A game of musical chairs at a Seattle Central Unity Fair past
(Image: Dave Lichterman for CHS)

Seeking to “raise the ceiling” for its system’s students, the Seattle Community Colleges District Board of Trustees have voted to drop the word “community” from the names of the three schools in its system:

At its meeting on March 13, the Seattle Community Colleges District Board of Trustees voted unanimously to change the name of the District to Seattle Colleges and to change the names of the colleges to Seattle Central College, North Seattle College and South Seattle College.

Capitol Hill’s campus will now simply be known as Seattle Central College. The decision hasn’t been a big hit with everybody, of course, given the symbolic connotations of the word and changes to the colleges in recent years that have optimized operations sometimes at the expense of broader program and service offerings. The name change was raised and criticized Saturday at the minimum wage rally held at the Pine/Broadway campus. A student publication looked at the planned name change and the issues it raised for the campus earlier this month.

In a statement, SCCC SCC officials said the change was good for the school’s image and a more accurate description of its mission. “We believe this will inspire prospective students to reach higher than they thought possible,” district chancellor Jill Wakefield said. “With the same open admissions policies and the same low tuition, local students can start at a local college that can eventually take them all the way to a bachelor’s degree.”

The name changes are expected be fully implemented by September for the start of the Fall Quarter, school officials said.