ABSTRACT
THE MISSION PROBLEM Understanding historical context is essential for demystifying the community college mission and the discourses surrounding it. Terms such as “community college mission” or “junior college philosophy” have been undertheorized by scholars. Community college mission discussions oft en lack precision. In mission debates variant categories and levels of analysis tend to elide diff erences of meaning or intent, depending on the theoretical stance, rhetorical strategy, or the professional or social interests of the observer or practitioner (Levin, 1998; Meier, 2008).
