Arguing that the community college is a critical institution for students of color, representing hope, opportunity, and often a last chance to succeed, this essay poses and responds to a number of questions concerning the community college's role in promoting minority transfer. First, the essay summarizes the positions of policymakers, university-based researchers, and community college leaders regarding the colleges' effectiveness/ineffectiveness in fulfilling the transfer function. Next, the following questions are raised, the implications and roots of the questions critiqued, and answers provided based on research data and personal opinions: (1) Why should community colleges be singled out for producing few transfer students and exhibiting low retention rates if these problems are being faced by all institutions of higher education? (2) Why can't students be satisfied with earning associate degrees, especially in tech-prep programs of study that lead to high-paying jobs? (3) Why should we worry about low transfer rates when naive community college students cannot be trusted with stating their aspirations? (4) Isn't it a mistake to say that vocational-technical programs confine students to a sub-baccalaureate track? (5) Why should we force students to transfer if students are adults and responsible for their own choices? (6) Shouldn't we be careful about producing too many bachelor's degrees in an already over-educated society? and (7) Isn't it difficult and almost impossible to improve transfer rates, given the existence of multiple functions in community colleges? (JMC)