Two years ago, in an effort to lose weight, Bill McDowell began taking daily lunchtime strolls around the indoor walking path on the second floor of the Mint Building — one of Community College of Philadelphia’s many wellness activities which promote a culture of fitness.

Fifty pounds and five waist sizes later, McDowell understands the power of a fit-friendly work environment.

“I was surprised quite a bit at the results,” said McDowell, an employee in the registration office on the Main Campus. “I definitely enjoy it, especially in the winter when the weather is bad. There’s no excuse not to do it.”

The half-mile walking path, along with many other campus health initiatives, have earned the College national recognition as a gold-level Fit-Friendly Worksite by the American Heart Association for the fourth consecutive year. The honor acknowledges the College’s “Your Wellness Matters” initiative, which encourages and places special focus on weight management, physical activity and smoking cessation to help employees comply with a smoke-free campus in January.

Additionally, the College has implemented incentives for employees for wellness points earned. All employees will receive a booklet explaining when and how they can accrue points for over $100 in prizes.

For McDowell, the walking path served as his road to wellness. During the winter, he walked four to six loops on the path depending on how much time he had. He also gave up processed foods, but walking the path was the only exercise he did. Not only did it pay off in pounds lost, but in relationships gained.

“I consider it part of the many benefits the College offers to their employees,” McDowell said. “You get to walk through the various buildings and see what’s going on at the College and see your colleagues that you otherwise might not get to see, which makes it nice if you haven’t seen anyone for a while.”

Community College of Philadelphia welcomed a very special guest to its 2016 Respiratory Care Technology Program Completion Ceremony last week, thanks in part to a unique relationship cultivated between a student and a politician, nurtured over frequently-served meals, heartfelt chats and words of encouragement.

Despite his hectic schedule, Mayor Jim Kenney found time to stop by the College and speak to the students and their families. He attended at the invitation of graduate Jamie Sliker, who first met the mayor when he was a city councilman and she was a server at a restaurant in Old City, where Kenney is a regular. The two have been on friendly terms ever since, but even Sliker wasn’t sure if he would accept her graduation invitation– so she didn’t invite him.

“He was kind of offended that I didn’t invite him,” said Sliker, who still works at the restaurant and, for now, serves the Mayor when he comes in. “When graduation came up, he said he was going to come and he was going to say something. I was like, ‘Okay.’”

The 21 graduates, who represented all ages and stages in their professional lives, listened as Kenney thanked them for their persistence and praised the College for establishing a program that has distinguished itself over time. Since 1963, the program has graduated 766 students and currently enjoys a 100 percent pass rate at the Certified Respiratory Therapist level, compared to a national pass rate of 73 percent. Students must pass all level Board exams offered through the National Board for Respiratory Care before obtaining a professional license to practice as a respiratory therapist in Pennsylvania.

Mayor Kenney’s praise was rooted in his deep appreciation for their skills, and stemmed from witnessing first-hand the power of respiratory professionals to save lives.

The mayor shared that his 81-year-old father, James, a retired firefighter, was recently hospitalized for what was thought to be a routine procedure, but wound up in intensive care because of fluid buildup in his lungs. “We thought we were going to lose him,” he said.

Mayor Kenney marveled at how the respiratory therapists, along with the doctors and nurses, assisted his father with his breathing exercises, and eventually got him out of ICU and out of the hospital. “He’s on oxygen, which he hates, “the mayor reported, “but the fact that he’s stubborn means he’s getting better.”

The mayor reiterated to the graduates the importance of choosing careers to improve their lives and the wellbeing of the city.

“The fact that you’re entering the profession is good for you because it’s a longstanding career that makes you good money,” he said, “but it’s critical that you’re part of our medical community because it’s what keeps our city’s economy strong.”

More than 100 thoughtleaders from across the Philadelphia region gathered last month for a workforce forum at Community College of Philadelphia. The forum was sponsored by Roadmap for Growth, a multiyear initiative of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. The panel members, comprised of some of the city’s most recognized educators and business executives, shared their agendas to promote economic growth and job creation — actionable ideas that Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration can work on to bring its vision of growth into fruition.

