Toni Nathaniel Harp

Harp Sees ‘Irrefutable’ Evidence of Higher Education Progress in New Haven

State Senator Toni N. Harp (D-New Haven) today witnessed and received progress reports from two of New Haven’s most recent examples of improved higher education options for young people in the city and nearby towns. Senator Harp toured the future home of what will soon be a consolidated Gateway Community College, and visited the University of New Haven, a new partner with New Haven’s Engineering and Science University Magnet School.

Senator Harp said at each stop she was more encouraged about the prospects for area students who choose to pursue a post-secondary education close to home.

“Once the consolidation of Gateway Community College is complete there will be 50,000 to 60,000 more square feet of classrooms, labs, and learning space for students and after the tour I received today, it’s clear to me this is going to be a first-rate community college facility,” Senator Harp said. “Gateway already boasts the highest enrollment of all the state’s community colleges at its Long Wharf and North Haven campuses; this expansion/consolidation project will only enhance its ability to attract students.”

A short while later Senator Harp took part in a signing ceremony at the University of New Haven, cementing a new partnership between the university and New Haven’s Engineering and Science University Magnet School, through which high school students can take college-level science and math courses tuition-free.

“In public education, the benefits of collaboration have never been more imperative: team teaching yields improved results in classroom settings, internships and work/study programs in partnership with the private sector provide real world experience for students, and now programs like this one, in which high school students will have early access to a host of post-secondary opportunities,” Senator Toni N. Harp (D-New Haven) said. “I’m very excited about the prospects for this arrangement, because this type of collaboration is particularly critical in fields where a background in science and engineering is necessary, fields in which we have admittedly fallen behind.”

“My two-fold experiences today provides irrefutable evidence about the bright, immediate future for post-secondary education in the greater New Haven area,” Senator Harp added.

Senator Harp has served in the state Senate since 1993. She is the Senate chair of the legislature’s Appropriations Committee, a member of the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee and a member of the Legislative Management Committee as well.