by David McClymonds
San Francisco’s educational pride: Left-right: San Francisco City College Trustees Dr. Natalie Berg, John Rizzo, Julio Ramos, Diana Munoz-Villanueva, SF Mayor Gavin Newsom, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and City College President Lawrence Wong. ( photo by David Mcclymonds )
Hundreds gathered to hear remarks from Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Mayor Gavin Newsom and other officials during the Grand Opening and Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony of City College of San Francisco’s Mission Campus Wednesday Feb. 20.
The ceremony took place in the Campus Theatre and lobby of City College’s newest satellite campus located at 1125 Valencia St in the Mission District. The new campus replaces the temporary City College Mission Campus on Alabama Street.
“It’s fabulous to have this in the Mission District, a place where our community began and where diversity is the order of the day,” House Speaker Pelosi told approximately 500 people during her ten-minute speech. “Just think of the possibilities.”
City College Chancellor Philip R. Day, Jr. welcomed the attending officials who included, besides House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and mayor Gavin Newsom, City College Board of Trustees President Lawrence Wong, Supervisor Tom Ammiano and Mission Campus Dean Carlota del Portillo.
“Today we celebrate the reality of a dream that we have pursued for 34 years–a permanent home for the Mission Campus,” Dr. del Portillo said. “The future is ours as our children and grandchildren will proudly say, ‘Si se pudo–Yes we could and we did.’”
A night view of City College of SF
“It’s not just young people that need the skills, that need the education,” Mayor Gavin Newsom said in his brief speech, “it’s all of us in this changing environment with so much uncertainty.”
The speeches of about 10 elected officials and members of City College’s administration took just under an hour and was immediately followed by a ribbon-cutting, taking place in the school’s lobby which stands back from the school’s main entrance on Valencia Street. A mariachi band played soon after the ribbon was cut by several of the speakers.
San Francisco voters approved bond funds in 1995, 2001 and 2005 needed to construct the new campus. Construction of the campus was financed by proposition A, educational facilities improvement bonds, and included a state contribution of $30 million.
The new four-story school complex took $75.6 million and two years to build. The two buildings which make up the satellite campus at 22nd and Valencia streets is just under 200,000 square feet. Classes at the Mission Campus started in August 2007, but enrollment grew to approximately 11,000 credit and noncredit students this Spring semester.
The new campus houses a child development center, a career placement and development center, graphic communications, administration of justice and business programs, science and computer labs, a bookstore, a cafe, a theater and a library.
Approximately 150 credit classes are offered at the new Mission Campus which include evening and Saturday classes. Tuition at City College is $20 per unit for California residents. Noncredit classes such as English as a Second Language and computer technology classes are offered to the public free and without required proof of citizenship.
City College of San Francisco was founded in 1935 and is the largest, single-administration community college in California. The school offers courses in more than 50 academic programs and over 100 occupational disciplines at the main campus in Ingleside and at its 10 neighborhood satellite locations. City College employs 728 full-time and 1,371 part-time faculty, teaching approximately 100,000 credit and noncredit students annually.