Community College of Philadelphia’s president, Donald Guy Generals, proposed an idea that he has woven into the fabric of the College’s administration. “Facilitating relationships between the business community and the educational sector are key. For the College to maintain its rightful place as a premier institution of higher education, it must strengthen its traditional focus while embracing an expanded mission put forth by new realities. An important part of the mission is taking a primary role in workforce development, readiness and economic innovation.”

The idea was met with a hearty round of applause by community stakeholders in attendance — the politicians, educators, business and nonprofit leaders, and activists — all with a shared mission to work together to connect young people to careers. Such partnerships not only help align the needs of industries seeking skilled and trained employees, but they strengthen the pipeline of graduates to satisfy workforce demands.

In addition to Dr. Generals, panel members included Dr. William T. Hite, superintendent, School District of Philadelphia; Nicole Anderson, president, AT&T Foundation, and associate vice president of social innovation, AT&T; and Robert M. Poliseno, regional executive officer, Mid-Atlantic Region, Chubb, a global property and casualty insurer. Daniel K. Fitzpatrick, president and CEO, Citizens Bank of PA/NJ/DE/NY, also delivered remarks.

During the dialogue, panelists addressed changes in the workforce landscape. Poliseno equated the approaching retirement of baby boomers in the insurance industry to a “silver tsunami;” noting that the city’s future workforce skews younger, very often requires more training and education, and is more racially and culturally diverse.

Otis Hackney, Philadelphia’s chief education officer, pointed out that in a city with one of the highest poverty rates, the challenge is to identify how to balance the needs of the workforce while addressing issues such as high school completion rates that fall below the national average, academic proficiency and family stability. Additionally, the city must determine a process in which businesses and community colleges can work together to expand job opportunities for young people.

One of those businesses, Starbucks, has already created such pathways through the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative, a coalition of leading U.S.-based employers; it aims to provide youth who face systemic barriers to jobs and education with internships, along with part-time and full-time jobs. Recently, Starbucks partnered with Community College of Philadelphia for a job fair that drew more than 200 invited job seekers. Starbucks interviewed applicants for 150 openings on the spot.

Dr. Generals has frequently engaged in conversations with community and business leaders about ways the College can best connect with businesses to produce an educated and skilled workforce. His overriding conclusion? “We need to be more comprehensive and more organic in everything we do,” he said.

Some of the ideas highlighted included:

• Supporting a more holistic approach to education through a community schools model
• Offering more high school internships so students can learn what having a job entails
• Facilitating a more substantial dialogue between business executives and higher education leaders to better serve evolving workforce needs
• Making Philadelphia a destination for educators and teachers potentially through incentive programs
• Exposing students to potential careers — especially insurance, finance and accounting — at an early age
• Using technology to scale the impact of education at a reduced cost

The gap between workforce development and placement must be closed, Dr. Generals said. “We need to have real-time, right-now job opportunities for our students,” he said. “We can train them and get them ready, but we need to know jobs are there today to have a more effective system of workforce innovation.”

Community College of Philadelphia has served as the springboard for every professional leap Luis Torrado of Northeast Philly has made over the past 30 years.

Community College of Philadelphia enabled Torrado, a 1987 graduate, to land his first professional job drafting at one of the region’s largest electrical companies. Fast forward 27 years. Torrado, now owner of Philadelphia-based Torrado Construction, credits the College, specifically its Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, for equipping him and other graduates with the tangible and intangible tools needed to grow. And grow he has.

Torrado’s Port Richmond-based general construction firm saw revenues skyrocket from $4 million in 2012 to a $13.7 million in fiscal 2015, an increase of over 200 percent over three years, and is projected to add 50 more employees over the next five years.

That’s phenomenal growth, by any standard.

“The program gave me the confidence I needed to move forward,” said Torrado, a 2014 graduate of the Goldman Sachs program for up-and coming entrepreneurs. “I learned I was much smarter than I thought I was. I became a leader.”

