Seeing these gaps widening, Brian Murphy (president De Anza College), Bernie Ronan (associate vice chancellor for Public Affairs for the Maricopa Community Colleges), and George Mehaffy (vice president for Academic Leadership and Change at American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) created TDC as a project that would mirror for community colleges what AASCU’s American Democracy Project (ADP) had done for state colleges and universities since 2003.  Thus ADP and TDC grew out of a shared context of frustration and despair as well as a shared commitment to education and action.

TDC formally launched at the offices of The New York Times on November 11, 2011. 50 presidents and chancellors from community colleges and districts nationwide were early signatories dedicated to the cause of democracy in higher education, and to make democratic skills available to all individuals who desire a voice and a seat at the table of local, state, and national discourse and action.  TDC has grown to provide a platform for the development and expansion of community college programs, projects, and curricula aimed at engaging students in civic learning and democratic engagement.

TDC sees community colleges as “stewards of place,” a term coined by AASCU in 2002. TDC aims to revitalize democracy in our communities– communities in which our community colleges are based, as well as committed to and responsible for; and communities from which their students come, and to which they return each day.  To such end our programs have conceived of civic work broadly and successfully.  TDC supports volunteerism and service learning, but we are also committed to the full range of civic work—including democratic practice, electoral engagement, community engagement, civic education integration and assessment, diversity, and deliberative democracy.

On July 1, 2018, TDC became an initiative of Campus Compact after seeing the urgent need to increase capacity and reach. TDC is now housed in Campus Compact National Office in Boston, Massachusetts.

Check back soon for a list of participating campuses.

Interested in participating in TDC programming for the 2018-2019 academic year? Contact Verdis L. Robinson at verdis {at} compact(.)org or your local Campus Compact office.

Community colleges that were formerly members of TDC and all Campus Compact community college members will have access to the TDC initiative’s programming, tools, and resources.

To become a new member, contact Verdis L. Robinson at verdis {at} compact(.)org or your local Campus Compact office.

The Bernie Ronan Student Action Award
The Bernie Ronan Award is presented annually to a student or a team of students from a TDC member institution for a student-initiated or student-directed project or program that exemplifies the democratic skills and capacities we desire of our students.

The Daniel M. Asquino Civic Leadership Award
Recipients of the Daniel M. Asquino Award for Civic Leadership can be staff, faculty or administrators who advance systemic change to embed civic education and civic learning in the college and its community.  The award recipient will receive an engraved commemorative to acknowledge the national recognition and registration to the Civil Learning and Democratic Engagement meeting.

The Brian Murphy Presidential Democracy Commitment Award
Coming Soon!

Participating colleges have exclusive opportunities to participate in signatures projects, a blend of national and campus-centered activities that deal with critical national dialogues and issues such as political engagement, inequality, deliberative democracy, community conversations, civic agency, and civic curriculum development.

Engage the Election: 2018
Engage the Election: 2018 is a community college electoral engagement project focusing on the unique challenges and opportunities of democracy’s colleges. Our goal is to develop a series of webinars, toolkits, lesson plans, and assignments in order to integrate electoral education into the curriculum, across disciplines, and on campuses in exciting and engaging ways to increase voter registration, information, and turnout.

Higher Education Civic Outcomes Study
The Higher Education Civic Outcomes Study is a survey and research project in partnership with the Center for the Study of Community Colleges that studies the outcomes of college students’ civic learning and engagement.  Results can guide institutional civic efforts. The Higher Education Civic Outcomes Survey is currently open to all TDC member institutions.

Special Days of Service and Reflection
TDC’s SDSR project is designed to engage campuses and communities in recognition of key figures and causes that have advanced our democracy.  Institutions will recognize selected days/weeks of action, remembrance, or service adopted or created by TDC in addition to the tradition national days of service.  This project will develop toolkits and best practice guides for implementation on member campuses.