Preserving open access: Recognizing difference in outcomes

Commission for Two-Year Colleges
Patty Munsch, Ph.D Suffoklk County Community College Community colleges have historically been open access institutions. Open access refers to the admissions policy, by which; all students regardless of past academic performance are given the opportunity to go to college. As a result the majority of students who attend community college are not academically college-ready. Skill building, non-...

The Theater of Social Justice... Part Two

Commission for Two-Year Colleges
The Theater of Social Justice Part Two Many of the problems that have afflicted resistance movements in recent years can be attributed to the theatrics often associated with social justice – the tendency toward confrontation and performance that frequently coincides with embracing activism and advocacy as a lifestyle, as part of one’s identity. Symptoms of this orientation include an eagerness to...

The Theater of Social Justice: Part One

Commission for Two-Year Colleges
James Baldwin once wrote, “I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” This sentiment has been echoed, in various forms, by many heroes of social justice from Bertrand Russell to Howard Zinn. The logic is simple: If you love something, you work to develop and improve it. You actively challenge its...

Objectives of Social Justice

Commission for Two-Year Colleges
For those of us who regularly engage in social justice-oriented work, there is an ever present danger of becoming so engrossed in our pet projects and the identity politics that inevitably follow contentious issues, that we often lose sight of some very basic principles. This short piece is by no means designed to rebuke those who grapple with these difficulties, but rather to serve as a reminder...