Poignant Stories of Community College of Philadelphia Graduates

PHILADELPHIA, PA, May 11, 2006- More than 1,500 students graduated from Community College of Philadelphia on Sunday, May 7, and many had poignant stories of triumph against the odds.

Sharrod Williams, 23, of Logan, sat proudly in the first row during the Commencement at Temple University's Liacouras Center. Despite having lost his arms and legs to bacterial meningitis in 1992, Williams graduated majoring in Business Administration. He now plans to attend Temple University's School of Business.

Sharrod credited the faculty at Community College of Philadelphia's Northwest campus, who he said became like a second family. "As a kid, I always wanted to go to college," he said. "Being able to come here and get a family helped me."

Asher Chavannes, 27, came to the United States in 1998 from Jamaica, where he lived in a poor household with a close-knit family and a mother who urged her children to get a good education. Sunday he became the first of his 12 siblings to graduate from college. He plans to attend LaSalle University for pre-medical studies, and he aspires to attend medical school at Columbia University.

Asher said he never dwelled on his impoverished family background, just on the goal ahead. "It was not easy, but wanting to succeed led me down that path," he said.

Dr. Alex Johnson, the chancellor of Delgado Community College in New Orleans and the keynote speaker at Commencement, praised the graduates for their hard work and urged them to give something back to society.

"Hurricane Katrina elicited the largest volunteer effort in the history of the United States," Dr. Johnson said, speaking of the hurricane that devastated New Orleans. "Do not think for one instant that your commitment to the community has been fulfilled. As citizens and residents of America, you have a responsibility to make our country a better place."

Collectively, community colleges around the nation donated $100,000 to Delgado, half of which came from student government associations at the colleges, according to Dr. Johnson. He also thanked Community College of Philadelphia for taking in four Delgado students and waiving their tuition.

Dr. Johnson called on the College's graduates to exercise the same selfless spirit in using their education to help society at large. "You have the power. You have the capacity and the obligation to undertake this work," he said. "Community College of Philadelphia has provided a foundation for your response to the challenges. Recognize your education can be used to serve society," said Johnson.

Community College of Philadelphia is the largest institution of higher education in Philadelphia and has served more than 540,000 people since it began operation in 1965. More than half of the College's graduates in transfer programs continue on to four-year institutions. The College also is ranked number four nationally in the number of associate's degrees awarded to African-American students, according to the U.S. Department of Education.