SAN FRANCISCO — Hundreds of community college faculty, staff and administrators have participated in several days of collaborative and motivational sessions at the American Association of Community Colleges’ Annual Conference. Dr. Walter Bumphus, AACC president and CEO, proudly stated to a crowd of more than 300 people that this is a “Camelot moment for community colleges. These really are the best of times.” He was referring to the attention and support that community colleges are receiving from businesses and all levels of government.
But the Camelot analogy also speaks to the collaborative nature of the conference. In several sessions, the attendees huddled their chairs together in circles and shared their advice and experiences. Presenters opened themselves up to learn from the audience rather than limiting themselves to a lecture-style presentation.
Marie Foster Gnage, the Chair of the AACC Board of Directors, announced that the official theme of this year’s conference is “Reimagining the Community College.” Yet, in several sessions related to diversity issues, another theme emerged: breaking down stereotypes while still embracing our diverse communities.
Dr. Joan Holmes, Special Assistant to the President at Hillsborough (Fla.) Community College, emphasized that the face of diversity has changed in community colleges in a session about chief diversity officers. In addition to racial tensions, administrators have to also consider diversity in relation to religion, sexual orientation, gender and disabilities.
Holmes enlightened her audience with stories of how faculty members have unintentionally made comments about Muslims, women, or other minority groups that resulted in serious complaints from students. As the leader of diversity issues at her school, she works closely with faculty to ensure that students are not insulted and that stereotypes are not perpetuated.
In a similar vein, several community college presidents spoke of the damaging stereotypes of Asian-American students. Dr. Audrey Yamagata-Noji refuted the premise that Asians are the “model minority” and are taking over selective four-year universities. Her statistics showed that the majority of Asian-American students attend public colleges and that their needs are often overlooked in part because of the stereotype that Asians do well in school.
