Increase Education Access and establish an OCC Satellite Campus Downtown Syracuse.

By Maurice Brown, Candidate for Onondaga County Legislature, March 20th 2023

Leaders in Central New York should establish an Onondaga Community College satellite campus in downtown Syracuse. As an OCC Alum, an OCC Employee and and a resident of this county, I know this move would provide numerous benefits for our community, including increased access to education and economic opportunities for our citizens.

Currently, OCC’s main campus is not accessible for our entire community. It’s located in the town of Onondaga and is almost impossible to get to without a car. This makes it difficult for many Syracuse residents to have access to our community’s college: 1 in 4 households in the City don’t even own a car, and plenty of college-age kids can’t get a ride out to OCC for class. In my role at the college, I’ve spoken with students who are unable to earn their degree, simply because the bus schedule doesn’t allow for them to take courses in the evenings or early mornings.

This lack of accessibility is a significant hurdle for the many individuals who may not have access to reliable transportation. Studies show that lack of access to education is one of the most consistent barriers to social mobility. By relocating the college downtown—within walking distance of many neighborhoods and the Centro transit Hub—we can ensure that education is more accessible to all members of our community.

With the arrival of Micron, and the growth of our health programs we need to ensure everyone in our community has access to those opportunities. This isn’t much of a stretch, OCC already has a satellite campus in Liverpool because of the high population in our northern suburbs. If we’re serious about making education accessible for all Central New Yorkers, we need to do the same for the City of Syracuse.

And this won’t just benefit OCC students—it will also help downtown Syracuse. Employers like the startups at the Tech Garden could more easily recruit new talent, and all the foot traffic from students, staff, and professors would support downtown businesses.

I urge our leaders at all levels of government to work with SUNY to expand OCC to our downtown area. This move would not only provide greater access to education for our citizens but also help to give city residents a fair chance at upward mobility in order to take control of their lives for the better.

Sincerely,

Maurice Mo Brown

Candidate for Onondaga County Legislature