| Policy Makers |
President Bill Clinton | Bill Clinton
President of the United States of America
"Community colleges are America
at its best." |
Senator Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C.) |
Lauch Faircloth
United States Senator (R-N.C.)
"Community colleges are the only job training program I have ever seen the federal government put its money into that works." |
Business Leaders |
Bill Gates | Bill Gates
C.E.O. Microsoft
"America is leading the way in high technology and in the next seven years, it's estimated that 80 percent of new jobs in this country will be in high tech. Community colleges have an important role to play in making certain we have skilled workers ready to help businesses take advantage of all the opportunities in the Digital Age." |
Jim Adams |
Jim Adams
Chairman, Texas Instruments
"The community college system is an absolutely imperative part of the fabric of education in this country. It's the thing that will help us be competitive leaders in the world, and corporations like mine have to retain a competitive leadership throughout the U.S., throughout the world." |
Tom Peters |
Tom Peters
Management Guru, Author
"Support your community colleges … the unsung, under-funded backbone of America's all-important lifelong-learning network."
|
National Heroes
|
Lt. Col. Eileen Collins | Eileen Collins
NASA Space Shuttle Commander
"My parents told me, 'Eileen, we want you to go to college but we can't afford it,' so I chose a community college which had an outstanding math and science program." — Speaking to a group of high school students with First Lady Hillary Clinton and Academy Award-winning Actor Tom Hanks |
Nolan Ryan |
Nolan Ryan
Hall of Fame Baseball Player
"I'll never stop pitching the edge a community college gave me."
|
Famous Grads
|
Kweisi Mfume | Kweisi Mfume
President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
"My tenure at CCB [Community College of Baltimore] was undoubtedly one of the most memorable times of my life. It was there that I began to stop dreaming about the goals I would achieve and instead set forth a plan to make them happen." |
Sarah McClendon |
Sarah McClendon
Washington Correspondent, Author, & Lecturer
"If there had been no Tyler Junior College, I am quite sure I would never have gone to college." |
Randy Owen |
Randy Owen
Lead Singer, Alabama
"Community colleges were the greatest idea in American education for students like me." |
Norman Rice |
Norman Rice
Former Mayor of Seattle
"Community college prepared me and gave me the confidence I needed. …Community colleges are a great bridge, a bridge from high school to college, from welfare to work …" |
