on its biggest day of the year: Commencement.

But the College, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, has found itself in the middle of two disputes -- one over the general future of further education in Bermuda, and the other over the continued tenure of vice president Dr. Donald Peters.

Since the College was formed it has established itself as a leading community institution, serving a number of different purposes and serving most of them well.

As Dr. Peters said in yesterday's paper, the College gives its students a high quality education at tuition rates which must be among the lowest in the western world.

As an academic institution, its graduates have gone on to complete their educations in some of the world's best universities. At the same time, it has offered thousands of adult students further education in a wide range of subjects.

The "hotel school'' is widely admired and the technical and vocational departments produce highly qualified employees; the shame is that more local students do not take advantage of these facilities.

Nonetheless, the College, for all its achievements, has not yet gained the full respect it deserves. This may be one reason private schools are all looking at establishing their own centres of further education.

At the same time, the decision to relax admission standards at the College -- while offering more students the chance to pursue further education -- runs the risk of degrading the overall quality of the College.

Many are not certain about the wisdom of making the College a four-year, degree-granting institution.

It is true that the College might then attract more foreign students, but it is a major benefit for Bermudians to spend part of their college or university education abroad.

This has been one of the major goals of Dr. Peters in his tenure at the College, and it has not yet been achieved.

One of the major arguments in favour of giving Dr. Peters, a non-Bermudian, a further three years in his post has been to give him time to complete all of his goals.

The argument has some validity. If these goals are being driven forward by Dr.

Peters by the sheer force of his personality, and no-one else can achieve them, then he should be able to stay, assuming these goals have the support of the College community.

But there is another side to the argument as well. Assuming that these goals do have wide support, then it should be recognised that no-one is indispensable. The College will get there with or without Dr. Peters.

And if there is a qualified Bermudian available who can achieve them just as well, then that person should be given the chance.

Dr. Larita Alford appears to be qualified, at least on paper. Only those who have interviewed her, worked with her or know her well can say for certain if she is equipped to take Dr. Peters' place. Only the College can judge that.

But it should not let sentiment get in the way. In the end, it must decide who is best suited for the job, and if all other things are equal, it should give the job to the Bermudian.