Since it came to the region, 10,000 Small Businesses-Greater Philadelphia has graduated 251 area business owners, putting them on a path to sustained growth. A new study recently released by Babson College found that small business owners who complete the program in this region report creating new jobs just six months after graduating, and 61 percent report increase in revenues.

The program provides entrepreneurs with best practices and strategies to help create jobs , plan for future growth , and, in Torrado’s case, gain more confidence.

Not that Torrado was ever a shrinking violet. Even back when he was a student, he never shrunk away from achievement.

Nobody in Torrado’s close-knit family had any ties in construction. Torrado had no reputation, no references, no proven track record, which are all must-haves for success in a business that relies on referrals. But that never stopped him. He possessed a relentless work ethic, instilled by his parents, as well as a belief in himself, even in the early days when he ran his business out of his parents’ home with only two employees in the field.

“I always had a feeling I would do something,” he said.

As a college student, he also took advantage of every opportunity. In 1986, when Community College of Philadelphia made an internship available at Forest Electric Corp., one of the premiere electrical companies in Philadelphia, Torrado jumped on it.

He wound up working for Forest Electric five years and learned all operational aspects of the sprawling business. By 1996, Torrado was ready to incorporate his own firm.

Business grew slowly at first. Torrado Construction initially renovated residential properties, then graduated to commercial renovations, ink removal and painting services. The firm was getting the business, but had no cohesive blueprint for growth .

By the time he enrolled in the 10,000 Small Businesses program, “I was at a place where I was driving blind,” he says. “I was just bidding work without really focusing on where we were and where we wanted to be.”

Since completing the program, Torrado has learned, with the assistance from Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, how to put a line of financing in place, increased his knowledge of forecasts and budgets and has put more strident deadlines in place for completion of projects.

The College and the contractor have grown older and stronger together. “It felt good to contribute to a college I attended,” Torrado said.

Not to mention a College that has reinvented itself to meet the needs of successful graduates.

Forty-nine Community College of Philadelphia employees who have a combined 785 years of service were honored last week during the 32nd Annual Classified/Confidential Employee Luncheon in the Great Hall.

More than 250 employees celebrated their colleagues and friends for their continued dedication to the College and its students. Amidst a festive atmosphere filled with balloons and music, employees who had accumulated five years of service up to 40 years were recognized with applause, certificates, a lunch buffet and a special thank you from President Donald Guy Generals.

“This is my favorite event aside from graduation,” Dr. Generals said. “It’s an opportunity to say thank you to all of you who work in this space where the rubber hits the road, where the aspirations of the college are able to move forward, and our students are served in ways that enable them to be successful.”

His sentiments were echoed by the College’s Board of Trustees Vice Chair Suzanne Biemiller, who also offered heartfelt thanks to the honorees.

Linda Guertin, the College’s sole 40- year veteran listed among the ranks of classified/confident employees, received special recognition. Guertin, who serves as a cataloger in the College’s library, said the reason for her longevity is simple: “I love what I do here.”

Events such as the luncheon “bring a sense of community,” Guertin added. “I have a lot of friends here and they are all at this table. I’ve known them for years and they’re like my second family.”

Guertin’s feelings reiterated Dr. Generals’ view regarding why so many employees enjoy long tenures at Community College of Philadelphia.

“It’s a great institution to work for,” he said. “If you’re looking to do important work, make a change in the community and add value to your life, this is the place to be.”

“What foods are good for your teeth and what foods are bad?”

“What if a baby was born with a tooth? Does that count as its first set of teeth?”

“What other colors can your teeth turn besides green?”

Those were just a sampling of the questions Sandi Fisher’s fifth graders posed to Theresa Grady, Dental Hygiene program director at Community College of Philadelphia, during Grady’s visit to William Cramp Elementary School, located in the city’s Fairhill neighborhood.

