League for Innovation in the Community College January 2019 | Page 8

COMMUNITY COL
Historical and Contemporary Fixation Upon Access
T
he traditional mission of the community college flows
out of several principles and characteristics of the
institution, its local communities, and its students.
These principles have included the community nature or
orientation of the institution—derived in part from the Truman
(or President’s) Commission’s 1947 report, Higher Education
for Democracy—which tied the community college to national
democratic aspirations, found in terms such as “democracy’s
college” and “democracy’s open door.” Other non-elitist
characteristics, such as the comprehensive curriculum, student
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League for Innovation in the Community College Innovatus
From Access
focus, and community orientation, have served, for decades,
to provide a foundation for the mission of the institution. From
these democratic aspirations, the open-access nature of the
community college was and remains the prime identifiable
characteristic of community colleges. Indeed, the access
principle—open access to further education and training for
adults (and those adolescents who aspire to postsecondary
education)—is central to all community colleges, and no doubt
is implicit in the community college mission and in community
college mission statements.