February 17, 2021
Click above to watch Lord Fairfax Community College President Kim Blosser address the name change.
I said many times that his name is just not good enough for us.
— LFCC President Kim Blosser
Renaming Process
The board hopes to make a recommendation for a new name to state officials this summer.
Click here for more information.
Lord Fairfax Community College will change its name, that of a 17th-century colonial land baron who owned slaves.
The college’s 14-member board, which includes two Fauquier representatives, voted Feb. 4 to make the change.
“I said many times that his name is just not good enough for us,” LFCC President Kim Blosser said in a video address to the staff and students. “We are much better than what that name would show.”
Founded in 1969 at Middletown (Frederick County), the college has expanded with satellite campuses just south of Warrenton and in Luray.
The State Board for Community Colleges in July asked all of its institutions to review their names as similar efforts spread across the nation — especially Virginia — in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter movement’s rise.
LFCC’s effort included “six months of study, focus group discussions and the results of a brand research study,” Dr. Blosser said.
“The process has been comprehensive, disciplined, inclusive, deliberative and, above all else, respectful of our responsibility for the history and future of the college,” said Vice Chairman Mike Wenger (Rappahannock County). “Hard-working groups reached out to constituents, dug into the records, read history, gathered data and debated issues.
“We considered the overall college branding with an eye to the future. The process invited deliberations about the values we want to inculcate, the focus we hope the college brand projects, and the breadth of community-reach we want to facilitate. Though this decision wasn’t easy, it was in many ways clear.”
Born in England, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1639-1781), came to own the Northern Neck Proprietary, five million acres that stretched from the Chesapeake Bay to the outskirts of what would become Pittsburgh.
Lord Fairfax bought and sold slaves who worked on the 30 farms that created much of his wealth. He died in Virginia and lies in a Winchester grave.
Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax and thousands of businesses and institutions bear his name.
“While remembering and honoring the history and successes of LFCC during its first 50 years, the Lord Fairfax Community College Board has accepted the responsibility and opportunity to move forward with renaming the college to reflect the vision and mission for the future for our communities and our students,” Chairwoman Pam McInnis (Warren County) said.
The Fauquier Campus opened in 1989. The first classes took place in a renovated barn that real estate investor Bob Sowder of Catlett donated for a joint effort of LFCC and Germanna Community College.
LFCC plans to adopt a new name later this year.
“As we develop our new strategic plan and look forward to our next 50 years, we will find a name that better suits our vision of an inclusive, equitable learning environment for every student, one that improves their economic mobility and supports the economic development of the communities we serve,” Dr. Blosser said. “And we will involve our employees, our students, and our community members in this process; we will do this together.”
Member comments
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J Obrokta · February 18, 2021 at 7:22 pm
I know we have teachers who are working from home, but as previously stated they are all older and have health issues, so they would already be in Phase 1B. Unless you are holding back some key piece of evidence, I’ll assume this really is the case.
Justanopinion – You’re right. How did we end up in an attack on public teachers in general on a story about a community college name change?!
JustAnOpinion · February 18, 2021 at 7:12 pm
This thread certainly doesn’t disappoint! A must read for sure… Start at the bottom and work your way on up folks. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Alohaexpress · February 18, 2021 at 7:04 pm
Ask your buddy Dave Jeck how many teachers who opted out of in classroom duties for 2021 school year received covid vaccines (ahead of current Senior Citizen tranche) recently.
Go ahead. Let us know what he says.
J Obrokta · February 18, 2021 at 6:43 pm
The wait for a vaccine has certainly been too long and frustrating for many who need it, no argument there.
But then you say awful things about my colleagues, and I have no proof that any of that is true, and so our back and forth continues. If we do have teachers who have unnecessarily jumped to the front while shirking their duties then share your evidence and I will join you in condemning their behavior.
Best regards,
Jim OBrokta
Alohaexpress · February 18, 2021 at 6:13 pm
You are misinformed. I am well aware of covid protocols and cadence for vaccinations.
You have school employees who got vaccinations who have no intention of teaching in person but who are jumping line in front of vulnerable seniors who are panicking at getting needed shots. There are a large number of Seniors in Fauquier County who have not even received a call back after repeated requests to get on a vaccination list, yet entitled school employees get red carpet while eating French Fries on their couches at home while posting to Facebook all day long.
No need to talk. Please educate our children. Can you come to school and do that Jim?
