On March 31, Community College of Philadelphia held an opening reception for a 60th anniversary exhibition honoring important history and milestones from the last six decades as an institution. The event was held in the Library and Learning Commons where guests mingled, enjoyed light refreshments and perused a collection of historical photographs, memorabilia, commercials and more. In attendance at the event were current and retired faculty and staff, as well as alumni, board members, and other friends of the College.

After mingling and viewing the exhibition, guests heard opening remarks from Dr. Lisa Sanders, interim provost and vice president of Academic and Student Success, additional dialogue from Mia Fioravanti, Foundation director and vice president of Corporate Affairs for HRP Group and an account from Jeff Reed, a retired Art faculty member.

“As we reflect on six decades of history, we celebrate more than milestones,” Dr. Sanders said. “We celebrate lives changed. More than 850,000 students have come through CCP's doors, each one seeking something better: a new start, a new skill, a new future. That is the power of a community college.”

And Reed spoke directly to his experiences in the Art department. “The success of our department is really based on the success of our students,” he said. “We have former students that have gone on and done extremely well in the art community. We have students that have received a Guggenheim, a Fulbright grant and a MacArthur Grant.”

The common thread throughout the event was one of celebrating the very reason Community College of Philadelphia exists: the students. You can view the exhibition through the end of June in the Library and Learning Commons on Main Campus during regular business hours.

Julian “Jules” Lees decided to dual enroll at Community College of Phialdelphia as a high school student because he was looking for more of an academic challenge. Getting a head start on earning college credits also appealed to Jules, but his biggest priority was broadening the depth of his knowledge. He never expected that all that hard work would eventually lead to the incredible opportunity of free college for his next academic endeavor. This spring, Jules will graduate from high school not only with a diploma, but with an associate degree in Health Care Studies and a full-ride scholarship to Swarthmore College, thanks to QuestBridge, a National College Match program that gives students who excel academically an opportunity to attend one of the nation’s top institutions for free, despite their financial hardship.

“It feels like an enormous privilege to have. I'm super grateful about it,” Jules said about his scholarship. “I feel a lot of appreciation for all the professors and all the teachers that I've had that have helped me get to this moment...who have...educated me well enough to where I have these ambitions and that I felt prepared enough to apply for this opportunity.” When he applied for the scholarship, Jules felt it was a long shot.

“I really thought this was like a huge gamble,” Jules said. “I was in my AP Psych class...and all of a sudden, I just see...the email notification of, ‘Your decision has been released.’ So, I opened it. And I was met with confetti. I felt like my jaw literally dropped.” Now, with the next phase of his educational journey paid for, Jules feels a huge weight off his shoulders.

Jules is also grateful for his time at CCP and happy that he decided to pursue dual enrollment. “I'm really glad that I did it because I feel like it challenged me in a way that just purely taking high school classes would not have challenged me,” he said. He’s been involved on campus outside of the classroom, too. "At CCP, I'm involved in the Student Government Association. I'm the senator at the Northeast Regional Center. Last year, I helped orchestrate a talent show on campus, and we also had a thrift event,” Jules said.

CCP is proud to celebrate graduates of all kinds. Whether starting their journey in higher education while still in high school like Jules or returning to higher education after decades in the workforce or somewhere else, there is a place for everyone at CCP.

When Destiny Russell first started at Community College of Philadelphia, she wasn’t certain what kind of career she wanted to pursue, so she enrolled in the Liberal Arts program to give herself time to explore her options. Now, she is graduating and in the running to receive a generous scholarship toward a bachelor’s degree from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.

Destiny graduated from high school in 2020 when the world looked different and confusing, especially the world of higher education. After a few challenging years following high school, Destiny decided to enroll at CCP. “For the most part, I feel like CCP was the thing, the step that I needed,” she said. “Because after a time of deep depression, I needed to find myself again. And this was the cheapest option for me.” Destiny is a Catto Scholar and received funding through the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust Scholarship throughout her time at CCP, both of which gave her confidence that college was the right decision for her.

“Honestly, freshman year was my breakout year, because I did not believe in myself at all going into this,” she said. “But I eventually made it through because of my professors, because of the people around me.” After taking courses in the Liberal Arts program for her first year at CCP, Destiny found her passion for media. “The second year, I joined the Communication and Media Studies program...music, TV, film, everything. Those are my favorite things in the world actually.”

After graduating from the College, Destiny plans to attend either Temple University or Chestnut Hill College to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Media and Production. She said that she is grateful to her professors who pushed her and helped her see her own potential, as she might not have ever realized this passion without that support. “I really want to talk about my professors throughout the way...They were all wonderful to me. Even during the times I didn't believe in myself,” she said. “I didn't think I would have...people in my corner just cheering me, rooting me on.”

