Community Colleges, the Media, and the Rhetoric of Inevitability

Abstract

Community college practitioners frequently bemoan negative or stereotypical representations of community college students and community college life in general in the popular media. Saturday Night Live skits and satirical news reports in The Onion enjoy poking fun at community colleges, while mainstream news outlets often fail to challenge stereotypes of community colleges as lacking academic rigor. Those frustrated by these portrayals should know that the press overwhelmingly lauded 2 year colleges during the early decades of the "junior college" movement. Such reporting celebrated the new institutions' missions, and praised their speedy growth as components of public education. In fact, the press often implied that these new campuses reflected an inevitable step in the evolution of American higher education. This paper analyzes media reports about public 2 year colleges (at the time called junior colleges) published during the 1920s and 1930s. The term junior college is used in this historical review since the term was common during the era in question.Each year the National Council of Teachers of English's Two-Year College Assocation (TYCA), presents fame and shame awards to recognize notable mentions of community colleges in the media. The fame award goes to an affirmative representation that highlights the 2 year mission, while the shame award goes to a negative or stereotypical representation. The organization expresses appreciation for the good press generated by news stories that tout the positive effects of community colleges and counter the myths and derogatory jokes that circulate about 2 year colleges. Those invested in community colleges and their popular portrayal may be curious to know that during the 1920s-30s, when 2 year colleges first began to flourish, magazines published numerous accounts of the new colleges. Those decades saw enrollment at junior colleges climb rapidly from 8,102

Challenges and Opportunities for Improving Community College Student Success

“…Since the founding of the public 2-year sector, many have cast this sector as lesser than its counterparts. For example, although during the early decades of the formation of community colleges, the media primarily reported positively on their speedy growth (DeGenaro, 2006), others had already begun to lament their existence. Writing in Educational Record in 1968, W. B. Devall described community colleges as places that enforce “continued dependency, unrealistic aspirations, and wasted ‘general education’ ” (p. 169).…”

Perceptions from Students and the Community about Community Colleges

“…With more students investigating their post high school educational choice, and other students who are not typical college freshmen, community colleges Downloaded by [Eindhoven Technical University] at 10:00 17 November 2014 will yet evolve again to accommodate the change. Colleges have continually evolved to meet the needs of society reflecting their surrounding community (DeGenaro 2006). What is yet to be answered is if the four-year program partnerships will benefit the perception of the community college and if this change is something the community will perceive as positive.…”

Images of Fictional Community College Students

“…The information that students and parents use in making a college choice are just as varied as the reasons they choose to attend community colleges; however, community colleges often face the challenge of not meeting the information needs of potential students and parents in adapting to preferred information sources and delivery (Goff, Patino, & Jackson, 2004). Just as popular print media served a function in disseminating information about community colleges to the public in the 1920s and 1930s (DeGenaro, 2006), so too do contemporary works of fiction.…”

“…Conducting a historical analysis, DeGenaro (2006) looked at the ways ''junior colleges'' were depicted in popular print media during the 1920s and 1930s. (DeGenaro explains in his analysis that the term junior colleges was used to describe two-year institutions' relation to four-year institutions.)…”