Despite getting a new haircut at Fresh Cutz on April 23, 22-year-old Darius Manney’s bank account remained unchanged.

The second-year business administration student was among the first to receive a free haircut at the grand opening of Fresh Cutz, San Diego City College’s new, free barbershop designed to serve students.

The initiative, spearheaded by President Ricky Shabazz, Vice President Marciano Perez and Director of Administrative Services Roxann Solis, aims to support male students to enroll and complete academic programs at City College.

“Most of us that are first generation, do you really want to go to the administration building?” Shabazz said. “There’s an intimidation factor.”

“When you come here, your guard is down. The barbershop is a safe zone,” Shabazz said.

For Manney, having access to a free haircut is everything. He moved to San Diego two years ago, leaving his family and friends in his hometown, Chicago.

“I live by myself,” Manney said. “I don’t have my family or anything here, so it’s nice to get a free haircut. I can spend that money on groceries.”

Shabazz envisions group, academic and personal counseling happening at the barbershop in the spirit of camaraderie.

City College counselor Kalon Bell envisions the same. He said the philosophical theory behind counseling is that counselors can’t always wait for students to approach them. By offering free services at Fresh Cutz, he knows where he needs to be to support students.

“If they’re going to be in (Fresh Cutz) it makes it easy to … go in here and maybe get a line-up myself,” Bell said. “(Now), who has their ed. plans done? Who has their classes for next semester?”

To qualify for a haircut, students must have completed their Free Application for Federal Student Aid and bring proof of completion to their appointment, which they can book through the QR code at the door.

According to Shabazz, when students book online, the system will ask them if they have completed an educational plan or talked to a counselor. If a student answers no, then those offices will reach out to students to assist them in checking off those boxes.

Fresh Cutz, located in T-154, is working in association with local professional barbers. Business owner and former City College student Glenroy Drew, 36, is one of them.

Drew has been Shabazz’s barber for about seven years. While getting a haircut, Shabazz learned Drew went on to earn his barber license at Associated Barber College upon leaving City College, where he said the program charged him approximately $15,000.

“I was like ‘Woah, we could do that at City College for free’,” the City College president said. “We’re about two years away from a barber college (at City).”

Patricia Grooms-Jones, chair of the cosmetology department, is ready to be given the green light to begin writing the curriculum.

“There’s a lot of predatory practices, loan practices, that take place in those private schools,” Grooms-Jones said.

Though services at Fresh Cutz are currently being provided by local barbers, Shabazz sees Fresh Cutz as a place where future City College barber students can intern, similar to the reduced-priced services cosmetology students offered before the pandemic.

The student-operated salons are not yet open to the public, though Grooms-Jones foresees the services will resume this fall.

According to Shabazz, Fresh Cutz was partially funded by State Block Grant funds, a one-time Covid-19 fund given to City College to rebuild enrollment and retention programs. City College received approximately $5 million from the State Block Grant funds, which they could spend over three years.

“Across the country, Black and Latino males during Covid fell out of enrollment,” he said. “So we’re trying to reengage those students to connect them to resources of the college.”

Like all California community colleges, 70% of City College’s funding is based on enrollment, according to Shabazz. The other 30% is based on the number of students with a FAFSA and educational plan.

“If we do this right and increase the number of FAFSA’s, of (educational) plans, then we should generate the revenue to sustain (Fresh Cutz),” Shabazz said.

The total cost to build Fresh Cutz was approximately $25,000, according to Director of Administrative Services, Roxann Solis.

The barbershop will offer appointments Mondays and Tuesdays, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Bell is looking forward to working with students at Fresh Cutz.

“I can bring my laptop. I can work right here. We can do a quick educational semester plan,” he said. “It’s certainly going to be unconventional, but we’re going to get it done.”