Staff Editorial

City College has been severed down the middle by the all-too familiar blade of dissonance.

First blood was drawn when our accreditation first came into question in 2013, and since then the blade has driven deeper into the college’s body as enrollment plummeted and trust between faculty and administration dwindled.

The burden of these wounds is ultimately felt in the heart of the students.

Since 1935, San Francisco has relied on City College not just for an affordable path to higher education, but as an institution to nourish lifelong learning and as an invaluable resource for immigrants to learn English.

It is not uncommon at City College for recent high school graduates seeking to transfer to four-year schools to attend the same classes as retirees looking to follow their passions for arts.

City College of San Francisco is a special institution. The nation is looking to us to set a precedent for others to follow.

But students here look at a high wall of odds stacked against them.

They face higher textbook costs and higher rents, especially in the Bay Area, than ever before. The universities they apply to are more impacted and therefore more competitive than ever.

Student debt continues to rise and we are faced with the prospects of working minimum wage jobs or taking on enormous sums of debt.

Is it any wonder students are buckling under the weight? We walk through the world fighting for a small place in it and it is daunting.

We are expected to know what we want to do with the rest of lives. Now.

Everything in the modern world is designed to happen now, but we forget that true genius, true art and true magnificence take time to cultivate.