"It's a surprise, honestly, because I didn't even know this was going on," said CCP student Shamyah Jackson.
Students at Community College of Philadelphia learned the news shortly after the board made its decision Thursday morning.
"An email this morning, we found out about it," said student Jerome McClarin.
The Board of Trustees voted unanimously not to renew the contract of Donald "Guy" Generals. He'd been with the university since 2014.
Neither the board nor the university offered a reason for the decision.
In a statement to Action News, the board said, "We are deeply grateful for Dr. Generals' service to the college over the past 11 years and wish him all the best in his future endeavors."
The decision came two weeks after CCP narrowly avoided a strike by faculty and staff. College officials reached an agreement that includes free SEPTA passes for students and a commitment to looking at restoring on-campus childcare services.
"That would be nice to see," said CCP student Eugene Nathaniel.
"I hope the day care opens back up because a lot of people have kids and that's why they can't come on campus," said Jackson.
Students who've already been advocating for change on campus say they want to see the next president focus on resources for students and faculty.
"Millions of dollars come to this school from public funding and even our tuition. Yet we haven't seen any reinvestment back into the student body or the faculty," said CCP student and activist Anthony Gonzalez.
Generals was the sixth president of the college.
The Board of Trustees says it'll work for a transition that's as seamless as possible as they begin the search for a new president.
"The president who just got fired wasn't necessarily responsive to students' demands, and we pressured them and we're going to continue to pressure whoever comes next," said CCP student and activist Sultan Smalley.
The Board of Directors will begin the search for a new president.
In the meantime, they say they'll work quickly to put an interim president in place.