Vance-Granville Community College has changed.
If there was any question about that, the ARCHES Fall publication makes it very clear. The motto, when I was a student, was “Your Opportunity for Success”. It is now “Your Passport for Today’s Global Workplace”.
It is ironic that our community college uses the words “Locally Focused, Globally Driven”. No kidding. It seems like the local focus is to prepare people to move away. There is no growing economy in Henderson. Not even the graduates of the Culinary Arts program have jobs waiting for them in our area. And how many chefs are needed at fast food places?
Exactly what is the Global Economy and where is the Global Workplace? If Vance County and Henderson aren’t part of the global economy and workplace, it is because corporate greed exceeded community resources. Why give a local resident a decent wage, by American standards, when foreign workforces will work for pennies on the dollar? Our nation has been sold out in the name of some global ideal that is motivated by greed.
Ten years ago I attended VGCC to learn how to use a computer. I thought it would be wise to keep up with technology. I discovered a passion for database and PowerPoint, which led to being employed by the college to create its first electronic database for the endowment fund. It was my major project for the first year of my employment. I truly felt that VGCC was MY opportunity for success.
I had in mind, when I became a student, that I could work from my home, since the WWW made that a practical approach to modern employment. In fact, telecommuting is a growing practice that makes economic/environmental sense. However, not even the Vice President of Instruction understood what I was saying to her about telecommuting, two years ago!
The point here is that I find myself no longer employed, having been forced into early retirement from the college and job I loved. I have discovered that the global workplace doesn’t include me. I have the skills, tools, time, space and desire but there are no pioneers in Henderson or Vance County. We sorely lack for visionaries, just as we sorely lack for opportunities.
Yes, VGCC is preparing our local people for the global workplace. Henderson simply isn’t part of it. I believe that we could become part of it by producing our own fuel. We have the resources in land and people. VGCC has a well endowed Bio Tech program. We are surrounded by farmland and people needing work!
When an educational institution does not prepare people to survive and thrive in their own communities, those communities will eventually no longer exist.
Copper Rain
Henderson