Community College of Philadelphia unveils new logo, colors and tagline for rebrand

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Community College of Philadelphia unveiled a new logo incorporating the blue and yellow colors of the city flag, as well as black, and a new tagline: “Rise from within.”

The rebranded logo features a light blue dot at the top of a prominent “P” for Philadelphia, which the school said signifies the ability of CCP’s students to rise.

The new look consists of three different shapes of the letter P held together by the number 1, symbolizing the individual and collective strength of “one community, one college and one city.”

According to CCP, about 92% of the school’s students live in the Philadelphia area and a similar percentage of alumni are employed within Greater Philadelphia.

“The rebrand is an attempt to distinguish CCP among the institutions of higher education in Philadelphia,” said Donald Guy Generals, president of CCP. “The rebrand is important, but it’s the substance behind the brand that we are most excited about. I think we’ll capture Philadelphia’s attention with the messaging and new look.”

Shannon McLaughlin Rooney, vice president of strategic communications who led the effort with the school’s marketing team, said it was the fruit of more than two years of work by staff, students, faculty, alumni, trustees and city officials.

“Even in a city full of institutions of higher education, CCP is something really special,” Rooney said. “As the largest public institution of higher education in all of Philadelphia, we are so many things to so many people, and we have been for 60 years now.”

It was the first rebrand for the college since 2006 and cost several thousand dollars, a CCP spokesperson said.

A block party on 17th Street in the Spring Garden neighborhood, where CCP is located, saw the festivities kick off with a drum band and stilt walkers, along with “Roary,” mascot for the school’s sports teams. There was a live DJ and food donated by local vendors, some of whom participated in the school’s business initiatives. CCP alumnus and Power 99 radio personality Mutha Knows served as the master of ceremonies.

Teresa Lundy, principal of TML Communications, said the rebrand is a good idea.

“It seems from the outside looking in that they are targeting the younger generation, and you can tell that by their curriculum, such as technology, health care and creative design,” Lundy said.

“We have to pay attention to it to make sure it works for the demographic at large. We have to also make sure that the students are prepared to receive the design and welcome it.”

Sabriya Marshall, a health care student at CCP who was part of the focus groups for the rebrand, described the new look as bold and said it represents what CCP has meant to the city.

The rebrand comes at a busy time for CCP.

Last week, the school signed an agreement with Lincoln University, so that qualified graduates can transfer to CCP’s baccalaureate accelerated associate nursing degree program.

In March, Mayor Cherelle Parker said the city would partner with CCP and the School District of Philadelphia to create a “municipal academy” to train high school students for hard-to-fill city jobs.

In January, Gov. Josh Shapiro said his administration plans to reorganize the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which includes state-owned colleges and the Commonwealth’s 15 community colleges.

Already CCP, which confers two-year associate degrees, has agreements with all state-owned universities and many other universities, so its graduates can make seamless transfers to four-year universities.

At CCP, there are certificate programs for bookkeeping, dialysis and pharmacy technicians. In addition, the school offers courses in the culinary arts, architecture, construction and automobiles.

The rebrand also comes at a time when college costs are rising and many parents and students are seeking affordability.

According to Community College Review, the average cost of community college in Pennsylvania is $9,911 a year. (The cost at CCP is less than that.) By comparison, the average cost of a four-year college in Pennsylvania is $14,224, according to collegetuitioncompare.com.

“CCP is a critical part of the infrastructure of the city of Philadelphia. The college is critical to the lifeblood of this city,” said State Rep. Jordan Harris, who spoke at the event. “For decades, CCP has done a phenomenal job of taking people and giving them the credentials necessary to help them take care of their families, to help them expand their knowledge base and move into their careers.”

Harris said his grandmother worked during the day and attended CCP at night, where she graduated and went on the earn a bachelor’s degree at Temple University. She served the city’s school district as a teacher for 30 years.

She encouraged his mother to get a college degree, who in turn encouraged him to get his college degrees.

Today, Harris is majority chairman of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he said he has “a seat at the table” in discussions about the state’s $48 million budget.

“All of that started because CCP gave my grandmother an opportunity to educate herself and move her family along,” Harris said. “That is what this university does for thousands of people across the city of Philadelphia, and it has done so for decades.”