50 Years of Community Classrooms
EAST PEORIA —This year, the Illinois Community College Act (formerly the Junior College Act) will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. In 1964, the groundwork was set for a piece of legislation that would forever change the landscape of higher education within Illinois. The Illinois Community College Act gave communities the opportunity to create an institution that could prepare students for the rigors of post-secondary life.
The ten counties that represent Illinois Central College voted in 1966 to establish the college.
“In 1966, the year after the Community College Act of 1965, [Illinois Central College was] established. We then opened our doors in 1967,” explained Dr. John Erwin, president of ICC.
“The very first and primary reason for the Community College Act, on the state level, was to establish the legal basis for a community college,” explained Erwin, “Then, on the local level, each district decided if they wanted to build a community college,”
Once passed, the act split Illinois into thirty-nine different districts. Today, there are forty-eight state community colleges in Illinois.
“The Illinois Community College Act of 1965 has a wealth of information,” Erwin said, “Much of our practices, our procedures, our bylaws, are all an outgrowth of that 1965 law,”
These laws helped establish the ICC Board of Trustees, the financial practices of the college, and much of the structural organization that keeps ICC running.
“There’s a real practical side to it,” said Erwin, “as [the law also provides] revenue for the colleges that were going to be established,”
Each district was able to take property tax from the community in order to fund their operations. At the same time, the state had promised to give money to each community college. In the years since 1965, the state has lowered its payments to community colleges, but the property tax rate has stayed the same since the act was enforced.
Illinois has a long history with pioneering community colleges. In 1901, Joliet Junior College was formed as the first community college in the nation. After World War II, returning veterans wanted to utilize their benefits to gain an education.
“Universities couldn’t handle the enrollment,” Erwin explained, “President Harry Truman formed the Truman Commission shortly after the rush of G.I.’s. One of their recommendations was to build more community colleges,”
In the 1960’s, there was civil unrest in Illinois. This further pushed Illinois to create some order in higher education.
“The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the backdrop of the Illinois Community College Act of 1965. [Those groups] wanted more access to more people, and they saw community college as an avenue to provide that,” Erwin said.
Illinois now represents the third largest community college system within the nation.
“The only two states that have larger systems are Texas and California,” Erwin said.