Media Vs Real Life: College Students

Media portrayals of college students are often incorrect, outdated, and discriminatory. For community college students, the result is that they’re presumed to be not smart, and to not work hard. But LaGuardia Community College President Gail O. Mellow tells attn: that the reverse is true. “These students are really smart. And what happens is that they haven’t had the opportunity to have a fancy internship, or the tutor. What we find is that these students have grit; incredible ambition. And what they need is just a little bit of an open door.”

PBS NewsHour Spotlights LaGuardia Community College 
 
The PBS NewsHour segment on LaGuardia helps us all better understand what it means to be a college student in America. The story follows up on my Op-Ed in the New York Times to correct misperceptions of today’s college student. The reality is sobering. Community college students struggle to raise families, work and attend college. Despite enormous obstacles, they persist, determined to make a better life for themselves and their families. LaGuardia’s work is impressive. A Stanford University study ranked LaGuardia 5th in the nation in creating economic mobility for low-income students. Changing society’s perception of who attends college is an essential step to leveling the playing field so that every hard working student has a shot at achieving their dreams.

Read Transcript of PBS NewsHour segment.