Bergen Community College

Bergen Community College is a public community college in Bergen County, New Jersey. It was founded in 1965 and opened in 1968. As of May 2020 it is the largest community college in the state, with sites in Paramus, Hackensack, and Lyndhurst and approximately 13,000 students enrolled in degree programs, as well as approximately 5,800 in continuing and adult education programs.[2][4][5] Michael D. Redmond, who had been president of the college since 2017, retired at the end of 2019; Anthony Ross is interim president.[6] Federal data rank Bergen graduates first in earning the highest salaries among their peers from the state’s 19 two-year institutions, and even out-earning peers from some four-year colleges.[7] Bergen has graduated more than half a million students with associate's degrees and certificates since its founding in 1968.[8]

Bergen Community College
TypePublic community college
Established1965
Endowment$5.97 million (2016)[1]
Students13,000 degree-seeking, 5,800 others[2]
Location
Bergen County
,
New Jersey
,
United States

40.9516°N 74.0883°W / 40.9516; -74.0883
CampusParamus (Main)
Hackensack
Lyndhurst[3]
Colors     Pantone Purple
     Pantone Orange 021
NicknameBulldogs
Websitewww.bergen.edu

Bergen Community College is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.[4][9] Individual programs are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, the National League for Nursing, the American Dental Association, the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology, The National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Services, and the American Physical Therapy Association. The Paralegal Studies program and the Legal Nurse Consultant program are approved by the American Bar Association.

Paramus campus

The college’s Paramus main campus includes the Technology Education Center (opened 2003), the Health Professions Integrated Teaching Center (opened 2016) and the STEM Student Research Center (opened 2019).[10]

Athletics

BCC is a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association in Region XIX (New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania) and of the Garden State Athletic Conference. The college participates in the following intercollegiate sports:[11]

  • Fall: men's cross country; women's cross country; men's soccer; women's soccer; volleyball
  • Winter: men's basketball; women's basketball; wrestling
  • Spring: baseball; softball; men's track and field; women's track and field

Free speech controversy

In 2014, after Francis Schmidt, a tenured professor, filed a grievance over denial of sabbatical leave,[12] The college suspended him for eight days and required him to consult a psychiatrist before returning to campus,[13] claiming that a photo he posted to social media of his seven-year-old-daughter wearing a t-shirt quoting Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen could be construed as a threat of violence against college officials.[14] The college faculty cited the incident as a factor in a vote of "no confidence" in college president Kaye Walter.[15] The suspension was rescinded, with Schmidt receiving back pay for the suspension period,[13] and a college spokesman acknowledged to Schmidt that "By sanctioning you as it did, BCC may have unintentionally erred and potentially violated your constitutional rights, including under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution”.[13] The Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression conferred one of its annual Jefferson Muzzle Awards for "the past year’s most outrageous and ridiculous affronts to free speech and press" on the college administration, declaring that it had "demonstrat[ed] its collective cluelessness on two distinct levels".[16]

Notable alumni
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References
  1. "U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2016 Endowment Market Value and Change* in Endowment Market Value from FY2015 to FY2016" (PDF). NACUBO.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-15. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  2. "Presidential Search" (PDF). Bergen Community College. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  3. BCC to Buy Meadowlands Building Archived September 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, September 2, 2009.
  4. "About Us". Bergen Community College. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  5. Albrizzio, Lianna (May 4, 2020). "Bergen Community College To Host Its 50th Commencement Ceremony Online". Tap Into Paramus.
  6. Adely, Hannan (December 4, 2019). "Bergen Community College president to retire, interim president named". NorthJersey.com.
  7. Nolan, Sarah. "Bergen Community College grads are top earners among peers, ranking shows". North Jersey. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  8. Shkolnikova, Svetlana. "Phil Murphy tells Bergen Community College graduates to be fearless". North Jersey. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  9. "Institutions Archive - Middle States Commission on Higher Education". Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
  10. About Us, Bergen Community College. Accessed June 10, 2020.
  11. "Athletics". Bergen Community College. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  12. Goldstein, Sasha (April 18, 2014). "N.J. college suspends professor over 'Game of Thrones' shirt perceived as 'threat'". New York Daily News.
  13. Adely, Hannan; Dazio, Stefanie (October 31, 2014) [October 30, 2014]. "Professor not satisfied with Bergen Community College's mea culpa over 'Game of Thrones' T-shirt". NorthJersey.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-01.
  14. Dazio, Stefanie; Ensslin, John C.; Beckerman, Jim (April 17, 2014). "Bergen Community College professor suspended over 'Game of Thrones' quote on daughter's T-shirt". NorthJersey.com. Archived from the original on 2014-04-24.
  15. Flaherty, Colleen (April 16, 2014) [April 14, 2014]. "Jersey Impasse". Inside Higher Ed.
  16. "2015 Muzzles". tjcenter.org. Archived from the original on 2016-04-13. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  17. "Celebrity Then And Now: Daisy Fuentes", Stanton Daily. Accessed February 21, 2018. "After graduating from high school in 1984, she enjoyed modeling but dreamed of becoming a hairstylist and owning her salon so she briefly enrolled at cosmetology school before dropping out to study communications at Bergen Community College."
  18. Laurila, David. "Mike Laga", Society for American Baseball Research. Accessed February 21, 2018. "Despite his success on the baseball diamond, Laga went undrafted out of high school and enrolled at nearby Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he played half of one season before transferring to Bergen (New Jersey) Community College. It was there that Laga’s smooth left-handed stroke began catching the attention of scouts, and in the January phase of the 1980 draft the Tigers took him with their first pick."
  19. County Executive Dennis McNerney, Bergen County, New Jersey, backed up by the Internet Archive as of December 6, 2006. Accessed February 21, 2018. "Dennis McNerney is a lifelong resident of Bergen County. He graduated from Bergen Catholic High School, attended Bergen Community College, the University of Delaware, and went on to receive his Masters Degree in Public Administration from Columbia University."
  20. Friedman, Matt. "New N.J. Assembly speaker, a former bodybuilder, promises to flex political muscle", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 5, 2014. Accessed February 21, 2018. "Prieto picked up English quickly, but couldn’t grasp the language’s odd spellings. Instead, he took to numbers and, after spending two semesters at Bergen Community College, dropped out to pursue a career in plumbing."
  21. Feldberg, Robert. "Westwood's Kyle Scatliffe stars in Les Miserables", The Record (Bergen County), March 9, 2014, backed up by the Internet Archive as of September 18, 2016. "After high school, he attended Bergen Community College in Paramus, and then spent two years at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, studying acting and refining his vocal gift, including receiving training in opera."
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