8:30 A.M. TO 3 P.M.
Community College of Philadelphia
Main Campus, Bonnell Building
Conference Program
The goal of this free conference is to create a meaningful dialogue around expanding the pipeline of college admission and success in Philadelphia. Emphasis will be placed on conversations that engage, educate and empower through a lens of care and equity, while acting to advance education at local, regional and national levels. View the conference program.
Conference Location
Community College of Philadelphia's Main Campus is located at 1700 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia PA, 19130. The entrance to the Bonnell Building is on 17th Street, between Spring Garden and Callowhill streets. Parking is available in the Main Garage with entrances on 17th and 18th streets.
Conference Registration
About the Conference
True transformative empowerment requires engagement and education, and the Octavius Catto Legacy Conference Conference aims to do all three.
The goal of this free conference is to create a meaningful dialogue around expanding the pipeline of college admission and success in Philadelphia. Emphasis will be placed on conversations that engage, educate and empower through a lens of care and equity, while acting to advance education at local, regional and national levels.
Born in 1839, Catto was a pioneer and the greatest civil rights leader in post-Civil War Philadelphia. He pledged that Black men would be able to freely vote and worked tirelessly to get Pennsylvania to ratify the 15th Amendment, which was accomplished in October 1870. Tragically, Catto was gunned down in 1871 as he cast his own vote on election day. Today Octavius V. Catto is remembered for progressively leading generations of leaders to fight for and create change. Through the Catto Education Project, there are many schools named in his honor, teachings and workshop classes, and scholarship programs, including Community College of Philadelphia’s Octavius Catto Scholarship. Combining last-dollar funding with special wrap-around support services, the scholarship addresses obstacles like tuition and fees, as well as burdens that hit many Philadelphians particularly hard, including costs associated with food, transportation and books.
In remembering his legacy, this conference will serve as a call to action to make education more accessible, affordable, equitable and inclusive for everyone. It is a call to rise up against the inequitable structures that continue to exist in our educational system.
“There must come a change which shall force upon this nation that course which providence seems wisely to be directing for the mutual benefit of peoples.”
—Octavius V. Catto
By attending this event, you agree to be photographed and/or filmed and give permission to use your likeness in promotional and/or marketing materials.
Community College of Philadelphia welcomes participants with disabilities. If you require an accommodation related to disability to participate in this event, please contact Erica Harrison at eharrison@ccp.edu as soon as possible to allow the College to make appropriate arrangements.