Students delivered public comments to college administrators and trustees during the January 9 Board of Trustees meeting.
In total, 15 students made public comments. The board then appointed Student Government Association President Frank Scales as a non-voting, ex-officio student trustee. Scales will be able to attend Board of Trustees meetings, as he already has been for several months, and not be able to vote on official business.
Community College of Philadelphia’s Board of Trustees holds monthly meetings in M2-1 at 2:30pm. The Board of Trustees are often senior level executives of Philadelphia appointed directly by the mayor to launder their corporate reputation through their influence of public education.
The Sunshine Act “requires that meetings have prior notice, and that the public can attend, participate, and comment before an agency takes that official action.” according to PA Office of Open Records. To avoid deliberating in front of students and faculty, trustees and college administrators held an executive session prior to the meeting while students gathered in the hall. The session lasted 50 minutes and students were allowed in at around 3:20pm. After the meeting, trustees and administrators again held another executive session for about an hour.
Francis Scales — Student Body President:
Chairperson Epps, President Generals, Esteemed Trustees, and administration. In my campaign for Student Government President, I promised a Student on the Board of Trustees, free Septa Trans-passes for all students, and to cut through bureaucracy. I will deliver on all my promises, but I’ve come to realize that something bigger is at the root of all our issues at the college. That is the culture that has been set into place from the top of the administration, all the way down to teachers and security guards. There is a huge lack of accountability and transparency. Instead of taking responsibility for shortcomings and working with teachers and students to fix the issues. The administration hides behind ominous titles, abuses their power, and utilizes plausible deniability to shift responsibility onto others.
During my presidency I have witnessed why student government has been silent in the past and didn’t do much. It is not because students are not capable or willing to manage student life. It is because the administration does not want students to manage student life. The Faculty Advisor for Student Government, appointed by the administration, has not been to one SGA event. The SGA has already conducted a no-confidence vote to oust the current faculty advisor. The vote passed with a 7 – 1 majority but was ignored by the administration. We reached out to Dr. Marshall and the response we received, that is in front of you, was deflating.
I come here not opposed to the existence of a hierarchy, a board of trustees, or an administration. But in a college, the Board of Trustees, and administration must serve the student body, which right now my constituents feel it is not. There is a plethora of policies we must fix, and the culture must change, but I am confident with the Boards help it can be done very quickly. But until that day comes, with Student Government being ignored and silenced by many, I see that it may be necessary that the students form an independent union to further their interests.
Michael Grinnan — New Student, Member of Student Union:
I am concerned with the seemingly impossible nature in which administration has handled the SGA and student voices in general. I have not been a student for long at this college but in my brief time I have been introduced to the SGA president Frank Scales. During this time Frank has informed me of the gross disregard held against many of the SGAs attempts to unify the voices of students and advocate for their needs. Now personally I am deeply disturbed and disappointed that an institution of learning, where people are supposed to better themselves, has an administrative body that seeks to destroy any possible attempt one makes at broadening their horizons with healthy discourse and exposure to new and sometimes hard truths. In summary I will say this, I have no confidence in the SGA’s faculty advisor nor the provost that is supposed to have made sure these things were done right in the first place.
Abdul Al-Hourani — Chairperson of Strategic Partnership Committee
Good afternoon, Board. Happy New Year, and welcome back! I hope everyone had a lovely break. As the issues we faced last semester remain unresolved it feels as though that communications between Student Life, Dr. Marshall’s Office, and student government haven’t been as clear as they should have been. We must prioritize meaningful dialogue between the Department of Student Life, including Dr. Marshall’s office, and SGA to ensure we as student leaders are heard.
The administration seems more focused on concealing its shortcomings and stifling dissent rather than collaborating with faculty and students to improve this institution. When the student government held a vote of no confidence to remove their current faculty advisor, our efforts were met with harsh objections. While SGA holds no ill will to anyone, logically speaking, students should not be suppressed by the very person meant to advise them. Moreover, this is not the only setback SGA has faced it feels like a monopoly game getting pushed back and forth between the administration and our student life advisors.
The student government allows students to have a voice within their institution to better their education and further their success. The only way to do this is through meaningful dialogue. When SGA decides on a course of action, instead of silencing us and staying quiet, please explain to us the rationale behind the decision to oppose us so we may have a discussion. SGA is the voice of the students, don’t suppress us, work with us.
Katherine Shamout — Chairperson of Media Committee:
Hello, my name is Katherine. I am the chairperson of the media committee for the student government. I love the work I do for SGA and look forward to doing it all semester. This work includes managing all the social media accounts to get students free SEPTA passes, a student on the board of trustees, and holding the Department of Student Life accountable. Also, I’m happy I helped plan the Winter Formal.
