Happy Birthday to us!
It was 50 years ago – September 18, 1967, to be exact, that South Campus opened its doors to students and to a world of educational opportunities for the citizens of Tarrant County.
Birthdays mean parties, and we have got a doozy planned. In fact, it has already begun and will last the entire school year.
Our celebration kicked off on Saturday, September 30, with the Family Extravaganza, a campus and community celebration including arts and culture; health and fitness; games and prizes; food and fun. More than 40 exhibitors signed up, representing all the TCC campuses, multiple academic and technical programs, Community & Industry Education programs and community resource organizations. Also on-site were numerous vendors and foot trucks.
Live music came courtesy of the O.D. Wyatt High School Drumline, the Maxwell Hall Jazz Band and faculty member Rick Stitzel with his South Campus Jazz Band. Jim Austin Online, One Point Home Health LLC, the Texas Rangers and Pepsi Cola made in-kind donations.
So much was going on all at once, in fact, that many found it convenient to keep up with it on Twitter – hashtag @TCCSouthturns50.
Events like this do not happen without a lot of planning. The Department of Campus and Community Outreach led the way, with Director Nicole Minor, retired faculty member Elizabeth Branch and over 25 subcommittee members. Work began in fall 2016 and continued through the spring and summer.
As the late-night TV ads say, “Wait, there’s more!”
Student clubs and organizations staged an International Day on Thursday, Nov. 16 in the Student Center Dining Hall. Students from across the world dressed in native costumes and displayed crafts and food representative of their respective countries.
The Birthday Party culminates in a Masquerade Ball on Saturday, April 7, 2018 at 7 p.m. at the Fort Worth Club, 306 W. 7th Street in downtown Fort Worth. Dean Carolyn Robertson chairs planning the event, which will include dinner, live music, dancing and a silent auction. Proceeds will go to support student scholarships.
Presenting sponsor for the Masquerade Ball is Weaver and Associates, which has been TCC’s accounting firm since 1965, more than two years before South Campus opened. Additional sponsors are being wooed.
Along the way, the campus’s institutional memory is being preserved through an oral history project headed by John Lundberg, assisted by retired faculty member David Clinkscale, an original South Campus student; retired faculty member Triesha Light; and former vice chancellor and South Campus adjunct Bill Lace.
There will be two time capsule events – one to open a capsule sealed decades ago and another to seal a capsule to last the next 50 years and be opened in 2067.
President Peter Jordan chairs the Steering Committee. Other members include Larry Story, Vanessa Walker, Larry Rideaux, Eileen Hart, Madelyn Bowman, Nicole Minor, Ana Garia, Shirley Bishop, Gladys Emerson, Arturo Martinez, Michael Tribble, Dana Grove, Vicki Ansorge, Molly Floyd and Ticily Medley.
Also Tim Johnson, Brian Johnson, Yolanda Sifuentes, Nicole Harris, Carolyn Robertson, Monica Lea, Yolanda Thomas, Gloria Fisher, Gus Anderson, Elizabeth Branch, Patrick Ramirez, and Grant Benatar.
Also Yojana Sharma, C.J. Gunner, John Lundberg, Ernest Gines, Bill Lace, Demetrice Thompson, Triesha Light, David Clinkscale, Trustee Gwen Morrison, