The Guardsman City College of San Francsico
Vo l . 1 8 1 , Is s ue 8 | May 8 - 22 , 2026 | Sin ce 1 935 | www.t h egua rdsma n .co m
CCSF's Gap in Transparency
His Sisters' Love Letter
Swim Team Wins
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UNION EFFORTS
Student Workers Push for Union Legitimacy Student workers say their wages and limited hours make it difficult to afford living in San Francisco
PUBLIC HEALTH
City College Recovery Programs Face Funding Cut Diana Chuong Staff Writer
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Student worker Jing Shi speaks at City College's May Day rally on Ocean Campus. May 1, 2026 (Alejandra Cardenas/The Guardsman)
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Kiyoka Valdes and Marrion Cruz Staff Writer and News Editor
tudent workers at City College are struggling to afford living expenses in the city. Prices are rising, and so is the student worker movement, forming a student workers union to demand higher wages, more hours and better working conditions. The campaign was organized by Students for Justice, a student club advocating for Free City and other student rights issues.
The first community college student workers union, at Gavilan College, has inspired City College's core committee to form a union and stand in solidarity with other unions who are expressing the need for change and fairness on an administrative level, said Madison Raasch, one of the student workers union's founders. The union aspires to achieve a similar goal so that student employees can afford personal expenses. UAW 4811, the student workers union for the University of California, was able to advocate for UC student workers to receive $28 to $32 per hour.
City College student workers, under the federal work program, are paid $19.18 an hour and may work a maximum of 15 hours per week, according to the college's Office of On-Campus Student Employment. At that rate and hour cap, a student worker can earn about $1,151 over four weeks before taxes. Prices in the San Francisco-OaklandHayward area rose 1.5% from June 2024 to June 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Food prices rose 2.8% and grocery prices rose 3.5%. STUDENT WORKERS continued on page 3
he San Francisco Department of Public Health plans to strip nearly $300,000 in funding from three career training programs at City College in 2027. The programs, which train students to work in addiction and recovery, would be reduced to one cohort per year. The three programs include Addiction and Recovery Counseling (ARC), the Community Mental Health Certificate (CMHC) and Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist training. Students and faculty say the cuts will set back the Bay Area's recovery community. “If you've seen the Bay Area, we're kind of on the upswing in regards to rehabilitation from addiction,” said Wilson Ferro, a student in the ARC program. After being paroled from his prison sentence, Ferro started working at HealthRIGHT 360, assisting with patient intake. There, his supervisor suggested he become a substance use disorder counselor. The program teaches students like Ferro how to incorporate new methods to meet the needs of the community. “There are a lot of people that have been through various trauma (whether it be) systemic, family or cultural. They don't have the ability to get there, but once they do make it and get fully certified, they pay it forward,” he said. “All the great counselors, all the great therapists we have now came through here.” Olina Pau came to EMT work through the ARC instructional trainings. She described watching patients with untreated, open wounds enter clinics and being met with judgment from staff. PROGRAMS FUNDING continued on page 3
DOWNTOWN PROTEST
Students, Faculty Rally Against End of Classes at Downtown Center Opponents say the decision was made without community input and will drive away enrollment the college can't afford to lose Tom Whitehead Staff Writer
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ore than 100 students and faculty demonstrated outside City College's Downtown Center in April, pushing back against the administration's decision to stop holding classes at the Fourth and Mission streets location after this semester.
The protest, organized by the center's to the Downtown Center. A Downward Spiral Associated Student Council, drew mostly ESL With drums, whistles and hand-painted Many opposed to the closure expressed students and faculty, along with a few alumni signs, the protesters attracted the attention of chagrin at what they consider a vicious spiral and student leaders. pedestrians and passing motorists, many of of lower enrollment spurred by fewer course Malinalli Villalobos, Associated Student whom honked their horns in solidarity. offerings. Emmie Reed, a community health Council Executive Committee Vice Chancellor, Sarah Albarakani, along with her friend worker continuing her education by taking led the protesters in a short but spirited march Sarah Alsamemi, voiced hope and enthusi- classes at the Ocean Campus, said she heard from the center to Market Street, where the asm for keeping the Downtown Center open. about the protest in her poetry class and, after group crossed Fourth Street, turned mid- “I want it open every day,” Albarakani said. reading about the closure in The Guardsman, block down Yerba Buena Lane and returned “I want to speak English very well.” DOWNTOWN PROTEST continued on page 2