Unfortunately, neither the faculty advisors, Jeff Markovitz nor Jenavia Weaver, has acknowledged my existence. They make me feel invisible. They even refused to print business cards for me while they printed them for the rest of the team. These advisors have done this to Frank, Jar, and anyone who speaks up. Now, the advisors are refusing to treat me as part of the team.
I support the SGA’s getting a new faculty advisor and want Dr. Marshall to listen to us. And Please allow the SGA to get a new advisor.
Jaritsa Hernandez-Orsini — Student Body Vice-President:
Good afternoon, board of trustees. We are starting off the new year fresh, with the same unanswered problems as last year. This break alone has allowed me to do lots of introspection. There’s one thing I realized that’s always been the common denominator: students are not respected here.
As the domino effect occurs, students have always gotten the collateral end of the chain reaction. For example, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, students were protesting, or practicing “student disobedience”, just to get a flyer posted on the bulletin board. This is merely a portion of the extremes students must go to just to be regarded.
In your previous Strategic plan, TRIO upward bound secured funding from the U.S. Department of Education to support student success, but where is that money allotted to? I am in TRIOSS and have not received ANY funding or academic support for the past year, and I joined Spring of 2024.
I am also in the PHA housing program, and just one month before I moved in a homeless man broke into my apartment. Here is a picture of one of the comments written on the wall that always sends shivers down my spine. “I hope you here when I get back,” and another that reads “Kevon was here, On Sun June 21st, @ 6:39” and more. I sometimes see Kevon circling the parameters of my neighborhood and it haunts me to know I know what he looks like due to the “One-Legged legend” signature he wrote on my wall. Kevon has a metallic prosthetic leg.
Every day, I’m constantly reminded that this man may break into my house at any given point. Do you as board members care that my life may be in danger under the hands of the Community College Philadelphia?
With respect to the attempts made to keep the status in quo, the claims to uplift students and retain students, are ludicrous. This academic year I learned that we are not held in any regard. We are just numbers to add to the enrollment & commencement stats, and joining these programs reveals the truth behind the façade. As we only ever see you when it’s New Student Orientation, Commencement, or other events where eminent folk are congregated.
There is a clear elephant in the room and that it is Student Life. Who is in charge of student life, you may ask? That umbrella falls under you Dr. Alycia Marshall.
I’d like to call to action, to PLEASE listen to our student concerns. With “The Student Experience”, being the first pillar of CCP’s vision, it is truly the most forgotten and undermined. We’re telling you our negative experiences today and would appreciate it if we’re not given the blind eye because these are issues that directly affect us, our education and our futures. Please urge your staff to address these issues, after all, we want this place to thrive as much as you do. Thank you.
Paulina Reyes — Student Journalist and Vanguard’s previous Editor in Chief:
Good afternoon, Board of Trustees, my name is Paulina Reyes. I am a student journalist at CCP. During my spring semester of 2024, I was the Editor in Chief of the Vanguard, what once was a student-led newspaper. While I was Editor in Chief, I ended up wearing the hats of the rest of news team as there was little support provided, with only help from Max Hassel, we had done our best to create an outlet for students to share their experiences, their stories and their struggles. As well as events happening on campus in the city, and club coverage. I learned early on as I was recruiting students to join that many students didn’t even want to write for the Vanguard because they believed they were bad writers, they never read any books, let alone a journalistic column. The most upsetting of it all was that the students here at CCP, in their English classes, in this educational institution, the students I talked to believed they’ve never be good readers or talented writers. They believed they were incapable of telling their own stories. Students here at CCP are reading at lower grade level than they should be, I didn’t have to research this to know this as the reality, the signs were all in front of me.
Black and Latino students, people like me, who make up our college population get the shorter end of the stick. Studies show 86 percent of low-income families are below the reading level, 82 percent are Latino students. Is the ESL program really helping? What about students with their own English dialect? Why is it that students here struggle so much?
This is a case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, as much as you value your enrollment statistics and your proud advertisements to get international students here. You’re leaving your Philadelphia community behind, it’s not okay that the students here read at an 8th-grade level. The sad reality is this school is a pipeline to violence; students that can’t reach their maximum potential will never feel confident to make strides in the world. Stop gloating over your advertisements and rebrand, pay attention to the reality on the ground.
