Awards and Achievements

2024-25 Academic Year

We're proud of all our students, faculty members and classified professionals at De Anza College. Here are some examples of what makes De Anza "simply the best."

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Three Student Teams Win at StartUpPalooza

Eight teams of De Anza students competed for cash prizes as they pitched ideas for innovative and socially responsible new businesses at “StartUpPalooza” on Oct. 29, 2024. The teams took turns presenting ideas for new ventures in health care, financial services, sustainability and public safety. The event was the culmination of a monthlong “Startup Boot Camp" organized by the Business Department’s Innovation Center and instructor Rowland Chen.

• Students Hugh Nguyen and Luca Paliska won first place and $500 for ShortType, an AI-driven typing autocompletion tool for specific subject areas that enables people with motor disabilities to type faster.
• Ryan Nguyen and Donavan Yip won the second place prize of $150 for Drunk No Drive, a smart steering wheel that uses multiple sensors to detect intoxication and prevent drunk driving.
• Aidai Boobekova won the third place prize of $100 for InSCOUT, an autonomous drone that determines the locations of victims, detects toxic gasses and creates real-time 3D mapping of structures for first responders.

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La Voz Staff Win Journalism Awards

De Anza journalism students took home 27 awards from the Journalism Association of Community Colleges annual NorCal Regional Conference, held on Saturday, Oct. 26, at San Francisco State University.

The honors included 25 awards for work published during the 2023-24 school year, plus two awards earned by Carolyn Zhao and Frank Meyers for work produced in on-the-spot competitions during the conference. Here is a complete list of award winners:

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De Anza Receives Democracy Award

De Anza received a bronze campus award this fall from the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge for reaching a 20-29% student voting rate in the last Congressional mid-term elections, according to the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement report from Tufts University.

Special thanks to the Democratic Engagement Action Plan leadership team members Cynthia Kaufman, director of Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action (VIDA), and Mallory Newell, director of Institutional Research and Planning.

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Journalism Students Share Knowledge

De Anza journalism students shared their knowledge with hundreds of high school students from around the state during the annual NorCal Media Day on Sept. 28, sponsored by the Journalism Education Association of Northern California and held at Palo Alto High School recently. Staffers from La Voz News helped run two workshops to demonstrate techniques for interviewing public officials and candidates, which they demonstrated with Congressional candidate Sam Liccardo and a campaign representative for candidate Evan Low.

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Catalyst Awards for Pride Center, HEFAS

De Anza’s Pride Center received a “Catalyst Award” in September from the National Association of Higher Education Systems or NASH, extending an earlier grant provided to the HEFAS program. 

This award provides grant funds that can be used to support paid student positions at the Pride Center, through the Foothill-De Anza Foundation, under a fellowship model pioneered by the HEFAS program to enable hiring students who might be ineligible for other paid jobs due to their citizenship status. This will provide students with an opportunity to earn money for college AND gain valuable  work experience in a space that recognizes and affirms their identities.

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IMPACT AAPI Featured in Equity Report

De Anza's IMPACT AAPI Learning Community was featured in a new report published in July 2024 that highlights effective strategies for supporting students from Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander backgrounds. The report describes IMPACT AAPI as a “model program” for combining embedded counseling, peer support and professional development.  

IMPACT AAPI is one of several Learning Communities at De Anza that focus on supporting students from population groups that have historically been underserved in higher education. The new report was published by the Campaign for College Opportunity, which advocates for equity in access to higher education.

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Real Estate Instructor In USA Today

Faculty member Mark Sherby was quoted by USA Today in an online feature about the nationwide housing market, published in July 2024.

Sherby was one of four experts who shared their insights in the article about housing affordability and related economic trends in all 50 states. Sherby, who is chair of De Anza’s Real Estate Department, also teaches courses in Computer Science and Information Systems.

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VIDA Featured in "Restoring Public Purpose" 

De Anza's Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action was featured in a June 2024 report on ways that colleges and universities can make meaningful contributions in their local communities. The report, "Restoring the Public Purpose of America’s Urban Universities," was published by the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania.

A chapter of the report focuses on VIDA’s work in preparing students to become agents of change in their communities – and beyond – through internships that emphasize social justice, community organizing and leadership development. The chapter was authored by Angélica Esquivel, program coordinator at VIDA, Brenda Romero Carrillo, program coordinator for the California Youth Leadership Corps, and Cynthia Kaufman, faculty director at VIDA.