2022 Monday General Session Keynote

Making Good on the Promise of the Open Door

While we know hard work and persistence are essential to success, we also know opportunity and access are the true keys to student persistence and achievement. The 1960s saw the creation of more than 500 “open-door community colleges,” ­which resulted in a dramatic increase in the “college going” population. But it soon became obvious many of the new enrollees were missing the fundamentals needed for academic success. Sadly, our colleges have made little progress in eliminating achievement gaps with entering students. John Roueche shares why it really doesn’t matter how much content one knows, and why it really is the role of faculty and staff to stimulate and facilitate student progress in our institutions to make sure our open door doesn’t continue to be a “revolving” door.

John E. Roueche
Executive Director
John E. Roueche Center for Community College Leadership
College of Education
Kansas State University