The Associated Students of Highline College (ASHC) hosted an open mic yesterday for students to share their voices in concern directly with Highline’s Executive Cabinet (EC). The message these students received was clear: We know, get over it.

Highline’s 2025 fall quarter has been met with its fair share of obstacles. From losing Title III funding, to the rising cost of living in the area, students have been under months of duress.

Besides a select few members of the EC, apathy was seemingly the default – a surprising contrast to the vigor and emotion given by many students. At the day’s forum, hard hitting questions were brought to the table, issues such as support after Title III losses, scrutiny over long wait times with the financial aid department, student concerns ran the gambit. Yet, many members of the cabinet choose to side-step actual responses to these matters. 

Best exemplified by this was the group’s leader President of Highline College Dr. Mosby. Not only was Dr. Mosby the only member of EC that was virtually attending the day’s event via Zoom, he was also seemingly the least engaged. Multiple times during the question and answer segment, Dr. Mosby turned his camera off. Highline’s President could also be seen scrolling on his phone during the day’s events, as was evident by the screen’s light on his face.

It was unclear if Dr. Mosby was searching for relevant information, but the president missed a question specifically directed at him. While other EC members awkwardly brushed past this, the student body was not amused. 

A student commentator, who spoke of his concerns over Financial Aid response times, shared his take-away from the meeting saying, “Typically when you talk to the cabinet you get that response of like we’re doing something about it but we won’t tell you what.” 

This vague non-answer answer was a theme of the day’s meeting, specifically surrounding ongoing issues of safety. A student asked the following question: “Considering the current political climate, some of our students might feel a little bit vulnerable. Considering Highline College is open during operating hours to the public, what measures are in place to ensure the safety of students, staff, and faculty in this current political state?” 

After a pause for Dr. Mosby to take the lead, Tim Wyre, Chief Information Officer, shared, “Public Safety has been thinking on this issue…we’re keeping some details just close (to the chest) but we do have plans.” No details were given for when these plans would be shared to the affected parties, or current resources available to those concerned. 

Unprepared responses such as this are confusing, especially as the majority of questions were shared with EC beforehand, as detailed by the ASHC. However, potentially most harrowing of all, was the response to Victorious, a student commentator who shared, “I’ve been a Highline College student for a few years now. This is actually my last year.” She then began to detail the weeks-long process she had in trying to communicate with the Financial Aid office at the start of the fall quarter: “I was told [by Financial Aid] there is a different way of doing things. 

“There was a statement form that you could fill out saying, everything has stayed the same, and that nothing has changed. I had filled that out, but I was [told] there were still things that needed to be done on my account. So I emailed financial aid a few times, but I never got a response. 

“I came down [to their office] and I stayed with other students, maybe 3-4 hours a day waiting to be seen…I [then was told] that I was not eligible for Financial Aid. I never got an email, or any update that I couldn’t get Financial Aid. So I asked them why?” Victorious was told there was a discrepancy in her transcript, after correcting this with her teacher, she returned to their office.

“At that point, I had been a week or two into the [fall] quarter already. I kept getting dropped from my classes, and I had to just keep re-enrolling…But even then, I never got a hold on my account or anything, so I had to just continue to keep getting dropped…A TRiO advisor had to put a hold on my account, until the funds kicked in.” In the end, TRiO, a separate department, was able to fix this issue. 

After 30 seconds of looking around at the others to see who would take on the question, Dr. Jamilyn Penn, Vice President of Student Affairs answered, “Thank you Victorious, I hear what you’re saying and I understand. Like I said earlier, dealing with Financial Aid is challenging and everyone has a different lived experience with it.” Other than congratulating Victorious on her last year in school, no comment was made to address the underlying concern.  

Due to time constraints not all student questions were answered at the day’s forum. ASHC President Jasmine Nyabigo, reassured students that the remaining questions would be sent to EC, and responses would be forwarded to the entire student body. 

While these responses are yet to be seen, Vice President of Human Resources Melanie Lawson gave the most validating response to the day’s queries: “We see you, we hear you and we’re fighting like hell to protect you to the best of our ability.”

While answers like this were few and far between, for Highline’s sake, may this sentiment prevail.