The panel, which includes a screening of a 30 minute film and three presentations, will explore how an ethnic community sustained a 28-year struggle (1980-2008) to bring a community college campus to San Francisco’s historic Chinatown. The struggle went through many phases and touched on a number of issues, including land-use, city planning, political representation, and educational access. The film and the presentations address the many obstacles laid out by San Francisco big money and political power brokers as they waged a public relations war to stop the construction of a community college campus in Chinatown. They also show an equally powerful response from a broad and diverse coalition, Friends of Educational Opportunities in Chinatown (FEOC), that organized rallies, waged a campaign using radio/TV/newsprint and petitions, and rallied support from educators, students, non-profits, labor unions, churches, and family associations. All these forces collided in a climatic vote that resulted in the successful approval of the project. The community college facility, which opened in 2012, serves as a testament to the perseverance and resilience of a local community’s fight against the powerful and provides many lessons for students, community members, advocates, and community organizers today.