The student-reporters interviewed Grady as part of their school’s partnership with Healthy NewsWorks, a Philadelphia-area nonprofit program that empowers student journalists to transform the health of their communities by producing school-based health newspapers, related media and an annual book that profiles area health leaders. The College serves as one of the sponsors of the 2016 book, “Leading Healthy Change in Our Communities 2016,” which will be distributed to schools, libraries, medical offices and other community venues.

Healthy NewsWorks currently partners with 14 public and independent K-8 schools in the Philadelphia region. And, recently, Community College of Philadelphia joined its list of community health collaborators.

The partnership with Healthy NewsWorks allows the College to expand its presence with younger audiences and share the opportunities it provides. Research shows that students who work on school newspapers in high school get better grades, earn higher scores on the ACT and get better grades as college freshmen.

Healthy NewsWorks is reaching these prospective journalists at an even younger age, introducing critical thinking skills that prepare them to live, work and engage as active citizens.

Dr. Warren Hilton, Community College of Philadelphia’s dean of Enrollment Management, said the College’s partnership with Healthy NewsWorks is symbiotic as it gives the College access to Healthy NewsWorks' growing network of children and families and offers “a unique opportunity to target students who will be successful in school,” he said. “So it makes sense.”

The young journalists at Healthy NewsWorks, now in its 13th year, focus on health and wellness issues. This year’s special topic is “Healthy Smiles.” No other allied health program at the College fits that theme better than the Dental Hygiene program, which prepares its students to become oral health clinicians and educators.

The students of Cramp Elementary came to the interview with Grady well prepared, drilling her with their rapid-fire questioning. The veteran educator was right in her element, giving thoughtful replies while sharing her knowledge as an oral health professional.

The students’ eyes widened as Grady, a Community College of Philadelphia graduate, shared that, as a child, she knew she wanted to help others by becoming a dental health professional by extracting the teeth of her friends. “They had loose teeth that were bothering them,” she said. “I used a tissue and my finger. It would bleed a little but that didn’t bother me.”

The Healthy NewsWorks student interview is part of a multi-pronged, collaborative process unlike any in scholastic journalism, said Marian Uhlman, Healthy NewsWorks’ founder and director. Students start by researching the questions they will ask, and then, after interviewing the subject, work to turn out an accurate, informational news story that is of value to their class, their school and the families in their community.

"We are really excited for the opportunity to have our student reporters engage with experts from Community College of Philadelphia," Uhlman said. "The College staff and students were incredibly helpful, well-informed, and inspiring to our young reporters."

From all indications, Grady’s presentation was a huge hit. When she asked students how many were considering a career in dental hygiene, a half dozen hands shot up. Grady then invited the entire class to tour the College, its dental hygiene clinic and talk to its dental hygiene students on the spot. They did, traveling to the College in late March.

Before class was dismissed, however, a student had one final question.

“Is your job important?” the student asked Grady.

“I would like to think so, yes,” Grady replied. “Because I’m helping my students learn and helping people with their teeth. I’m a disease-fighter.”

An inspirational week of dialogue, discussion and action marked the Fox Rothschild Center for Law and Society’s 17th annual Law and Society Week at Community College of Philadelphia, a week in which judicial ethics were explored and social justice was the rallying cry.

Law and Society Week provided students, faculty, staff and community members with updates on emerging legal issues and trends while offering practical advice from respected experts. More than two dozen workshops, lectures, panel discussions and demonstrations during the week were free and open to the public.

Among the week's highlights was Edgar Cahn, distinguished attorney, law professor and one of the nation’s foremost advocates for social justice, who delivered a talk about community equality. “It’s exciting to be here,” he said, praising the College for its longtime support of Law and Society Week. “You are doing what very few institutions are doing. You are talking about justice.”

Informative, aspirational and still a burning advocate for justice, the 81-year-old Cahn shared his transformative experience of falling in love and marrying an aspiring African American lawyer, Jean Camper, in 1957, and subsequently being subjected to discrimination, prompting him to work even harder for social justice.

