The Community College as an Anchor Institution

When I was a sophomore in college, I was majoring in business and working at a marketing company. I managed secret shoppers in an area in Southern California for Domino’s Pizza. Thanks to me, the company knew their pizzas were delivered on time at an appropriate temperature and with toppings evenly distributed across the product. I suddenly realized that my image of being a leader needed to be more than simply wearing pumps, carrying a briefcase, and feeling important. I needed to something that was important – something that had an impact on others. I changed my major to education, and I never looked back.

The wonderful thing about education is that its impact is two-fold. We have the privilege of transforming the lives of those whom we teach, and we also play a role in transforming the communities in which we serve. In The School and Society, Dewey addresses the social role that education plays:

We must conceive of them (school work) in their social significance, as types of the processes by which society keeps itself going, as agencies for bringing home to the child some of the primal necessities of community life, and as ways in which these needs have been met by the growing insight and ingenuity of man (sic); in short, as instrumentalities through which the school itself shall be made a genuine form of active community life, instead of a place set apart to learn lessons. (p.14)

This role becomes even more important for colleges and universities – at least for those we identify as anchor institutions within communities. Years ago, a dear colleague of mine, David Callejo-Pérez, and I wrote a book together – The Red Light in the Ivory Tower. In the book, we distinguish between three categories of colleges: prestigious, prestige-seeking, and reputation-oriented. It has been more than a decade since we wrote that book. Since then, the role of reputation-oriented institutions has grown even more. Among the reputation-oriented institutions are those characterized as anchor institutions – colleges that are clearly anchored within their communities and serve roles far beyond providing degrees.

While many point to community colleges as anchor institutions within rural communities, I believe their role is equally as important in all communities. They maintain meaningful and productive partnerships with local industry to respond to workforce needs. They can develop credentials alongside degree programs to address those industry needs. They provide a robust academic bridge from high schools for students to earn college credits, and they provide a starting point for many before moving on to a four-year institution. They are positioned to contribute to the civic, cultural, and social well-being of their communities in ways that other institutions may not have the capacity or mission to do so given the additional pressures four-year and research universities face with responsibilities related to publishing and graduate education.

Community colleges provide a region with knowledge capital, economic stability, workforce training, and a hub for innovation and engagement within the community. To truly serve as an anchor within the community, access is key. Who within the community has access to the benefits of this hub? Do students, by virtue of paying tuition in the fall, lose access to the community in the spring if they are unable to pay tuition again? Are they fully cut off from association from the community? What about high school students who are curious about attending college? To what degree do they have access to services and events at the college? How might community members benefit from the college in their back yard?

I ask these questions as I think about a school my own daughters attended years ago: Skyview Elementary in Bellevue, Kentucky. The principal at Skyview determined that the school would be the anchor of that community. All children were served at Skyview. No child brought supplies to school. She did not want some students to have elaborate Trapper Keepers while others had whatever their families could find at a thrift store. The school provided all supplies for all students. No child paid for after school care. She wanted to ensure all children, regardless of their financial status, had a safe place to be at the end of the day. While other elementary schools in Northern Kentucky offered orchestra after school for children whose parents could arrange transportation, this principal made sure orchestra was taught during the day, so transportation was not an issue.

The principal did not limit her vision of service to students. She made Skyview Elementary the anchor of the community of Bellevue, Kentucky. During the summers, the school offered lunch every day. Anyone in the community – not just the children – who was hungry could come to the school to eat. On Wednesdays in the summer, a bus would take community members to the movie theatre in Newport to see a movie for free in the afternoon. It was a way to help many get out of the heat in a community where few had air conditioning.

Some might argue that free lunches and movies for community members have nothing to do with educating children. I disagree. As educators, we are honored to change lives and change communities. It is the responsibility and privilege of our calling. As anchor institutions, community colleges can work with their constituents to imagine how to best serve their communities as anchors. Hopefully, we can achieve what Dewey describes:

The desired transformation is not difficult to define in a formal way.  It signifies a society in which every person shall be occupied in something which makes the lives of others better worth living, and which accordingly makes the ties which bind persons together more perceptible – which breaks down the barriers of distance between them. (Democracy in Education, p. 316)