New Name for College for Lifelong Learning Supported by Rep. Ned Densmore

Testimony Captures Essence of the CLL Experience

March 29, 2004 Concord, NH – During recent testimony in support of renaming the College for Lifelong Learning to "Granite State College" Rep. Ned Densmore (D) of Franconia, presented the following in support of the change. A former Trustee of the University System of New Hampshire, Rep. Densmore conveyed the importance of CLL and its mission to adult learners throughout the State.

Testimony - SB362 - CLL name change to Granite State College

"As a former trustee of the University System one of my more enjoyable duties was to share with the smart and famous the platform at graduation ceremonies for UNH, KSC, PSU and CLL. While each was a time of great pride for all of New Hampshire , the CLL graduations for me were especially meaningful. We all have neighbors who have accessed CLL's many degree programs. Many I know from the North Country and the North Woods, areas critically in need of adult learning opportunities.We know how important CLL is in the weave of New Hampshire 's higher education, and how it offers programs with schedules and technologies that are doable around full time work and family obligations. But it is at graduation that it all hits home. During the ceremony, tradition has it for parents and spouses to stand up and be thanked for their support of the degree recipients. They are applauded. Then the brothers and sisters get up; then the children, the grandparents, the grandchildren. Toddlers and infants fill the view and are applauded.Without getting too mushy, you do get a sense that the degree is more than something for one person. It is a degree for a whole family. And in a sense it is a degree for a whole state. A name change to Granite State College honors that perception. It is a way for us as a legislature and a state to elevate the meaning of these degrees for the graduates, their families and our state.Some might chide that this is just a matter of puffing up. I see it as an effort to support what some call a branding of an important mission for this institution. CLL is not a matchbook cover get-smart-quick scheme. It is a time tested, professionally developed component of our education offerings. The college is poised to accommodate an expanding number of students and programs key to New Hampshire's brighter future. The name, Granite State College, properly reflects the institution's mission.As a consequence of this change students will be rewarded a degree that will carry no ambiguity about the rigor involved in its attainment. It will be perceived without confusion as a first class badge in the marketplace and at home around the fireplace.I urge your support."

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UNH | Plymouth State | Keene State | Granite State