In keeping with their belief that the legal system should be used as an instrument for promoting social justice, Edgar and Jean Camper Cahn (who died of breast cancer in 1991) co-founded the Antioch School of Law in the early 1970s (now renamed the David A. Clarke School of Law at the University of District of Columbia). It was the first institution to educate law students primarily through clinical training in legal services to the poor.

For some visionaries, that would be enough, but Cahn didn't stop there. His desire to involve communities in promoting systems of self-help birthed the Time Dollars project in the late 1980s, a service credit program that now has more than 70 registered programs in the United States, Great Britain and Japan. The idea behind his use of “time dollars” was to mobilize a non- market economy that recognized and rewarded reciprocal contributions of service and caring.

“It’s essentially a tax-exempt barter system, where people earn credit to help each other and use those credits to help themselves,” Cahn explained. “Say for instance you have a sick child and can’t go to class, somebody can take notes for you. It’s a new kind of extended family.”

One social justice idea begat another. The Time Dollar philosophy inspired Cahn, in the early ‘90s, to establish Youth Court, aimed to keep teenagers out of the juvenile justice system, and help them learn to negotiate and communicate better. Cahn believed that people do better when they contribute to the solution of their own problems. There are now more than 1,000 Youth Courts in the United States.

“You can’t get to justice by simply funding programs,” Cahn said. “Money alone will not solve the problem. You have to involve the people the program is designed for to try to help you come up with ideas.”

A wealth of ideas was shared during Law and Society Week. The week started with an exploration of the psychological effects of war, specifically post-traumatic stress, told through a screening of “Our Way

Home: Transitioning from the Front Lines to the Homefront.” The documentary told the homecoming stories of United States veterans from World War II to the present. It was produced by Alexis Werner, who started the nonprofit, Seeds of Hope, as a way not only to understand the war her stepfather waged in Afghanistan, but the war raging inside himself upon his return.

College students, faculty and staff were treated to a lineup of panel discussions and presentations as varied as an examination of mass incarceration through a hip hop musical (“The Last Jimmy”) to a discussion by U.S. Department of State officials about the plight of international refugees; and a discussion of recent breeches in judicial ethics and the impact they have on public perception.

“The feedback has been phenomenal,” said Kathleen Smith, J.D., director of the College’s Fox Rothschild Center for Law and Society, who founded Law and Society Week with her husband, David M.Freeman, J.D., associate professor of Social Science at the College. “Students have been bubbling all week about what they learned. It’s about engagement, and sparking interest in the bigger world.”

Community college athletics are not just about getting the next big win. Athletes do play for the love of the game, but Rogers Glipsy, athletic director at Community College of Philadelphia, says the soft skills and useful life lessons drawn from sports enrich the student experience and position players to compete in life.

The strategies learned in competition provide a foundation for fostering lifelong success and that is where the real victory lies.

Learning from Adversity

Rafiq Johnson, a 6’5” starting forward for the Colonials’ men’s basketball team is confident that the Colonials, who were crowned Eastern Pennsylvania Athletic Conference champions and are headed to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III, Region XIX playoffs for the second consecutive year, can repeat last season’s success.

The team holds a 20-5 record going into its final regular season game against Eastern University Feb. 15. Johnson believes the Colonials can duplicate the magical 2014-2015 season, when Coach Joe Rome’s 25-2 squad was ranked as high as second in the nation and advanced to the national championship in its first year of NJCAA playoff eligibility.

Johnson, a member of NJCAA Div. III championship all-tournament team, was a key contributor to last season’s success. So imagine his disappointment when a class scheduling snafu caused him to become ineligible for the first part of the season.

“I was devastated,” said Johnson, who was reinstated to the team in January. “I had so much recent success and felt obligated to help the school. But I supported my team (while ineligible) and made sure I buckled down.”

The buckle-down strategies of discipline and time management, learned at the College, have helped him on the court and off.

A Business Administration major, Johnson trained as a teller at Citizens Bank and takes a full course load while squeezing in games and practice. College is teaching him how to show up, and how to be a winner.

