An embattled City College of San Francisco will lose it accreditation effective July 31, 2014, a state accrediting commission has ruled.

In the coming weeks, a state appointed trustee will assume full decision-making powers to run the college, appeal the decision, and act on any of the recommendations that didn’t meet the satisfaction of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).

Loss of accreditation means that City College loses access to state and federal funding, and courses will no longer be transferable to four-year institutions.

For the moment, students enrolled through July 31, 2014 will not be affected. But, if after this date the decision stands, the college could either be merged with another community college district or close altogether.

At press time, the announcement sent shock waves throughout San Francisco with city officials vowing to put all their resources to save City College. Faculty and students are preparing for large-scale demonstrations on and off the campus.

No doubt this is a dark day for San Francisco that has relied on the college to train its paramedics, firefighters, police officers, culinary workers, custodians, and biotech engineers, just to name a few. San Francisco depends on a trained workforce to meet the service needs of its residents.

Lest we forget that City College has consistently served to successfully integrate the immigrant community into city life through its English language courses, citizenship courses and vocational training courses.

Likewise, the college, with its countless transfer courses, has created successful pathways for students seeking four-year degrees.

Lastly, the college has fostered some very prominent people like State Supreme Court Justice Allen Broussard, actor Danny Glover, actress Lee Meriwether, publisher Monica Lozano, basketball star Bill Calhoun, as well as noted photographer and filmmaker Lisa Law.

So, let’s not give up on City College. It is truly a treasured San Francisco jewel that needs to be preserved. In the coming months we must all be ready to make our voices heard — SAVE CITY COLLEGE!

There will be a protest Tuesday, July 9, at 4 p.m. at 4th and Mission streets. Join us, and organize to Save City College!