COMMUNITY COLLEGES, A PRESIDENT'S VIEW.
By Thomas E. O'Connell '50. Urbana: University of IllinoisPress, 1968. $5.50.
Early in this remarkable and deceptively slim book Berkshire Community College President Tom O'Connell quotes Robert Hutchins' view of the typical community college: "Its heart is in the right place; its head does not work very well."
This book proves that not only is Tom O'Connell's heart in the right place but his head works very well indeed. So does Berkshire Community College, to judge from the faith the town fathers of Pittsfield (Mass.) have developed in it over the eight years of its existence. This book is largely the story of that college and what Tom O'Connell has learned about such institutions in the past eight years. As such it might be merely an interesting story and a source book for specialized educators were it not for the crucial role that community colleges are apparently destined to play in higher education in the United States. O'Connell notes that last year in California 75 per cent of all freshmen were in community colleges, and he cites a study indicating that by 1970 three out of four high school graduates in the nation who go on to higher education will enroll in two-year institutions. Statistics like these make it important for all of us as parents and community members to be informed about this rapidly growing educational phenomenon.
Like the community colleges it describes, President O'Connell's book is a multi-purpose affair: it is for the general reader a lucid, brief, and entertaining explanation of what a community college is, what its advantages and disadvantages are, what its students and faculty are like, and what role it can play in the community. For specialized readers - educators, and local and state administrators — it is a practical guide on "How to Start a Community College." It is a credit to Tom O'Connell's sensitivity and writing skill that his book manages to address itself intelligently to both audiences without talking down to one or boring the other.
While the author gives full credit to the important roles played by faculty, students, and townspeople in the birth of a community college, what will come through for most readers is the absolutely crucial role of the president. It is not surprising, perhaps, that the chapter dealing with this subject is among the most interesting and most authoritative in the book.
When O'Connell accepted the Berkshire presidency in 1960 he was not at all certain that community colleges were either viable or desirable institutions. Eight years later there is no doubt in his mind that such institutions represent one of the most hopeful responses our communities can make to the pressing educational needs of modern society. The evidence he presents in this book is most convincing, even allowing for the fact that few new community colleges will be fortunate enough to find a Tom O'Connell to guide them into the promised land.
Mr. Fanelli is Special Assistant to PresidentDickey.
