As Fresno college president gets promotion, vulnerable students get the shaft | Opinion

It’s title-swapping season at Fresno City College. That special time of year when administrators jockey for promotions while the college’s most vulnerable students get the shaft.

Congrats to Dr. Robert Pimentel, the soon-to-be chancellor of the West Hills Community College District following two years as president of Fresno City. And to other administrators set to receive new jobs and responsibilities as a result of his departure.

But before Pimentel returns to Coalinga, he owes a better explanation to 50 current students soon to be made homeless on the streets of Fresno. They deserve to know why FCC administrators, people who are supposed to be looking out for students instead of furthering their own careers, opted to disband a landmark program even though funding was readily available to keep it going.

Because the explanation Pimentel and his communications staff gave for the abrupt end of the Housing Opportunities Promote Education program doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. Their paranoid responses and non-answers only raise more questions.

Since 2020, some 350 academically qualified FCC students facing housing difficulties have received rental subsidies and move-in deposits through HOPE. The state-funded program also provided academic, mental health, career and financial counseling.

But now HOPE is kaput — either through negligence or willful intent — leaving dozens of students looking for refuge at emergency shelters or stuck with apartment leases they can’t afford to pay.

In late June, FCC notified those students via email that their housing subsidies would expire effective Aug. 31, despite “our dedicated efforts over the past several months to address a shortfall in funding resources.”

It took all of one day for Bee reporter Leqi Zhong to debunk that statement. While reporting her story, Zhong learned about a $620,976 state grant that could’ve been used to keep the program going and notified city college officials.

How did FCC respond? By denying the grant’s existence, twice, then demanding the information’s source (which turned out to be the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.)

Only hours later did Cris Monahan Bremer, FCC’s communications director, acknowledge to Zhong that her information regarding the $620,976 was accurate.

Except neither Monahan Bremer, nor Pimentel, would answer questions as to why California’s largest and oldest community college opted to shutter the program despite the availability of state money. Nor if the matter would be reconsidered.

Admins ‘never wanted to know’

From the outside, the situation defies logic. Why wouldn’t FCC turn over every available rock to continue housing assistance for students such as Jalyssa Jenkins-McGill, a 36-year-old mother of two?

But to those who’ve seen and experienced the inner workings, this is simply a public peek into how things operate.

“I’m not naming names, but administrators never wanted to know what was happening,” said Natalie Chavez, a former FCC instructor who created and coordinated HOPE until being laid off last month. “They never acknowledged the program or offered any institutional investment of any kind.”

HOPE began in 2020 (the initial funding kicked in just before the pandemic shutdown) and served 150 students during its 2023 peak. Chavez said she stopped accepting applications in March when it became evident there was no administrative support to continue the program.

During its four-year run, HOPE fell under the college’s Office of Educational Services & Institutional Effectiveness currently led by Vice President Dr. Ghada Al-Masri. That’s the same position Pimentel held prior to his elevation to president in 2022.

Since then, however, Chavez told me she and Pimentel haven’t exchanged “a single word” about the program or the students it served.

“It might be hard for the public to accept how administrators can be so detached from the actual work that goes on at ground level,” Chavez said. “But that’s precisely what happened.”

In addition to the $620,976 state grant, Chavez claimed there were additional potential funding sources that administrators either overlooked or didn’t care to explore. The former FCC instructor specifically pointed to “at least $1.5 million” allocated to the college by AB 132, a 2021 state law that allocated $100 million for basic needs centers across the community college system.

“Our leadership knowingly and intentionally withholds public funds for students – I’m willing to say that openly,” Chavez said. “This is part of a much larger issue at Fresno City College. (HOPE) is my corner of the world. But this is a much larger institutionalized problem.”

Pimentel’s last official day at city college is July 31. Before departing for Coalinga, he needs to be more forthcoming regarding dozens of students about to be made homeless in Fresno.