Opinion

Stick with MCC name

Wednesday, October 16, 2002

It doesn't look good for McCook Community College. Despite strong appeals from alumni and friends to restore the McCook Community College title, the interim president of the Mid-Plains Community College Area is recommending that the name of both the college and the area be changed.

At a board retreat this evening in North Platte, the interim administrator, Dr. Carlton Williams, will present a seven-page report, which he has titled, "What Shall We Name Our College for the Future?"

His conclusion is that McCook Community College should not be used as the name. Instead, he proposes that a new name, "Nebraska Plains Community College," be adopted and that all locations for college facilities -- no matter how large or small -- be identified by the town in which they are located.

For example, it would be "Nebraska Plains Community College-North Platte," and "Nebraska Plains Community College-McCook," for the main campuses, and "Nebraska Plains Community College-Ogallala," "Nebraska Plains Community College-Imperial," and "Nebraska Plains Community College-Valentine," for the attendance centers in other locations.

As an alternative, Dr. Williams suggests identifying the McCook campus with a sign that reads, "McCook College Park, Home of (whatever title selected) Community College. The suggested sign would also list any other institutions offering classes at the McCook campus under an "Advanced Studies Center" designation.

If this sounds like a bit much to you, you're not alone. This newspaper and leaders of the McCook College Foundation have contended from the outset that the long-term interests of the McCook campus and the college area are best-served by a return to the McCook Community College name.

The basis for this belief is a time-honored concept: the whole is made stronger by the sum of the parts. In other words, don't swallow us up. Let us be all we can be, and, in the process, we will help the area be stronger, too.

By homogenizing us -- by diluting the McCook campus and other locations for college facilities -- the college area board and administration will end up making us ... and themselves ... weaker.

Can you imagine a potentially large McCook donor giving to the "Nebraska Plains Community College," instead of "McCook Community College?" There would be no comparison. The generous giving of McCook area citizens could be seriously curtailed.

Also consider what a future student will say when he or she is asked, "Where do you go to college?" It won't be, "Nebraska Plains Community College," or -- perish the thought -- "McCook College Park." It will be in the future, as it is now, "McCook," or "McCook College."

It's probably too late, because the naming steamroller is on the move, but if there is any way possible, let's allow common sense, and not academic overthink, to prevail on the naming issue.

Let's stick with McCook Community College as the name for Nebraska's oldest junior college. It will not only enhance the educational institution in McCook, it will help the entire area.

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