Elite universities may dominate our picture of higher education, but behind them is a vast network of workhorse institutions across the country: community colleges. Community colleges serve nearly half of all undergraduate students across the nation and reflect the full diversity of their surrounding communities – across age, gender, income, and lived experiences. They are highly local institutions, according to a report by the DC-based think tank New America, and are often tied more closely to regional needs than a traditional four-year campus.
Over two days in November, Civic Genius brought a customized version of It’s Your America to Bellevue College in Washington State, engaging political science students in a deliberation workshop on policing and public safety. It’s Your America isn’t a dry recap of how a bill becomes a law; it’s designed to be interactive, personal, and social. Students discussed new information alongside their own experiences and backgrounds, then weighed trade-offs and found common ground through fun facilitated activities.
For many students, this was their first experience with structured civic deliberation. There wasn’t no arguing, but students had an opportunity to slow down, consider nuances, and work through the complexities of problem-solving.
This article by New America highlights how community colleges are uniquely positioned to be engines for civic learning and localized deliberation, in addition to their educational mission. They serve as gathering places, workforce hubs, and are trusted community anchors, making them the natural homes for civic learning, dialogue, civic assemblies, and other deliberative democracy practices.
Community colleges offer accessible, trusted venues that can host these deliberative processes not only for students, but for the entire community, grounding democratic innovation in places community members already know and trust.
Our work with Bellevue College shows us what’s possible when civic organizations and community colleges work together. Classrooms can become civic spaces, students can become deliberators, and democracy becomes a verb.
Do you work with a community college that’s interested in building a more participatory, deliberative, and resilient democratic future? Let’s talk! Reach out to [email protected].
