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Nurturing generations of citizens, workers, and participants in Philadelphia and the surrounding region

Dr. Donald Guy Generals is the president of the Community College of Philadelphia, an open-admission institution in Philadelphia, PA. Established in 1965, the college is the largest public higher education institution of in the state, and has helped nearly 700,000 Philadelphia residents earn degrees and certificates that launch them into successful careers. The college plays a crucial role in the city and state’s economic development, with 78% of graduates finding employment in Philadelphia, and 93% in the Greater Philadelphia region.

EDWIN WARFIELD: Hazim Hardeman recently made news for becoming Temple University’s first Rhodes Scholar, but Temple rejected him initially, and he only got in after graduating from Community College of Philadelphia first. Can you tell us his story?

DR. GUY GENERALS: Hazim wanted to go to Temple—I don't mean to disparage Temple in any way—and Temple turned him down. He lived in the neighborhood, he could see it, and that was his life’s dream. And so he came to Community College of Philadelphia, and he took our placement test, which all students take, and he tested into 098, which is one of our remedial programs. But he did well, he was persistent, he got into our honors program. The real story is that he was engaged in the life of the college, and especially through the honors program and the PTK program. He did graduate from Community College of Philadelphia in 2015, he went to Temple, and the rest is history. He continued his academic promise, and he is now a Rhodes scholar.

We did call the Rhodes Foundation, the Institute, to find out if there were ever any other community college students; and, apparently, 15, 20 years ago, there were some that put community college on their application, but they did not graduate. So, as far as we know, he’s the only one that graduated from a community college and then went on to be a Rhodes Scholar.

Q. What does Hazim’s experience say about the role of community college?

A. The need for social justice is critical. I always take a look at Philadelphia and that 26% poverty rate. We should never lose sight of that. People talk about it over and over and over again. When you read books about economics, I mean the economy is being driven by in the cities, urban cities are making a huge comeback, but so we can’t forget those who are being forgotten, and I think that's what community colleges do. We have to continue to provide those pathways for them.

Q. How can cities and states do that? Should all community colleges be free?

A. New York implemented a full two-year, four-year, free tuition. Any student that’s $100,000 family income can get free tuition in New York. Tennessee—they were the ones that started the Tennessee Promise. Oregon, they have. And these programs are funded by the government. Ours is limited, because it only takes in high school students, and we have multiple generations, and it’s based on private funding.

I think we have to keep the conversation going and make it believable. We need to remind people that high schools were not always free. As a student of educational history, I can say that high schools didn’t become a public good and a public cost until 1915 or 1917—so a little bit more than 100 years. Community colleges, especially, I agree, should be all four years, but we get the community college is a reality whose time has come. And we have to constantly make the case that we do make a difference, that we are transformative, that so many students coming out of the high schools need more education—they’re not yet marketable, and the evidence points to that through the remedial data that we have. You know, they need extra training, and all the data points to the fact that you need some type of post-secondary education in order to get in the job markets. I think once our country recognizes the value of education to the bottom line, I think we’ll make the steps to provide free community college education at least. Those of us in a leadership position have to keep making the case.

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