As a semifinalist for the Jack Kent Cooke scholarship, Destiny could have a large chunk of the cost of her next academic endeavor covered. When she applied to the scholarship, she didn’t realize just how life-changing it could really be. But when she started to receive outreach from colleges and universities encouraging her to apply, she realized what an honor it truly was. “That's when I was like, ‘Oh, doors are opening...this is a big deal.’”

After finishing her bachelor’s degree, Destiny wants to move somewhere like New York City or Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, likely in music. As a first generation college student, she is proud to be able to explore these career options. “[I want to] spread my wings. Because a lot of people in my family, they didn't get to do that,” she said. “[I want] to make sure my family's proud of me at the end of the day. That's all I really want.”

Mariafernanda Herrera is a CCP Dual Enrollment student at Parkway Center City Middle College and will be graduating from both high school and Community College of Philadelphia this spring, before attending Columbia University in the fall. And, she’ll be attending Columbia University on a full-ride scholarship, thanks to her hard work and dedication to her community thus far. Ultimately, Mariafernanda wants to work in a career that will allow her to help and serve as many people as she possibly can.

“I want to give back to my community and create businesses that help empower my community,” Mariafernanda said. “Especially underserved communities that don't have access to certain resources.” With this end goal in mind, Mariafernanda is planning to major in Economics at Columbia, and potentially double major in Political Science or Pre-law as well. “I want to go into Political Science because ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be the President of the United States,” Mariafernanda shared. With a double major, she can explore several of her interests.

Mariafernanda has already shown a fierce dedication to bettering her communities and even won a “Community Hero” award from the Philadelphia Phillies for doing so. “It all started when I founded my art club at Parkway,” Mariafernanda said. Starting the art club at her high school was Mariafernanda’s first experience in leadership. “And then, I founded a math tutoring club,” she said. After founding these two clubs, Mariafernanda started to look for opportunities to get involved outside of school. Eventually, she joined the Penn Rising Scholar Success Academy (PennRSSA) at University of Pennsylvania where she worked on two capstone projects, one that helped promote recycling across Northeast Philadelphia and another that helped support a water filtration system that helps underserved communities. Through all of these experiences is how Mariafernanada discovered her passion for economics. “I learned how to manage the economic side of it. And I learned that business and finance play a really big role in impacting a community,” she said.

Because of her involvement at CCP in addition to her extracurriculars at Parkway and through Penn, Mariafernanda feels ready to take on whatever opportunities come her way next. “I feel like [at] CCP, I learned so much...and CCP has prepared me, not only on an academic level, but on a personal level, because...I found myself through CCP.” Mariafernanda felt connected to her peers at CCP because they shared her passion for learning and growth. “I feel like CCP overall...gave me a purpose to continue because I was surrounded by people who also had that passion and that motivation to keep going,” she said.

CCP is proud to share this partnership with Parkway Center City Middle College and support students like Mariafernanda in fulfilling their dreams.

Lakiysha "Kesha" Tilghman, a graduating Digital Video Production student, originally became interested in audio/visual management through her church. After realizing the church needed support in this area, she stepped up and took responsibility herself. Now, she’s working on her own original documentary project thanks to an award from the Scribe Video Center’s Philadelphia Student Mediamaker Fund which gives qualifying students $1,000 to support the production of a documentary.

“I came in with just a plan of getting the knowledge to be able to do audio and visual for the church without having any issues,” Kesha said. "Now, I actually want to do more with documentary video. So, it's giving me the knowledge that I need to, one, build up my resume so that I can do it, but also the knowledge of how to go about script-writing...work[ing] with different types of equipment, how to understand the concept of working with others [and more.]”

Kesha's project is called “Unmuted: Women in a Male-Dominated Pulpit,” and it most prominently follows Bishop Juanita Fletcher, a powerful woman of faith who’s spent decades preaching in spaces that weren’t built for her voice. Through her story, and interviews with others who’ve faced similar struggles, the film explores what it means to lead, to be silenced and to speak anyway. Other subjects in the documentary include Alexis Mercado, acting director of the Octavius Catto Scholarship at CCP and David McDowell, a photographer and ex-Jehovah Witness.

“Because women, when it comes to ministry, tend to be looked at in certain box, in certain categories,” Kesha said. “Where they're not looked at and put into leadership positions outside of being maybe the Sunday school teacher.” Through her documentary, Kesha hopes to show viewers how difficult it is for women to become successful in male-dominated fields by sharing personal accounts from her subjects. 

Kesha has applied to a handful of four-year colleges and is considering continuing her education. Whether she pursues more school or not, Kesha is certain she wants to pursue more video projects. “But now I do want to do more filming,” she said. “Which, with the job I have, it actually works out well with being my daughter's home health aide.”

In addition to being a Digital Video Production major, Kesha is also a Catto Scholar and a veteran student. She is looking forward to graduating and to completing her documentary project, which is currently in the editing stage.