Student Advocates Demand Funds
By Starr Wilson
This semester, the San Francisco Foundation gifted $500,000 to City College and Students Making A Change (SMAC) wants those funds distributed to students as soon as possible. SMAC was organized in 2009 by students to improve student equity at City College and the community at large.
Their primary focus is to advance rights, safety, and full inclusion of low-income people of color. They state on the web page that the racial achievement gap and opportunity gap indicates that we still have a way to go to achieve true equity. Their core values are grassroots community leadership, education as a human right, equity and social justice, movement building and strategic alliances with other community organizations to build a movement capable of winning long-term systemic social change.
Intern program coordinator Marjorie Blen stated that SMAC gave out food cards and $500 to students during the pandemic to keep them going and through the City College Foundation has campaigned to help students.
“Our grant was for people not included in the COVID-19 package to get funding. Currently, students are being charged for Free City money if they dropped classes before the onset of the pandemic,” Blen said.
Blen further stated that students are being hurt because they don’t have the monetary resources to pay for drop fees or graduation fees on transcripts.
Blen added, “Since the funds have been donated, not a word about how they’re going to be disseminated has come from the BoT. As a result, SMAC has instigated a social media campaign to put pressure on the administration to get funds to students.
Blen further stated that SMAC has no direct contact with the Board of Trustees.
A concern for Blen is that unemployment funds end Dec. 12, 2020 and students will need those funds even more with no income coming in.