“Where did you go to high school?” one Baltimore native often asks another.

I went to City College, as many of you know.

Yesterday, I went to the school’s annual Hall of Fame ceremony.

I was inducted a dozen years ago. That earned me a seat on the stage.

Class banners were hung on the walls of the auditorium.

The 1954 banner caught my eye. That was the year that Brown v. Board of Education was decided.

Thurgood Marshall argued that case. If Baltimore’s schools were not segregated when he was a student, I said to myself, he would have gone to City.

The first women graduates walked across the stage in 1978.

Carnitra White ‘87, one of this year’s inductees, is now the Executive Director of the Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services.

Before the ceremony, she reminded me that we had worked together on social welfare issues over the years.

When she gave her speech, she asked the students if, like her, they were having trouble in Chemistry.

The response was nearly unanimous.

“Like myself, are you from a single-parent family?” she continued.

Nearly half the students responded.

I’m going to call Director White on Monday to discuss what effect that may or may not have on their education.

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I left the ceremony shortly before it ended to meet a friend for lunch.

My car was parked near the main entrance to the school.

The doors were wide open. I could hear the school song.

I walked back inside and stood in the back of the auditorium.

“City Forever, we’ll praise her to the skies. “

It was amazing!