The San Diego City College Tutorial/Learning Center director who fled his native Laos after the communist Pathet Lao seized control in 1975 has lobbied on behalf of ethnic studies legislation ensuring his Southeast Asian homeland was included in history lessons about the Vietnam War, is involved with the large Laotian community in San Diego, and is active in organizing conferences and workshops urging ethnic Laotians to seek a higher education degree. He also is doing all he can to ensure City College students receive the resources they need. “I feel blessed to be in the position I’m in at City,” Soukhaseum said. “I feel honored to be able to help students on their journey.”
Soukhaseum fled Laos in 1979 on a small wooden boat across the Mekong River at age 18 in the cover of darkness and accompanied by the sound of gunfire from government soldiers. After spending a year at a refugee camp in Thailand, Soukhaseum immigrated to the United States, moving in with an aunt living in Orange County and taking ESL classes, which would later lead to an associate degree in liberal arts and a certificate in electronics from Fullerton College. After earning a bachelor’s degree in international business from Cal State Fullerton in 1990, Soukhaseum worked as a mortgage loan officer and then with the Orange County Social Services Agency. He moved south and began working at City College after he married a San Diego woman.
He began his City College tenure in 1997 as an EOPS technician before rapidly rising through the ranks to become a supervisor in Admissions and Records, a supervisor in the Counseling Center, and then director at the Tutorial/Learning Center director, a position he has held since 2003.
“It is a very rewarding job,” said Soukhaseum, who earned a master’s degree in education technology from San Diego State University in 2000. “I’m in a position of helping students succeed in reaching their goals and finding their careers. When I came to this country, all you had really was an ESL class. There wasn’t the same support we have now.”
When he’s not helping City students at the Tutorial/Learning Center, Soukhaseum is active with the local Laotian community. He was among those mobilizing after a 2018 state bill signed into law requiring a model curriculum containing lessons on the Vietnamese American refugee experience, the Cambodian genocide, and Hmong history and cultural studies. Laos, which played a critical role in the Vietnam War, was not mentioned. Laotians were bewildered. The Laotian American National Alliance issued a statement at the time saying: “The disregard of the refugees from Laos which include the Hmong who came to the United States under the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975, is a disservice to a population that has largely been underserved and disregarded.” California lawmakers in 2019 approved a measure rectifying the oversight, but the bill was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom. Asked for his reaction, Soukhaseum demurred. With a new academic year coming to a close, he’s more interested in ensuring City College students receive the support they deserve.
“City College is a very special place and is very close to my heart because we are serving students with a similar background as mine,” Soukhaseum said. “They are facing challenges they’re determined to overcome.”