Made for Our Times: Mobility, Vibrancy, and the Next 123 Years of the Community College Movement

By Pam Eddinger, President, Bunker Hill Community College

During my 11 years at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, Massachusetts, I have received many visits from global educators curious about the uniquely American phenomenon of the Community College. In our exchanges, we inevitably observe that we are a place that prepares individuals for the future of work, particularly those from communities traditionally marginalized by the higher education system. In the almost 123 years since our movement’s founding in Joliet, Illinois, community colleges have bridged the demand for educated workers as society advanced, from the agrarian to the industrial age and into the information age of today. We are ever-evolving, ever-adapting, and always made for our times.

Our practical magic is the ability to see the strengths of our marginalized learners through the challenges of their complex lives and to deliver an education that promises career and economic mobility. We are also attuned to industry and labor trends. This responsiveness to social and labor needs has driven our reinvention with each wave of change in student demographics and with each stage of advancement in the world of work.

Our movement grew through the middle of the 20^th century as the industrial age opened pathways to college and skilled work to more people than ever. The recognition of the community colleges in the 80s and 90s as workforce and economic development powerhouses as well as transfer preparation colleges prefigured the community college mission today: We are a hub at a crossroad of social sectors, where learners seek hope and advancement, where employers mine talent for a future workforce, where social services and support knit together communities, and where newcomers and long-time residents alike bring their culture and experiences to form new social networks and to find common ground.

Bunker Hill Community College has been that hub for the last decade. Some 16,000 learners come through our doors each year from Boston and neighboring cities. We are diverse in race, ethnicity, and language: About a quarter white, a quarter Black, a quarter Latinx, 15% API, and 10% a mixture of all those wonderful cultures. Two-thirds of the learners are adults, most work full-time, three out of five are parents, and a good portion are single parents. 77% of our learners are living in the lowest two-quintile of income, more than half are food insecure, and 14%…