“Once I got to college, I learned discipline,” Johnson said. “You have to be on time. Going to away games, you have to dress a certain way and behave a certain way, so when I go out now, I dress appropriately. On the court, you have to use your head and be focused; I try to do the same thing in the classroom. Teamwork is the most important of all. My friends are into what I’m into with similar goals, and I’m learning as a teammate how valuable that can be.”

Rallying to Build Character

For Koraly Adames, sports have always served as a stress reliever, a way to balance her full academic course loads. So when the College recruited her for the club-level women’s tennis

team, the high school softball player thought, why not try something new? “I’m an athlete and I learn quickly,” she said.

Adames considered herself a “decent” tennis player; then she played two matches and lost them both by large margins. During the long rides home, Coach Evan Beilin shared conversations with Adames and teammate Noyra Torres about learning from defeat and appreciating the rewards of competition.

“It’s frustrating to lose, but we are learning about what it means to be a competitive team, “said Beilin, whose team went winless in the two matches it played. “We talk about commitment and showing up every day and understanding the value of setback and loss.”

Even in defeat, Adames learned that preparation never stops, just as it doesn’t in real life. You always strive for improvement.

Tennis “has taught me to never give up,” said Adames, a biology major whose goal is to become a pediatrician. “You’re going to fold but you have to get back up and keep going. So what, you’re the worst player on the team? You just keep going to practices. It’s the same way in school. I don’t like getting bad grades, so I’m always in the library getting the grades that I want. You always want to make the best of it, you know?”

Setting Precedent By Persevering

Fielding a women’s team sometimes presented a challenge for Coach Antowine Graham. But this season, despite their youth, inexperience and 1-15 record this season, the Colonials are honing their skills and laying a foundation for the future.

“We have young women who have never played before — it’s hard to make a basketball player within a couple of months,” Graham said. “But they don’t quit. They give you 100 percent all the time.”

The all-freshman squad realized the value of teamwork in December, when they traveled to Nanticoke, PA, and notched their first victory against Luzerne County Community College. “Everybody did their part, and it was so cool because we could see they were definitely learning. All the running and the drills we do in practice — they were able to see how it paid off,” Graham said.

Athletics has given them confidence, which they can transfer from the court to the classroom and beyond, Graham says.

When Elizabeth “Ellie” Scicchitano read the email notifying her she had been selected as a 2015 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholar, her thoughts quickly turned to her mother, who is battling Stage 4 breast cancer.

More than anything, the scholarship spurred her to stay the course on her journey to become a research oncologist and do her part to conquer the disease that has ravaged her family.

Scicchitano, 32, a second-year Biology major and mother of a 7-year-old daughter, carries a 3.72 grade point average. She is co-president of scholarships of the Rho Epsilon Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the largest and most prestigious honor society for community college students. “It’s hard to raise my daughter and go to school, but if my mother isn’t giving up, there’s no excuse for me to give up,” she said.

Scicchitano is a recipient of Coca-Cola’s Leaders of Promise Scholarship. This year, 200 recipients nationwide were selected by a panel of independent judges from more than 1,100 applicants. Winners were selected based on outstanding academic achievement, demonstrated leadership potential and essays written on leadership.

The mission of the scholarship is to help motivated students get to the finish line, and forge a career to serve others, change the world and create an enduring legacy. Scicchitano embodies that mission.

“Ellie is a tenacious woman whose ambition to succeed is fundamentally driven by a desire to be an exemplary role model to her daughter,” said Art Department chair Dr. Sarah Iepson, an associate professor who doubles as Phi Theta Kappa advisor. “I feel fortunate to have watched her grow as a student, an academic and a leader over the last two years.”

A wisp of a woman who could easily pass for a junior high school student, Scicchitano speaks with a matter-of-fact authority and world-weary wisdom that comes from witnessing her mother battle breast cancer for almost a decade.

Scicchitano’s mother was originally diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer seven years ago. “We thought we caught it,” she said. But two years ago, it returned, and had metastasized with a vengeance.

