Bergen Community College is apubliccommunity college inBergen County, New Jersey. It was founded in 1965 and opened in 1968. As of November 2021[update], it is the largest community college in the state, with sites inParamus,Hackensack, andLyndhurst and 13,352 students enrolled in degree programs, as well as approximately 5,800 in continuing and adult education programs.[4][6][7] Federal data rank Bergen graduates first in earning the highest salaries among their peers from the state's 19 two-year institutions, and even out-earning peers from some four-year colleges.[8] Bergen has graduated more than half a million students with associate degrees and certificates since its founding in 1968.[9]
The college's Paramus main campus includes the Technology Education Center (opened 2003), the Health Professions Integrated Teaching Center (opened 2016) and the STEM Student Research Center (opened 2019).[11]
In 2014, after Francis Schmidt, a tenured professor, filed a grievance over denial of sabbatical leave,[13] the college suspended him for eight days and required him to consult a psychiatrist before returning to campus,[14] claiming that a photo he posted to social media of his seven-year-old-daughter wearing at-shirt quotingGame of Thrones characterDaenerys Targaryen could be construed as a threat of violence against college officials.[15] The college faculty cited the incident as a factor in a vote of "no confidence" in college president Kaye Walter.[16] The suspension was rescinded, with Schmidt receiving back pay for the suspension period,[14] and a college spokesman acknowledged to Schmidt that "By sanctioning you as it did, BCC may have unintentionally erred and potentially violated your constitutional rights, including under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution".[14] TheJefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression conferred one of its annualJefferson Muzzle Awards for "the past year's most outrageous and ridiculous affronts to free speech and press" on the college administration, declaring that it had "demonstrat[ed] its collective cluelessness on two distinct levels".[17]
^"Celebrity Then And Now: Daisy Fuentes",Stanton Daily. Accessed February 21, 2018. "After graduating from high school in 1984, she enjoyed modeling but dreamed of becoming a hairstylist and owning her salon so she briefly enrolled at cosmetology school before dropping out to study communications at Bergen Community College."
^Laurila, David."Mike Laga",Society for American Baseball Research. Accessed February 21, 2018. "Despite his success on the baseball diamond, Laga went undrafted out of high school and enrolled at nearby Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he played half of one season before transferring to Bergen (New Jersey) Community College. It was there that Laga's smooth left-handed stroke began catching the attention of scouts, and in the January phase of the 1980 draft the Tigers took him with their first pick."
^County Executive Dennis McNerney,Bergen County, New Jersey, backed up by theInternet Archive as of December 6, 2006. Accessed February 21, 2018. "Dennis McNerney is a lifelong resident of Bergen County. He graduated from Bergen Catholic High School, attended Bergen Community College, the University of Delaware, and went on to receive his Masters Degree in Public Administration from Columbia University."
^Friedman, Matt."New N.J. Assembly speaker, a former bodybuilder, promises to flex political muscle", NJ Advance Media forNJ.com, January 5, 2014. Accessed February 21, 2018. "Prieto picked up English quickly, but couldn't grasp the language's odd spellings. Instead, he took to numbers and, after spending two semesters at Bergen Community College, dropped out to pursue a career in plumbing."
^Feldberg, Robert."Westwood's Kyle Scatliffe stars inLes Miserables",The Record (Bergen County), March 9, 2014, backed up by theInternet Archive as of September 18, 2016. "After high school, he attended Bergen Community College in Paramus, and then spent two years at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, studying acting and refining his vocal gift, including receiving training in opera."
