The University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College first opened its doors in the fall of 1967. Built upon a mission to make higher education more accessible and affordable, UC Blue Ash welcomed an entering class of six hundred and thirty-two students. This book, as part of the college's 50th Anniversary celebrations, will explore that eary history, as well as celebrate key milestones, people, and events in the history of the college. Over the past fifty years, UC Blue Ash has educated thousands of students, all while simultaneously maintaining high academic standards and remaining committed to an open access, open door policy. UC Blue Ash and its fifty year history highlight the commitment a community and the dedication of a university to make higher education for more widely accessible.

Robert Gioielli is an associate professor of history at the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College, where he has taught since 2011. An environmental and urban historian, he is the author of Environmental Activism and the Urban Crisis: Baltimore, St. Louis, Chicago. His work has also appeared in the Journal of Urban History and the Radical History Review. He is the former editor of Ohio Valley History, and has received fellowships from the Rachel Carson Center and the Rockefeller Archive Center.