PULLMAN — A former mayoral aide will lead Olive-Harvey City College on an interim basis, the new leader of the City Colleges of Chicago announced Monday.
Felicia Davis, who once served as Mayor Rahm Emanuel's deputy chief of staff and was a Chicago Police officer, will lead the city college in Pullman and the effort to build a $45 million, 200,000-square-foot training center stalled by the impasse over the state budget.
"I’m really excited," Davis said. "I’m excited about the vote of confidence from Chancellor Salgado and I’m excited to go and start to really work with the community, and to make Olive Harvey the best college it can be."
As executive director of the Public Buildings Commission, Davis was responsible for the management of public construction projects, making her "an uncanny fit to lead Olive-Harvey," announced Chancellor Juan Salgado, whose first day as the head of the seven community colleges in Chicago was Monday.
Once built, the center will train students for 28,000 jobs in the fields of transportation, distribution and logistics over the next decade.
Davis grew up in Altgeld Gardens and Roseland, and both her mother and sister attended Olive-Harvey College, she said.
In the earlier part of Davis' career, she worked in the Englewood police district as a detective for 10 years.
She was a nontraditional college student and was the first in her family to go to college. Davis said she took classes while working and while raising her children. Eventually, she landed a job at Kendall College, which took her down another career path.
"The president at the time saw something in me and recruited me to work at that college," Davis said.
By growing up on the far South Side and graduating from Julian High School, Davis said she understands the background of many of the students they'll be recruiting.
"My mother taught me a long time ago that education is important and she said 'If I tell you that, I have to show you,' and she did that by going back to school," Davis said. "I want to show all the other young people in Chicago, and on South Side that we will walk that walk with them. We’re not just talking. We’ve walked that walk and we’ll walk it with them to make sure they achieve their educational dreams."
The plan is to build bridges between high schools and Olive Harvey, Davis said.
"I think a lot of the students in Chicago are just like I was and I think it’s our job at City Colleges to go out and talk about our programs and make sure that students understand the options they have before them," she said. "Many of them are first time college students, so they don’t have family members who’ve done it before and so they need someone to kind of show them the ropes."
Salgado, 48, replaced Cheryl Hyman, who stepped down after six years.
A search is under way to find a permanent leader for Olive-Harvey College, officials said. Davis' appointment must be confirmed by the City Colleges Board of Trustees.
Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) said that he really would like to see the logistics center completed.
“I think paramount importance is getting that center built," he said. "That logistics center means thousands of jobs for individuals in our communities and for it to be stalled by the governor’s office playing politics is a disgrace."
