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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

President's Wednesday Message


In 1947, President Harry Truman accepted the first volume of his Commission on Higher Education. Today, the work of what became known as “the Truman Commission” is best known to all of us in community colleges because this report triggered the growth and expansion of our sector: Two-year colleges were first called “community colleges” in the pages of the Commission’s report: Higher Education for American Democracy. So, we sometimes forget that the Commission’s goals were far more broad. Among other reforms, it called for a movement away from European academic traditions to a curriculum more aligned with the needs of American democracy and for education free from racial and religious discrimination. In his remarks upon receiving the report, President Truman reminded the nation of the context that led him to create the Commission: “Most importantly … we are challenged by the need to insure that higher education shall take its proper place in our national effort to strengthen democracy at home and to improve our understanding of our friends and neighbors everywhere in the world.”

That phrase, to strengthen democracy at home and to improve our understanding of our friends and neighbors everywhere in the world, seems especially important in light of the events since last week’s election and of those that will occur this week, International Education Week.

Think of the context of Truman’s remarks, almost 70 years ago. Too often, we are encouraged to look back on this time through the golden lens of nostalgia. We shouldn’t. After the end of World War II, the country faced a very difficult economic transition marked by labor conflict, discrimination, goods and housing shortages, and rapid inflation. America was struggling. To strengthen democracy at home.

Two years earlier, President Truman, just months in office, had assumed the presidency following the death of FDR and made the decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And, the end of World War II marked the beginning of the Cold War. The world was divided. To improve our understanding of our friends and neighbors everywhere in the world.

Community colleges are often called “Democracy’s Colleges” because of our origin story, and the name fits. MCC was one of hundreds of community colleges that sprung up in the two decades following the Truman Commission report, and our values reflect our origin. Integrity. Empowerment. Excellence. Inclusiveness. Collaboration. These are the values that guide us, that make our College a community, a College in which education strengthens democracy at home and improves our understanding of our friends and neighbors everywhere in the world. There is still much work to do, but we are up to it because we have devoted our lives to the transformative power that rests in the heart of education. Thank you for living our values, building our community, and assuring that we are truly inspiring every day.

What are your thoughts on how community colleges inspire and connect community, every day? Share them in the blog.

Anne M. Kress
Office of the President
11/16/2016