Carla Labto / The SWC Sun
The first time Dr. Max Branscomb entered articles from Southwestern College’s the Sun newspaper in a national competition he brought a sole award home. That award lit a fire in the newspaper staff’s heart that continues to burn bright almost thirty years later.
Ken Pagano, 54, a then student and staff member recalls, “Riding back from the Journalism Association of Community College’s award ceremony in Fresno was a metamorphosis. We wrote down all the schools that won awards and picked up copies of all of their papers. In a van driven by Dr. Max, we poured ourselves into learning what was making the award winners great. The buzz and community we created completely reinvigorated the program.”
The successful era born on that van is documented on the walls of building 57A, the campus home of the Sun Newspaper and El Sol Magazine. The awards transformed the building into a shrine to hard work, creativity, and excellence in journalism. It is wallpapered in Crown Awards from Columbia University, certificates of recognition to the newspaper and magazine staff from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalism, the Associate Collegiate Press, and many more prestigious journalism organizations. National and International accolades inspire and intimidate those who cross its threshold. Without doubt, Journalism is the most awarded “sport” at Southwestern College.
I met Dr. Max, as students call him, with sweaty palms, flappy hands, and breath held. While attempting to join his class, I was warned he was a tough professor. I was a mute high school student with an iPad for a voice attempting to be the first nonspeaking autistic dual-enrolled student at SWC. Dr. Max gave me an add code to his class and a new calling. After that first semester, an invitation from him to write for the Sun appeared in my inbox. I was perplexed. My mother cried. The boy without a voice was asked to write for an audience, to be the voice of others.
My first assignment covered a violin concert by Yale Strom, famous Klezmer musician. Dr. Branscomb did not give me any special treatment. Three interviews and concert attendance. I did it all, and I was hooked. My life can clearly be divided in before Dr. Max and after. Years of working relentlessly in academics and communication, I harvested recognition after recognition for my writing. The writing that Dr. Max guided and considered worth reading. My reporting for the Sun ventured into dangerous corners of Tijuana where I met refugees fleeing the Narcos and women escaping domestic violence.
My disability was invisible to Dr. Max, but when he chose to see my challenges he gave me an advocacy platform. The doors he unlocked for me went beyond the journalism shrine he built. This summer, I touched the lives of disabled individuals in Japan and influenced the policies that will shape their future. It all started with Dr. Max.
Countless students tell stories of a life before and after Dr. Max. Single mothers escaping abusive relationships found their voice and rediscovered their worth at the Sun. College drop-outs reignited the flame of knowledge, and the power of passion at the Sun. There is even a day in our city dedicated to our previous editor-in-chief, Alexa Lima. Almost 30 years of students flourishing under the wise guidance of Dr. Max.
Mentoring and nurturing were only the beginning. When an article was complete, Dr. Max gave it wings. A piece about National City’s immortal Angel Baby, written by Alexa Lima, was picked up by KPBS and turned into a multimedia piece. When Jeff Bettger, a long-time Chula Vista resident and activist, launched a magazine, many of the Sun’s articles found new readers.
Bettger, 62, reminisces, “In the summer of 2024, I decided to launch a magazine. I was immediately told ‘there is someone you should meet’ and introduced to a tall, slender man, about my age, with a friendly smile. At our first meeting, he arrived with a copy of The Sun Newspaper and El Sol Magazine. What really stood out for me was the way he talked about his students, like a sports coach talking about a star player or a music teacher talking about a star soloist.”
Dr. Max’s passion cascades onto our community. He is a Bonitafest Parade and Celebration organizer, a Bonita Melodrama writer since 1978, a Pastorela writer, a SWC truth seeker and fraud buster – a turning point in the administration of SWC – and so much more. He was named Bonitan of the Year in 2025 by the Town Local Bonita Magazine, and was recognized by Bonita and Chula Vista with the proclamation of September 9th as Dr. Max Branscomb day.
Bettger follows, “It is hard to imagine Dr. Max not continuing his passion projects in Bonita. As for SWC Journalism, he has built a culture of success and pride in the journalism dept. An expectation of excellence. An ever-encouraging foundation for next year’s staff.
Dr. Max retired this summer. The news left me breathless. I had vowed to stay with the Sun as long as he did, but I felt compelled to transition our newspaper to the first generation of Sunistas, in almost 30 years, who will not know Dr. Max. This is the start of his legacy. The walls now speak of the professor who saw the most diverse newspaper staff in the country, and consistently polished them into some of the most awarded. Today, when I think of Dr. Max, my hands fill with gratitude and my arms flap with joy. Enjoy retirement, Dr. Max, you earned it.
