By Ashton Kay, OMAHA, Neb – The recently released documentary titled Closure investigates the closing of community colleges in Wisconsin. Ken Brosky, the documentary director and producer, says that this started with a board of regents meeting in 2017 when it was decided that the two-year schools would be merged with the four-year schools.
“Two-year colleges serve such a different population of students that there was a lot of worry that the four-years weren’t going to necessarily take the time to understand that enough and I think that’s kind of what happened,” Said Brosky.
After the merger, community colleges such as University of Wisconsin-Richland, Washington County and Waukesha were permanently closed. The documentary shows how the closure of these schools has affected communities. Students either had to drop out of school or transfer to the four-year schools and see a dramatic increase in tuition. Many of the staff from these community colleges were laid off because there was room for them in the four-year colleges.
“It tends to hurt rural communities a lot and it especially harms communities that depend on access and affordability,” Brosky added. “And when those two things disappear you end up with a lot of people who are confused and upset but don’t necessarily know where to direct their anger. And I think that becomes very dangerous”
What about Nebraska?
Chad Jorgensen is the Associate Dean of English and Humanities at Metropolitan Community College here in Omaha. Jorgensen says that these closures act as a cautionary tale and are part of a larger nationwide attack on public and nonprofit education.
“For those of us who work in public education or institutions it’s really disheartening just because we see that we are working with students every day and giving them those vital skills and so when we hear often the rhetoric demonizing public schools it really feels like there’s a disconnect,” said Jorgensen.
However, Jorgensen says that there are things that we in Nebraska can do to protect our public education. Things like learning how to advocate.
“Public schools are disparaged often, so being ready to defend them and advocate for them in part helps correct that record. Which I think is, I think, deeply important.”
Currently, closure is only available for viewing at limited screenings while it’s being submitted to festivals. However, if you are interested in the documentary, you can receive updates at delavanfilms.com
