M.P. Hassel
October 8, 2024
The Student Government Association (SGA) at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) made an attempt to provide snacks at a student gathering and continue to push for a more streamlined recognition and funding processes for student clubs — fights that administrative control has slowed and stifled.
Every enrolled student at CCP pays a $4 per credit General College Fee, which funds student publications, athletics, and clubs. The total amount collected from this fee for this school year is approximately $1,006,000.
According to the SGA constitution, “No club or organization can be formed and funded by Student Life without the sanction of the SGA,” but the process has been marred by administrative delays and bureaucratic obstacles. However, only $9,000 of that goes directly to SGA for distribution to student clubs, while a significant portion of the funds — $801,000 — still goes to pay administrators in the Student Life Department, including Jenavia Weaver, Ida Swindell, Emily Bien-Aime, and Dionne Easton among others.
Let’s get nerdy for one second. The Student Activities budget, which at other school like Drexel and Temple is meant entirely for student clubs, publications, athletics and all the events, at CCP largely covers the salaries of a certain eleven or so administrators. The student activities, athletics & commencement budget this year had to be supplemented with an extra $490,000 “Transfer from College Reserves,” a rainy-day fund that, per budgetary administrators, will run out.
On September 19, Saad Fazloon, President of the Chess Club, recently raised the issue of the nonexistent club activation process directly to CCP Provost Dr. Alycia Marshall. John Politis is stepping down as Chess Club faculty advisor because he is unwilling to jump through all the hoops of faculty advising. As a result, the dean of students told the faculty advisor that SGA needs a new process for club funding before the next Board of Trustees meeting on October 10. Great, we see the chain of command working to clear out the issue, so the school governance board does not have to see it.
SGA President Scales announced the formation of an ad-hoc committee to streamline the club registration process, opening the door for more student involvement.
Dr. Jeffrey Markovitz, SGA’s Faculty Advisor, proposed using Canvas—the online platform students already use for coursework—to guide students through club activation, leadership training, and funding requests. Dr. Markovitz, also the co-advisor for the creative writing club and English teacher, likely meant to use a familiar platform.
Now up a link on the chain of command, Assistant Dean of Students Richard Kopp irreverently stated that all student club registration and funding requests will be managed through the Pride Portal, the platform used exclusively by the Student Life Department. “There may be some benefit to using Canvas for certain components,” Kopp wrote, “but most (if not all) of the process can be centralized within the Pride Portal.”
Faculty advisor and administrative advisor both shared their contradictory solutions with SGA’s leaders. Scales with SGA focused on their independent work in the ad-hoc committee.
Kopp then announced Student Life’s finalized solution in an email: “Our team has come up with a revised draft of the current process; we would like to get input from the discussions your ad-hoc committee has had, incorporate any necessary adjustments, and ideally ‘go live’ with a new process within the next two weeks.” The team includes Dean Kopp, Jenavia Weaver, Emily Bien-Aime, and Dionne Easton. The approach feels of a negotiation. The pitch is the same unrevised agenda with minimal compromise or input from students. Kopp added in a later email, “I just want to clarify that our department has been given the authority by the College to manage these processes.”
The week of Monday, October 1 revealed the college’s convoluted process for allocating funding to any, even minor, student request. SGA leadership, including President Francis Scales and 2nd Vice President Jaritsa Hernandez-Orsini, organized a casual student gathering on Thursday in the Learning Commons, next to Saxby’s.
Scales’ and Hernandez-Orsini’s plan was to provide snacks, typically a nice addition to student events. Snacks are always available at events put on by administrators. For students though, securing those snacks turned into a gauntlet of approval from these administrators before the gathering.
Taking matters into his own hands, Abdul approached Canteen in the cafeteria of the Pavilion Building on the day of the event. Canteen staff agreed to provide snacks but needed approval from an administrator or advisor. Al-Hourani then sought help from Associate Dean Richard Kopp. What followed was an exchange that left him feeling frustrated and demeaned. According to Al-Hourani, Kopp furiously questioned whether they had followed Student Life event planning protocols and why the gathering was not listed on the Pride Portal.
“For the record,” Al-Hourani remarked in a follow-up email to Kopp and, one more up the chain, Dean of Students Brad Kovaleski after the event, “I did not ‘fail to answer’ Richard Kopp’s questions. [He] interrogated me, which made me feel uncomfortable. He needs to understand how to talk to people rather than demeaning them. This is why no one wants to be a part of student life.”
“He wasn’t able to answer any of my questions satisfactorily.” Dean Kopp defended his actions in an email to Scales, “I didn’t say that I wouldn’t approve of your catering request—I asked you to explain the rationale.”
Unfortunate for SGA, Kopp could not accept the delegation of this request for snacks and Scales, between classes, was not able to meet with Kopp, who was only free that day “until 2pm.” While the student gathering was put on by student leaders, no funding from the Student Life Administration was provided for the event. “It is unfortunate that you will not allow us to use student government funds for a student government event.” Scales wrote in his response “We are just asking for snacks.”
The struggle to secure snacks reflects larger issues between the SGA and the administration over control and hoarding of funding for student activities. While SGA leaders are pushing for streamlined processes for recognizing clubs and distributing funds, the administration has imposed strict protocols that often delay or stifle student initiatives. Beyond snacks approval or club leadership training on Pride Portal, the Student Life Administrators create a culture of threatening and diminishing the autonomy of student governance and their basic functions outlined in their constitution.
The Independent 
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