Instead of cowering in a corner, wondering whether she would be stricken next, Scicchitano did what came naturally — she studied the disease.

“I started doing research — that’s the only way I knew how to deal with it,” said Scicchitano, whose grandmother and aunt also suffered from breast cancer. “In talking to the doctors, I started toying with the idea of being an oncologist. I thought I could have some kind of impact because I knew what people went through.”

Interestingly enough, it took her mother becoming seriously ill to motivate Scicchitano to fully commit to her education and pursue her goals.

“By going to school,” she said, “I can take an irrational fear and break it down into something that can be studied…I can stop being afraid.”

The Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholarship is part of Community College of Philadelphia's Learning Without Limits campaign. As the College celebrates 50 years, Learning Without Limits will share stories of businesses, nonprofits and leaders that help students achieve their academic goals and make it to the finish line.

Jamil Watson was serving time in prison when he first met Tara Timberman, founder and coordinator of the Reentry Support Project at Community College of Philadelphia.

Timberman assured Watson that if he enrolled in the Reentry Support Project’s College REACH program, he could map out a pathway to earning his associate’s degree at the College and get the support he needed along the way.

In the spring of 2015, while still incarcerated, Watson started his first college classes. He was released in July. In December, as proud family, friends and members of the College community looked on, Watson and eight other formerly incarcerated students were recognized by Mayor-Elect Jim Kenney, College President Donald Guy Generals and Court of Common Pleas Judge Holly Ford as they received certificates of completion for their first academic semester as part of the REACH program.

Watson shared his journey at a moving ceremony during which Mayor-Elect Jim Kenney offered the students a vote of confidence. “I want to thank the College for giving us the second chance to be better fathers, brothers, husbands, boyfriends and leaders,” Watson said. “We no longer have to define ourselves by our prison ID numbers, now we’re defined by our college IDs. And we soon will be students with degrees.”

Kenney stood nearby, taking in the moment. “I want you to understand that we are committed to doing what we say,” he pledged. “We want to be there to help at every step of the way in your effort to come back into society, be productive members of society, pay taxes, raise families.” he said.

Dr. Generals praised the students for reaching the first of many milestones: “It’s important to recognize the transformation these young men have made in their lives,” he told their family, friends and supporters.

The College has been on the cutting edge in providing programs, educational access and targeted, multipronged support for returning citizens. In December, it unveiled Future Forward, an initiative designed in collaboration with District Attorney R. Seth Williams which offers eligible Philadelphians who have been charged with a non-violent felony crime an alternative to incarceration.

The REACH program, an academic initiative under the umbrella of the Reentry Support Project, made headlines in December because it provides a visible road map to a population that needs direction. Philadelphia is home to more than 300,000 citizens with criminal records. Since 2010, the Reentry Support Project has served 500 students with criminal records.

Incarceration is expensive and taxpayers pay for it. The cost to house an inmate in the Philadelphia Prison System or the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections is approximately $42,000 per year. The United States spends $80 billion a year to keep people incarcerated. For that amount America could provide such social enhancements as: pay for universal preschool for every 3- and 4-year-old; double the salary of every high school teacher; and offer free tuition at every public college and university.

During the summer of 2015, President Obama mentioned the positive contribution the Reentry Support Project has made to increasing student access to higher education in Philadelphia during his speech to the NAACP. He cited Jeff Copeland, a College alumnus who received support from the Reentry project,

as a shining example of someone with a criminal record who has gone on to achieve great academic success. Copeland recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Temple University.

The Reentry Support Project, which has been recognized by the League for Innovation, is housed under the Fox Rothschild Center for Law and Society, headed by Kathleen Smith, J.D., professor of Paralegal Studies and director of the Fox Rothschild Center for Law and Society at the College. Law is treated both as an area of study, as well as an influencer in community life. Students are encouraged to explore its effect on them. “When students see how law relates to the technology they use, the food they eat and just about every topic imaginable, that’s a real light bulb moment for them,” Smith said.