The tutor work-study job should be improved with real trained tutors. Train the student tutors and train your faculty & staff to understand the science of reading - and the different ways students can learn. Accommodate and engage your people here. That should be where your investments go. I can’t help but wonder if you care about the welfare of students, or if this is all just political – a steppingstone as you reach higher in the pyramid of status and power. If the students here had the attention they deserved, they would have a larger vocabulary and more confidence in themselves and their writing abilities. You have your students come here, in then out. There’s never any focus on reading or writing literacy, skills students will need for their lifetime. If you really cared, you would ensure every student could read and write proficiently. If you cared, you would let students’ journalists run the Vanguard and give space for students to tell their stories.
Dhebora Castro — Student Representative:
Greetings esteemed board members.
My name is Dhebora Castro, I’m a sophomore at the Community College of Philadelphia.You ladies and gentlemen hearing me today are in the positions you are now in because you believe in education, and advocating for education. Getting free transpasses to all students and faculty improves the education this college provides. Getting free transpasses to students allows us to transfer the energy to building our future instead of wasting it on “will I be able to afford transportation this semester?”. You came into administrative positions for such a time as this. This is what the SGA and AFT fight for.
We are not here asking for “freebies.” We are asking for the support not only for commuting to college, but for a basic standard of education and opportunity that we so desperately look for. Many of us can only have this when we have the ability to take public transportation: to get to college, and the opportunity to be in a forum like this.
As many of you know, not only first-generation College students but College students in general have to go through the process of admissions, classes, studying methods, connecting with the right people, looking for resources and building a strong academic portfolio. The administrative officials have been there, done that and much more and know that this does not come easy. The weight of trailblazing adds up immensely when financial worries come into the balance. And this torment has unfortunately become familiar.
As a student, I support this student government, and I hope this Board of Trustees takes us seriously as we take you seriously.
Enisa Nazaj — Writer for The Independent:
Hello, I am Enisa Nazaj, a first year Architecture student at CCP. Like many other students, I rely on public transportation to get to and from school. I live on the outskirts of Philadelphia and my journey from my house to CCP lasts more than one hour. I take the SEPTA Regional Rail every weekday and pay a monthly fare of $204.
I want to highlight that SEPTA offers University Pass Programs for Colleges and Universities, namely the ability to purchase deeply discounted All-Access Passes for students. This program is called UPass, and through it participants receive up to an 80% discount on their SEPTA passes on every region of Philadelphia. However, according to SEPTA Fare Info, this program is initiated by colleges and universities and cannot be purchased by individual students. So, only the school can make an application for a Key Advantage UPass and enable its students this program.
My request as a student of CCP is that the CCP officials take up the initiative of applying to this program. Through that, I believe that CCP can alleviate the economic hardships of being a student because many other Universities have made this program possible for their students.
CCP is not simply an institution where one can receive a degree; it is a community of people with values, ambitions and goals, an association of students and faculty immersed with diversity. The cost of transportation ought not interfere with how students perform in their collegiate life!
Ka’Ron Sheffield — Student:
Dear members of the Committee,
I am a student at Community College of Philadelphia, and I have been witnessing the student Government since my arrival in the summer of 2024. I have seen them fight valiantly for the betterment and well-being of the students and I have a massive amount of respect for them. I also have an insurmountable amount of respect for you as all of you put in the work and effort on a daily basis to make sure that we are able to pursue our dreams of post-secondary education in the city. I would like to make a statement regarding the prospect of a student joining the board of trustees. I believe that the added perspective of a student who is on the ground every day can really change the way decisions get made and show what students actually have gripes about. This is not about being hostile or forcing you to see yourselves as wrong, but rather a proposal to collaborate and make sure that everyone attending CCP is truly looking and moving in the same direction.
Eleanor Noszka-Kress — Student Representative on the Academic Support Committee:
I wasn’t going to speak this month. But I just had another class cancelled and I’m irritated.
Over winter break I reached out to the Academic Support Subcommittee about putting together a policy proposal which will reduce cancellations and improve scheduling. We have a meeting on the 16th. But even if that proposal makes its way to you fine members of the Board, there’s no guarantee it will pass.
At this school, I have learned to take nothing for granted. Last semester, I discovered that classes were missing from the online register. I went to see Sevé Torres. Everything looked fine on his end, but several English courses which appeared on his list, that were supposed to be running, didn’t appear in the student portal under any search criteria.
I don’t know how many semesters or years that issue has been going on, but that error could be partially responsible for low enrollment. Dr. Marshall mentioned over e-mail the problem had been resolved, but I haven’t been told exactly what went wrong or how many departments are affected. Even if it was just a mistake, that’s a huge mistake. And a student had to come forward for anyone to even notice.
I shouldn’t even be here talking to you. I take the bus and walk through the snow to get here. And I don’t even get paid for this. I should be preparing for classes on Monday. I shouldn’t be having to write a by-law to get a College Administration to do what’s best for their students. I shouldn’t have to come to these Board meetings and beg administrators to care about the quality of education at their own college.
