A rally and march will be held this afternoon in protest of the closure of one of City College's campuses, and the resulting displacement of its students.
Three days before the spring semester was planned to resume, a sign was posted at Civic Center's City College location at 750 Eddy St. stating that the building had been closed due to seismic safety reasons. Students were told to go to 33 Gough St., where two weeks later classes would be resumed. When students showed up at the second location, a similar sign was posted saying that that building had also been closed for seismic failures.
It's unclear why both buildings needed to be evacuated in order for the seismic retrofitting. In January, CCSF spokesman told the Examiner that the school has known about the seismic issues since August, but waited to announce the closure until all classes had a relocation plan.
As far as AFT 2121 (the City College Faculty Union) is aware, no further inspections have occurred at 750 Eddy, and no construction date has yet been announced.
Many of the displaced students have been redirected to other City College campuses throughout the city. A few received Clipper cards from the College to counteract commuter costs. But in the words of Alisa Messer, English teacher and Political Director at AFT 2121, the closure of the campus was done "without full assessment of the impact that it would have on students that the location served."
And the numbers of enrolled students this semester reflect just that. While the Civic Center Campus initially had over 600 students enrolled at the beginning of the semester, there are now only around 250 former Civic Center students taking classes at other locations. "The numbers have dropped precipitously," points out Messer. "And the students who are going to class are going to travel farther."
Many of the displaced students are Tenderloin residents who are taking advantage of CCSF's English and vocational education classes, and some have financial or transportation barriers that make traveling to another campus difficult, meaning that they have had to opt out of classes for the time being.
"The English, math, job skills and other classes, most of them free, offered at the 750 Eddy St. campus help Tenderloin residents achieve academic, career, and other life goals," said AFT 2121 Vice President Alan D'Souza.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with a strong coalition of Central City organizations to ensure that City College Administration continues to serve this neighborhood. Our coalition is appealing to Jane Kim to reach out to the college Administration on behalf of District 6 Residents. In order to re-open the campus as soon as possible, the college must develop a long-term plan for seismic and fast-track all repairs to 750 Eddy St."
At 1pm on Thursday, March 5th (today), the community will rally at 750 Eddy St., the site of the shuttered Civic Center campus. At 1:15pm the group will march to City Hall, where it will present over 1,000 signatures of support for clarity on the campus's future to District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim.
We'll keep you updated on the future of 750 Eddy St., and when the campus will reopen to its students.
