For 50 years Roxbury Community College has been offering affordable education in a town that is famous for very old, established and economically elite educational establishments. And while 50 might seem very young in the life span of a college in this college town, it’s a turning point that RCC is transforming into a three-day blockbuster event this weekend, featuring everything from food trucks to film screenings, with hip-hop performances along the way.
Jennie McDonald-Brown, executive director of development for RCC, said Roxbury has long been both the geographical and social justice center for Boston. The city has fought for the college to exist — and she’s excited it now has the opportunity to give back to its neighborhood.
“It's really a testament to this community's strength and resilience,” McDonald-Brown said. “They advocated for an institution of higher learning that was affordable and accessible for the neighborhood. And we're still here 50 years later. [The anniversary weekend] is an awesome opportunity that's going to pay homage to all of the people who made the college kind of come to be and all of the folks who have continued to contribute over the course of its 50 years.”
Mcdonald-Brown said she's enthused about sharing the college’s vision for its next 50 years, including building a new Center for Economic and Social Justice, Mayor Wu’s program that will make community college tuition free for Boston residents and continuing to find career pathways for students.
One of the things that sets RCC apart from other higher-ed institutions in the area, and that McDonald-Brown says makes RCC special, is that it’s a predominantly Black institution, with a faculty that mirrors the student body.
“This is a place that's a lot more than just the courses and the career development,” she said. “We've got a food pantry, we have mental health support, we have a program called Project Access that really provides holistic support for all the nonacademic things that really get in the way of degree completion. We have the Dropout Academy. I think there's just a lot of resources to help ensure that once folks get here, they're able to persist, they're able to finish and go on to either a four year college or onto the career pathway that they're excited about.”
The RCC 50th commemoration will kick off with an alumni panel discussion on Thursday and the RCC commencement ceremony on Friday.
Haqikah Greaves, who completed her studies at RCC while pregnant with her first child, is the commencement speaker for the RCC graduation this year. She says she’s thankful the college is supportive of helping students fulfill their dreams.
“RCC is really a good school that supports you and the moment you walk in the school you get support from the staff, they don't judge you, they're just there to help you with anything that you need,” she said. “They have so many services there for students and they always try to help them with anything that they need.”
Dr. Tariana V. Little says that RCC is exactly what she needed. As a METCO student who was bussed from Dorchester to the suburbs, at her suburban high school most of the students planned to attend a four-year university right after graduation. She, however, decided to take a different path, starting her undergraduate education at RCC.
“It was exactly what I needed,” she said. “To be educated in my community with students that are Black and brown and offer that psychological safety that is so key for minority students to feel safe and included in the classroom.”
In this spirit of inclusion, RCC is sharing a birthday with hip-hop — the genre is also celebrating its own 50th anniversary this year. Edo.G, a hip-hop artist born and raised in Roxbury, will be performing. He said it's amazing to see how RCC has grown and changed over the years and he’s looking forward to the weekend of festivities.
“I hope Roxbury always stays what it is and what I've known it,” he said. “I don't want to see it change to a point where it's unrecognizable, you know? I hope RCC is around another 50,000, years, as long as they want to be and you know, hip-hop as well.”
More information about the RCC 50th anniversary celebration can be found here.