I just want to add, the only Rhodes scholar from CCP – we have photos of him hanging up right there – Hazim Hardeman, was a Liberal Arts student.
Elijah McClain — Student Union Photographer:
Hi, my name is Elijah many of you know me as the photographer for student council. I haven’t been working with them long, but I have seen their progress and the amount of people they have gathered together. They came a long way from small turn outs to hosting a winter formal they should have a control over their own budget. Most of the events they host come out of their own pocket and spending 100s of dollars without reimbursement. I believe we should have a student on the board of trustees. Also, the SGA advisor Jeff Markovitz isn’t helpful. We need a new one.
Luke Cooper — Student:
One of the biggest concerns for everyone appears to be the lack of finances and not knowing where money is being saved or going. One of the most appropriate solutions for this is to create another source of income specifically made in investing for student clubs, student events, and student projects like CCP’s newspaper “The Independent”. Especially if it is investing in student education and extra-curricular that helps build social connections and trust. That source of income could come from partnering with a trusted company who has the student’s needs at heart—of course, if you have any other suggestions, that’s why I’m here speaking to y’all.
Also, students should always have the ability to see how much of this specific extra source of income has. For example, if 3,000 is saved—every single student on the official My CCP portal should be able to see that 3,000 is saved somewhere on the homepage—once money is deducted, that can be shown live, as well as why it was deducted. To protect the identity of the person, to show who deducted the money can be optional.
Even if there are 25,000 saved, once again—no secrets please. Finally, there should be qualified accountants who have a degree in finances (maybe 7 to 10 from diverse backgrounds) who are actively seeing requests from students for investments and choosing which investment is good psychologically for education and extra-curriculum for a stabilized social environment. And of course, if there isn’t enough finances to go around, at least the students can see, live, that there isn’t enough, and probably won’t have unending questions on where the money is. While also thinking of a legal and effective way to create a source of income specifically for students who are going to help make the world keep going in the future, besides—isn’t that the whole point why we’re here?
Thank you for listening, have a nice day, and stay safe.
Shyann Davis — Student Body Main-Campus Senator:
Hello everyone, my name is Shyann Davis and I am in my last semester at CCP. I am also currently working my last week at a job I really enjoy because I was forced to schedule 2 out of 4 of my classes very recently. Both of those classes were ELEC 124 and BMET 202.
I spoke and worked with the director of my department to get those classes running for the Spring and thankfully they are. But because I had to wait until about 2-4 weeks ago to register, I got really terribly timed classes that no longer fit with my schedule at work.
Now, I can no longer work there effectively to earn a living. My schedule went from 3 8-hour shifts a semester to 1 4-hour shift. Changing my monthly income for the semester from a potential $1700 a month to only $515 a month. And both of those numbers include my monthly stipend from Catto.
I encourage you all to please be a little more transparent with your students. I know many students who expect classes to run during certain semesters because that is how it was shown and now they are stuck waiting for that class because it isn’t running.
Julieanne Meas — Chairperson of Space & Design Committee:
During last semester, half of the students in my studio design class failed. Not because they were incompetent or lacked motivation. But because there were too many students in the class. On the first day of classes, there weren’t even enough seats to accommodate the size of the class. Within the first two weeks of the class, our professor recommended that studentsshould withdraw; all these students needed this course, so they did not withdraw. But when this did not work, he told students that they were going to fail if they did not withdraw. Unfortunately, this worked on some, they feared that their transcript would have a big, fat “F”. But others questioned him. How did he know that they were going to fail when it had only been two weeks? He said this to 8 students that I know of, one of them being a close friend of mine. We sat in the material closet, and she cried to me and our other friends. We felt powerless. We thought that maybe we were doing something wrong until we overheard a conversation between our professor and another. Our professor was complaining about the size of the class, that it was “too much” for him. So, we knew that he threatened to fail kids so that they would withdraw and diminish the size of the class. It was horrendous, but it made sense, in the worse way possible.
Fast forward to the end of the semester, a different friend of mine had failed, he completed all assignments, projects, and presented his final, so we questioned the accuracy of his grade. He and others emailed the dean, these emails were left unanswered for a week. Once the dean did answer, they recommended a mediated meeting. We had already had one of those meetings and the student left the room after 3 minutes due to the professor screaming in his face. There was no talking to fix the situation. Students and professors are overwhelmed, they are turning and resenting one another. This is not something that students or professors can fix. This is what happens when there are too many students and not enough professors. Please, stop focusing on student enrollment and start focusing on those students that are already depending on you.
The Independent 
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