The first doctorate earned by a black woman in the United States was awarded in 1921 at the University of Chicago. Robert J. Zimmer Address to the Association of Community College Trustees Chicago, October 22, 2014 It is a great pleasure and privilege for me to be here with you today. In regards to the gender disparity among trustees, 55 percent were male, 38 percent were female and 1 percent were “other”, according to the survey. In the midst of the greatest crisis the country has ever faced, the political leadership understood the need—and acted upon the need—to invest in young people, the people who would define the country’s future. Both of these initiatives, our UChicago No Barriers for accessibility and support for our own students, and UEI’s work aimed at a national impact for urban school children, reflect the history of the University of Chicago, and they might well be considered as the present day manifestation of the same spirit that led William Rainey Harper to work with J. Stanley Brown to create Joliet Junior College in 1901. While we believe we are now the leader in access programs for domestic students with UChicago No Barriers, every one of these 35 institutions is deeply committed to access and economic diversity.

Community college students across the nation are mostly female (56 percent). After those two years, students would have enhanced capacities through greater education as well as the possibilities of transferring to a four year college or university. This has led to an emphasis in Chicago public schools of active intervention with students in the ninth grade. This perspective and commitment articulated by Harper, focusing on how to provide education to people of many backgrounds and circumstances, continues to resonate with the University of Chicago today, just as it drives the community college sector he played such an important role in establishing. It is impossible to think about the University of Chicago fulfilling its highest aspirations without our students being from a broad-based and diverse set of backgrounds. “We cannot take it on faith that we will meet our talent needs in the future. The advocacy for your school, the help and support you provide the president of your school, your engagement on the school’s behalf, and depending on your personal circumstances possible philanthropic investment are all necessary to enable your institution to flourish.
One recent finding, leading to a program that is being widely adopted, is called “on track.”  UEI analysis has revealed that success in ninth grade is an excellent predictor of whether students will graduate from high school. It is not one size fits all which would ultimately be constraining and non-responsive to individual needs, but rather a diversity of institutions that enables a better match of student to institution.

The survey also detailed trustee member’s challenges. Almost all the students are from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Just as Joliet Junior College was tailored for the particular concerns of students from the region, all colleges and universities have a responsibility to best understand how their particular strengths can help meet the needs of students and the larger society, whether that takes the form of particular training programs or a powerful research environment. Titled the Citizen Trustee Survey, the ACCT surveyed trustees members over the course of a year electronically and encouraged participation during ACCT events in efforts of understanding its members and their backgrounds, said ACCT president and CEO J. Noah Brown.

The University has, unlike many other leading research universities, always been open to women as well as men. We are all here today with what I believe are some shared understandings about higher education. Within the past month, we have made a major new expansion of this effort, called UChicago No Barriers.
Asian American scholars in the 1920s were essential to the University’s landmark development of the social sciences. The Citizen Trustee Survey isn’t the first time that the ACCT has completed this type of research. The Morrill Act was signed into law by Lincoln in 1862 during a period of extreme stress on the country and its finances. We were among the first major non-historically black universities to tenure a black faculty member. This flexibility and diversity in the American system have led to higher education in the United States being widely recognized as the leading system in the world. And what is happening to support for these institutions that are so critical to the opportunities and well-being of such a large percent of our citizens, and therefore so critical to the health of our society? Dr. Martha M. Parham, senior vice president of public relations at the American Association of Community Colleges wasn’t surprised by how dissimilar the backgrounds of trustees were compared to their students. He succeeded beyond plausible expectations. Keynote Address, on the occasion of Central European University moving to Vienna, ACTA 2017 Merrill Award Acceptance Address, Address to the Association of Community College Trustees, Address to Times Higher Education Conference, University of Chicago's 500th Convocation, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Address to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, President Robert J. Zimmer's Inaugural Convocation Address. The goal of the Morrill Act was to provide federal resources, in the form of land that could be granted to the states to be sold for establishing these universities, in order to educate large numbers of citizens for the more technologically advanced age that was seen to be coming—namely the age of industrialization and technologically sophisticated agriculture. Let me begin by discussing our thinking and our actions regarding accessibility and financial aid. Sacramento, CA 95811 While one can assign responsibility for this decrease on state legislatures and others with direct responsibility for funding decisions, ultimately it reflects a lack of willingness of the American public to prioritize public higher education as a public good. The first was the Morrill Act of 1862, which established the so-called “land-grant universities,” which became the large state universities that we are all so familiar with today. The California Community College Trustees (CCCT) Board consists of 21 members elected statewide by the 73 district governing boards and a student-member elected by the student trustees. We have long been a magnet for students from Mexico and South America, and are now a magnet for students from Asia. Community colleges play a crucial role in educating part of our broad population. Monica Levitan can be reached at mlevitan@diverseeducation.com. California Community College Trustees Board, Chief Executives Officers of California Community Colleges Board, The California Community Colleges History Project, http://www.boarddocs.com/ca/cclca/bod/Board.nsf/Public. How they are able to afford this is simple—it is due to the alumni who have had the benefit of their experience and want to give back so that others may have this experience independent of financial circumstances. They conducted a similar survey under the same title in 2008, Brown said. Fax: (916) 444-2954 The University’s history reflects this. The history of the United States is deeply intertwined with its history of education and in particular higher education. While this commitment of the University of Chicago is multi-faceted, I would like to take a few minutes to describe briefly two particular aspects of our work toward ensuring that education is available for all. UEI’s goal is to dramatically improve school education in urban areas around the country through evidence-based research, training, analysis of policy options, and systematic action-oriented dissemination of our findings. The job that each of you has as a trustee of a community college is a critical one. These immigrations in turn have fueled and continue to fuel the great energy and drive that have been so characteristic of the United States. We operate four charter schools on the South Side of Chicago in which students are admitted by lottery. This of course represents a wonderful opportunity for these students, but the University of Chicago is one institution. This policy board provides input to the League Board to advance the mission and effectively serve the organization's member colleges. All times are stressful and today is no exception.