Jerome Fields · February 18, 2021 at 5:56 pm
“During 1767 Fauquier suffered several bouts of illness and was unable to work for weeks at a time. He wrote a new will in which he lamented that his lifestyle in Virginia required him to own slaves, and he stipulated that his twelve adult slaves be allowed to choose their new masters and that female slaves not be separated from their children. “
Jerome Fields · February 18, 2021 at 5:52 pm
COPD brought on by what exactly? Smoking? Asbestos exposure?
Jerome Fields · February 18, 2021 at 5:49 pm
Fauquier Community College works for me. Does anyone know if Francis Fauquier did anything untoward in the past?
J Obrokta · February 18, 2021 at 4:57 pm
Obviously you have some things that you are either confused or upset about. Rather than playing the back and forth all day here, get in touch with me directly and I’m sure we can have a much more productive conversation.
I’m not a vaccine rollout expert, but I think the 75 year old widow you refer to is in the same phase for vaccination that teachers are in (Phase 1b). You seem to be sure that we have young and healthy teachers working from home who are getting unnecessary vaccines. If that is true it is news to me. We have a handful of teachers at Liberty who have special permission to teach from home but each of them has literally been teaching since before I was born. So they would qualify for this same round based on their age and health issues anyway.
I’m just excited to think that with teachers getting vaccinated one of the obstacles to increasing the number of students in classrooms is getting solved.
Best regards,
Jim OBrokta
Alohaexpress · February 18, 2021 at 4:17 pm
So your are ok with teachers and administrators who opt out of in classroom duties getting covid vaccinations before a 75 year old widow with COPD does?
Jim Koehr · February 18, 2021 at 4:14 pm
How sad that we continue to sacrifice our history on the altar of political correctness. You will never appease those who believe that our great country is fundamentally evil. Where will this end?
J Obrokta · February 18, 2021 at 3:59 pm
While it is true that I live for lesson planning (last night I was literally just finishing a new lesson on the history of disease in the ancient world when I decided to catch up on the local news here), as an educator I also do my best to make a little time to help our community understand what we are doing.
Obviously you aren’t interested in being a part of the system, and that is fine. I’d still be happy to help you better understand what we do. My offer will always stand if you ever want to join me in real life for some honest observations and conversations in my classroom.
Best regards,
Jim OBrokta
Alohaexpress · February 18, 2021 at 12:00 pm
A couple of observations and suggestions for you.
Shouldn’t you be doing lesson plans, grading papers, or otherwise helping advance your students, instead of trying to recruit for the bureaucratically bloated school system which is systematically failing our students and taxpayers? Believe the former is in your job description and is what we taxpayers pay you for?
Collectively,the teachers and more so the administration, have failed Fauquier County by preventing in classroom learning. Further,do you feel it is morally and ethically proper for Fauquier County school employees to get vaccine shots when they have opted out for in classroom participation this year and have no intention of returning to classroom before 2022 school year, yet 75 year old vulnerable seniors are still waiting in line for shots?
Why don’t the teachers (and there are quite a few) who abhore those fake disengenuous fellow teachers and administrators who are failing students,get together and push for change?
Maybe you could focus your efforts there? What do you say Jim? Do you have the stones to lead that charge ?
Mark House · February 17, 2021 at 11:38 pm
Wiley1 – Yet you responded, now who is the “sloooow” one??!! Lolol. Pretty lips ????!
J Obrokta · February 17, 2021 at 10:47 pm
I was just thinking more on this and came to the realization that even if you wanted to join our ranks, for reasons of remuneration you may not be able to switch from a private sector job to a teaching job.
If that is the case, but you are still interested in seeing the good work that is being done with our community’s tax dollars, please know you are welcome to spend a day with me and my students. I would love to show you the great things we are doing in schools these days. Just send an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Best regards,
Jim OBrokta
LHS Social Studies
J Obrokta · February 17, 2021 at 10:34 pm
Fauquier County Schools are always interested in capable people from the real world who are interested in making the change to teaching. I know several teachers who switched from private sector jobs into teaching through the “career switcher” program for certification. They didn’t all make it in the end, as teaching has plenty of its own unique challenges, but for someone like you who knows how hard the real world can be we could definitely benefit from your experience!
https://www.fauquiercounty.gov/government/departments-h-z/human-resources/recruitment-events-3491
Best regards,
Jim OBrokta
LHS Social Studies
Alohaexpress · February 17, 2021 at 9:28 pm
Educators are weak people who would be homeless without taxpayers. Most would not last 5 minutes in real world.
hypocrisy2021 · February 17, 2021 at 8:59 pm
#15: Not quite a hypocrisy by definition, but just so darn stupid it is worth pointing out that cavlax is equating owning other human beings with driving too fast. When it comes to a moral compass, I declare you’re toast cavlax.
cavlax · February 17, 2021 at 8:59 pm
I guess we sniffling idiots can call the JC – “The Hustings Unhinged Unisex School for Liberal Crybabies”.
