American politics are divisive. In this election year, the lines are clearly drawn, and compromise is not on the agenda. I have written about the community college leader’s role in finding compromise on campus. Perhaps during an election cycle, it is more important than ever to model the importance of collaboration toward a common goal when personal desires are set aside for the good of the collective whole.
In Washington, D.C., it can be especially difficult to maintain a place in the center of the aisle. Like you, we must keep students in mind when working on policies and bills that impact the community college sector. But we also must keep our personal political opinions to ourselves. In fact, I believe it is important that as leaders, we maintain a certain neutrality or, at the very least, a willingness to actively listen to all sides of an issue. Ensuring that all parties are heard and respected while collaborating will help you to build a sustainable compromise in most situations.
In our case, we work with officials from every political affiliation to advance the community college sector. Despite the ideological division that is so prevalent, community colleges seem to be a nexus of positivity across the political aisle.
This article comes from the August/September issue of the Community College Journal, published by the American Association of Community Colleges since 1930.
In a recent study from New America about the perception of higher education, more than eight in 10 Americans (82%) feel comfortable with their taxpayer dollars going to community colleges, compared to 69% for public four-year universities, according to the survey. Also, nearly six in 10 Americans (58%) agree that states and the federal government underfund public two-year colleges, compared to 50% who say the same about public funding for public four-year institutions.
More than 80% of respondents approve of the work that the nation’s community colleges are doing. It is a tremendous statistic and speaks directly to the work that you do on campus every day. It also helps us to usher in a new era of the community college. No more are we a “best kept secret” but instead we are a partner in ensuring that all Americans can access higher education and shape their own future.
We will soon welcome and provide our support to a new presidential administration. Our job becomes one of transition to ensure that community colleges are a continued topic of conversation, policy and laws favorable to the more than 10 million students you serve each year. We must remain vigilant in our advocacy and unified in our collective voice.
In that collective voice, we are strong. Community colleges serve almost half of the nation’s undergraduates with about half of funding received by four-year institutions. In the transition to the new presidential administration, we must be able to capture the totality of that voice to ensure that the story of our community colleges is bolstered by the data as we continue to build the momentum of the current overwhelmingly positive perception of community colleges across the country.
That perception is because of you and the dedicated teams that serve with you to advance student success. The story we will tell is your story and I have full confidence that it will be heard across ideologies and aisles no matter what happens in the general election.
