew up in different decades, in different parts of the country, and in different kinds of families but both ended up at Mt. SAC. The educational foundation they built there led them both to the University of California at Berkeley, which isn’t such an unusual next step after Mt. SAC. But then they both earned PhDs at the University of Michigan, a long way from Walnut, California. While on the surface their journeys were different, digging underneath the surface reveals similarities. For one thing, they both ended up at Mt. SAC because of family. 

First generation college students

Chatters grew up in Los Angeles, and even though no one else in her family had gone to college, she knew she was going to go to college after high school but wasn’t sure where. She was accepted to some four-year universities in the area, but her sister, who was living in West Covina with her husband, was familiar with Mt. SAC’s reputation and suggested that Chatters try it. She could live with them and have a gentle transition to independence. Attracted to the idea of finding a new community after high school, Chatters decided to accept her sister’s offer and move to West Covina to attend Mt. SAC. There, she found faculty and counselors who were invested in her success—so much so that, without her knowledge, they got her a scholarship to any four-year university in the country. 

For Kneff-Chang, the seed of Mt. SAC was also planted by a family member. In her case, it was her dad who was living near Mt. SAC when it was time for Kneff-Chang to choose a path after high school. Having grown up all over the United States, she graduated from high school in southern Georgia, and moving across the country for college and to get to know her father better was a “big adventure” that she was excited to embrace. Unsurprisingly for those who are familiar with Mt. SAC, the College was a perfect fit for Kneff-Chang, who was still smarting from a tumultuous high school experience. Immediately, California opened her eyes to how big the world was and how many different kinds of ways there are to exist in it in terms of sexuality, race, and culture. The classes were accessible yet challenging. She “learned how to think” at Mt. SAC. 

After successful and fulfilling experiences at Mt. SAC, it was time to earn a four-year degree. Looking for another smooth but distinct transition, Chatters chose to take her impressive scholarship to the University of California at Berkeley where she already had a few friends and even a place to stay while she waited for university housing. She felt prepared socially and academically for the coursework at Cal. Mt. SAC had built up her confidence and her study habits.

Kneff-Chang’s upbringing and being the first in her maternal line to graduate from high school meant that she was largely unfamiliar with higher education when she got to Mt. SAC. She learned that the transfer options were solid and plentiful, and as she became more familiar with the UC-system, she was confident that any of the schools she might attend after Mt. SAC would provide a good education. The luster of Berkeley was undeniable, and soon as she was accepted there, she knew it was where she’d be going. There, she experienced only logistical hiccups (things like living on campus versus being a commuter student as all Mt. SAC students are), but like Chatters, she felt prepared academically to study at Cal and immerse herself in its peace and conflict studies program. 

Increasing the population of Mounties in Michigan by two

After Chatters and Kneff-Chang finished their respective studies at Berkeley, they found themselves enthralled with academia and wanted to continue down that path. Chatters studied psychology at Mt. SAC and Cal, and she soon learned that the University of Michigan graduated the second-most number of Black PhD students in the country (with Howard University being the leader). That statistic, along with Michigan’s strong relationship with the Association of Black Psychologists and a desire to step outside California and see what life could be like elsewhere, drew Chatters to Ann Arbor.

When Kneff-Chang realized she wanted a graduate degree, which can be an expensive proposition, Michigan offered her a scholarship and made her choice easy. Before that, though, she spent some time working in education in the Central Valley of California and then teaching English and living in Japan for seven years. It was there that she decided she wanted to be seen as equal to her colleagues who all had graduate degrees, and she knew she wanted to study education. During her masters program, Kneff-Chang worked in public schools in Detroit, and through that experience as well as her coursework, her focus started to crystallize, and when she was encouraged to apply to Michigan’s PhD program, she was excited to pursue studying public education further.  

These days, both of these Mt. SAC/Cal/Michigan alumni are teaching at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. As far as they know, they’re the only two Mounties there. Chatters teaches in the School of Social Work and also in the Department of Health Behavior & Health Education at the School of Public Health. Kneff-Chang is the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access, & Justice (DEIAJ) Instructional Lead at the University of Michigan Medical School and co-teaches the History of Race and Racism in Medicine course. Considering the strong foundation they both received at Mt. SAC, it's evident that their careers in academia have greatly benefited from their early community college education.

Dr. Linda Chatters (left) and Dr. Tonya Kneff-Chang show off their Mt. SAC swag at the University of Michigan

First generation scholarship donors

Although they have three alma maters, Mt. SAC was the one that started it all, and the Mt. SAC population is especially in need of assistance so for Chatters and Kneff-Chang, it was an easy decision to choose Mt. SAC to support. Both women feel strongly that Mt. SAC formed a solid foundation for their academic success, and both benefited from scholarships throughout their academic careers. 

Chatters found herself searching for a way to honor her sister after she passed away recently. Because it had been her sister and brother-in-law’s influence that led Chatters to Mt. SAC in the first place, it seemed fitting that a scholarship in their names could lead others to Mt. SAC. From there, Chatters developed the scholarship around her sister’s personal interests and causes. Her sister has been a court-appointed special advocate for foster youth and had maintained a lifelong empathy for the plight of immigrants. Those two demographics represent a significant presence in the Mt. SAC student population so those criteria were a good fit. The scholarship also serves students studying social work and/or public health, which are Chatters’ teaching areas, and first generation college students. 

When Kneff-Chang started to think about giving back to the people and institutions that had provided invaluable support for her, Mt. SAC was at the top of her list. Its relatively accessible cost means that a modest donation goes a long way. She was attracted to the demonstrated need, the deserving student population, and the idea that her impact would be greater than at any of her other schools. On top of all that, there are two new scholarships at Mt. SAC that are close to her heart. There was a movement among former Mt. SAC forensics team members to sponsor a new scholarship honoring Liesel Reinhart who was her communications professor and forensics coach while Kneff-Chang was at Mt. SAC and remains a friend of hers. There is also a new memorial scholarship for a forensics teammate and colleague, Tasse Godinez Garmong, who passed away in 2020. Kneff-Chang knew she wanted to be part of these scholarships, and that’s how she found herself being a first generation scholarship donor.