By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

NEOSHO, Mo. — For James Tatum, president of the Crowder College board of trustees, it was a day more than 30 years in the making.

Gov. Matt Blunt visited Crowder on Tuesday for a ceremonial signing of a bill changing the term “junior college” to “community college” in state statutes. The bill applies to all community colleges in the state.

“I’ve tried for 30 years to get the right name on these institutions, and now it has happened,” Tatum said in a telephone interview. He recalled that he first recommended the change while testifying before a state Senate committee in the 1970s. He has periodically suggested the change ever since.

The bill signed by Blunt was sponsored by Rep. Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho. He said in a phone interview that all the community colleges in the state, like Crowder, were technically called junior colleges under state statutes. They would be referred to as such if the schools had a measure on a ballot, for example.

“I think their role has changed over the years,” Wilson said of community colleges. He said the term “junior college” stems from a bygone time when community colleges primarily acted as feeder schools for colleges and universities.

Now, Wilson said, the schools have assumed a larger role because they offer customized job-training programs.

“They are not juniors to anyone,” he said. “This legislation just recognizes that their role has changed over the years and they are full partners.”