[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 14, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E178-E179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING JOLIET JUNIOR COLLEGE (JJC)

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JERRY WELLER

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 14, 2001

  Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, today I honor Joliet Junior College (JJC) as 
they celebrate their 100 year anniversary and the unveiling of the U.S. 
Postal Service post card honoring JJC.
  JJC is America's oldest public community college. It began in 1901 as 
an experimental postgraduate high school and was the ``brain child'' of 
J. Stanley Brown, Superintendent of Joliet Township High School, and 
William Rainey Harper, President of the University of Chicago. The 
college's initial enrollment was six students.
  Brown and Harper's innovation created a junior college that 
academically paralleled the first two years of a 4-year college or 
university. The junior college was designed to accommodate students who 
wanted to remain within the community and still pursue a college 
education that was affordable. Today, Brown and Harper's vision has 
spread across the nation and has become a vital part of our economic 
prosperity and our cultural awareness.
  Community Colleges have stood the test of time, meeting the 
challenges of recovery from depression and war, opening their doors to 
over 2.2 million veterans since World War II and teaching a generation 
of baby boomers.

[[Page E179]]

Now, our community colleges are faced with a myriad of new challenges 
as they enter their second century.
  On February 20, 2001, the United States Postal Service will issue and 
unveil a post card in honor of the 100th anniversary of JJC and to also 
honor all of America's Community Colleges. It is my hope that this post 
card will reaffirm to the American public the value of a good education 
and will remind us here in Joliet how lucky we are to have JJC in our 
backyard.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge this body to identify and recognize other 
institutions in their own districts whose actions have so greatly 
benefited and strengthened America's communities.

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