Coalition rallies for African American Studies outside Fort Mason City College campus

A rally will be held Monday to protest the pending closure of the Fort Mason campus of City College of San Francisco and seek the hiring of full-time African American Studies faculty and related demands, organizers said.

The Save CCSF Centers Coalition and supporters will hold the rally at noon Monday in the parking lot at the entrance to Fort Mason, 2 Marina Blvd. According to the group’s Instagram post, the rally will also be hosted virtually — those who want to participate can send an email to saveccsfcenters@gmail.com for the Zoom meeting password.

The group says art instruction facilities at Fort Mason can’t be duplicated elsewhere, despite reassurances from the college board that no programs would suffer.

The coalition said in an announcement that it is also “demanding the hiring of a full-time African American Studies faculty, funding for the African American Resource Center, creation of an African American Studies Associate Degree, and physical space for the Black Student Union,” and the restoration of English as a second language, trade, and older adult classes.

City College was already facing budget problems, which ultimately resulted in more than 300 classes being cut from the school’s spring 2020 semester and the novel coronavirus health emergency only deepened its financial shortfall.

The coalition says that “to date, there have been 800 class cuts to the next academic year,” with little justification presented by the college board of trustees.