TheHustings · February 17, 2021 at 8:09 pm
Oh, you poor babies. I can hear you sniffling all the way across the county. Why do you care what name the college has? The only way you idiots would ever set foot in a college is if they changed the name to “Free Ammo”.
Wiley1 · February 17, 2021 at 7:01 pm
House: your argument is obscure, bizarre, and irrelevant to the discussion, therefore, it does not deserve a response. If you don’t understand what I’m saying, find an adult and ask them to explain it to you, slowly.
cavlax · February 17, 2021 at 6:30 pm
Figure this out. Speed limit is 70 mph for years and years. Laws reduce speed limit to 55mph. Do we now send speeding tickets to everyone who drove 70 mph in prior years? Woke logic.
Calypso · February 17, 2021 at 6:14 pm
SHAMEFUL. More erasing of American history….you must be a Commi-Democrat
JohnQ · February 17, 2021 at 6:08 pm
Dec 19, 2020 — Presentism definition is – an attitude toward the past dominated by present-day attitudes and experiences.
Mark House · February 17, 2021 at 5:33 pm
It’s 2021 and child pornography and sex trafficking is profitable, even rich people are doing it, so using your analogy that’s OK too?
PRAllen · February 17, 2021 at 5:14 pm
As long as we continue to put people in racial categories based on skin color or ethnicity, there will always be racism. One day maybe we will wake up and realize that the human genome is so integrated that the concept of race makes no sense and there is only the human race. In the meantime I hope we can strive to treat each other with the equal respect each of us deserves.
Tell It Like It Is · February 17, 2021 at 4:40 pm
John Q has reminded us that indeed Malcolm X hit the nail on the head over 50yrs ago!
Some just don’t get it.
brandonj · February 17, 2021 at 4:39 pm
Wiley1 · February 17, 2021 at 4:10 pm
This whole topic is beyond stupid. In the 1700’s, everybody with money owned slaves. Lord Fairfax did nothing wrong. It isn’t fair to judge people from that time by today’s standards.
Sammy · February 17, 2021 at 3:01 pm
how many fauquier citizens needed to change a lightbulb?
one to do the job, dozens more to say it was better before the bulb was changed
JohnQ · February 17, 2021 at 2:52 pm
Malcolm X was a Muslim minister and human rights activist. Born in 1925, he met his death at the hands of an assassin in 1965. Malcolm X was a courageous advocate for black civil rights. Malcom X famously stated the following:
“The worst enemy that the Negro have is this white man that runs around here drooling at the mouth professing to love Negros and calling himself a liberal, and it is following these white liberals that has perpetuated problems that Negros have. If the Negro wasn’t taken, tricked or deceived by the white liberal, then Negros would get together and solve our own problems. I only cite these things to show you that in America, the history of the white liberal has been nothing but a series of trickery designed to make Negros think that the white liberal was going to solve our problems. Our problems will never be solved by the white man.”
[email protected] · February 17, 2021 at 2:07 pm
cavlax · February 17, 2021 at 1:10 pm
Why not let the voters in those counties vote for a name change or to keep the name as is? After all, the voters pay the taxes which are used to support these JC’s. It should not just be left up to a few liberals on the board.
JustAnOpinion · February 17, 2021 at 11:56 am
I feel like I speak for everyone when I say this… We should all just change our names. I mean cmon, what’s in a name? It’s just a bunch of letters and syllables, and if you say your name really slow, honestly, does it sound normal, even to you? Do it in the shower… Quietly. Really whisper it to yourself. I’ve found that my name is just weird. And if I change my name, maybe the creditors can’t find me then! There has to be an upside to all of this.
workhardgetahead · February 17, 2021 at 9:43 am
Let’s Change it to Virginia Kowtows to Socialist University.
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