I went to this school from November 1994 to November 1997 and the experience wasnt exactly all…read morethat. I felt very isolated because if you were of another ethnicity you were kind of shunned out of social circles. I also had to experience dealing with craptastic teachers. I had some pretty cool instructors Garry Meredith, Sigfried Sutterlin, Craig Payne, and a couple others. Now I came there when the transition program was run by Judy Brickey who was over three instructors Marva Phillipsen, Geri Gardner(who was also dorm supervisor in Appanoose Hall), and Barbara "Barb" McWhorter. Now don't expect anything nice to come of what I am saying because I am just keeping it real and honest here, but Barb McWhorter came off to me as being rather ignorant because during the last leg of my time in the transition program I recall her making a comment in one of my classes and to me she should have never made. She admitted in front of myself and my classmates that she didnt care for African-Americans. It was offensive to the black students that were in the class and it's like she didnt bat an eyelash saying what she said. I was floored because you would think someone could be a hell of a lot more professional than she was to make a statement like that. Keep in mind that she was also from the south (Kentucky to be exact) and maybe where she came from there wasnt much exposure to other races. I never forgot that statement and normally I would forget about another person's ignorant BS, but this stayed with me for years. I really wished that she had kept that comment to herself because by her making that comment really portrayed her as racist and ignorant. While I appreciate her being honest, but that comment was a bit too honest. I got very homesick when I stayed in Iowa because everything I knew was back in Chicago and my life was there. Plus I felt like I was not making that full transition into college life by being bogged down with people who had disabilties since I had been in that environment for much of my school life. The positive thing was the friends I came away with who didnt judge me for my ethnicity or where I came from. I also pushed the envelope by graduating from college with a degree (just not from IHCC) The pathetic thing about having a learning disability or some kind of disability is the way you're treated. They placed the transition students with the regular students to give them that "graduation" feeling, but you didnt get anything, but a useless certificate of completion. I recall Barb getting miffed when I said NO to walking with my transition program class in 1996. I strove for something higher than a piece of paper that clearly I could have wiped my a** with and called it a day. I accomplished that by graduating college twice and I got the real experience graduating with real degrees and not some useless certificate saying I finished. I have two college degrees I can actually use and ones I worked for. I won't forget my time at Indian Hills, but even more when someone's ignorance for different races made me really strive for something bigger than another person's closed minded views.

I strongly agree with you! It seems like other ethnicities are not only shunned but are judged…read morebefore they even get to open your mouth! I even overheard two staff stating that "the black people are trouble makers". Whereas the percentage of blacks in the school is only about 6.5% with the vast majority of them playing basketball for the school. I'm a dark colored Mexican and I too have to deal with this at times. It is not a very pleasant experience. My heart goes out to all the Black or Latino people who choose to complete their education at the school. If you got accepted into another school then go to that school, and stay far, far away for Indian hills community college.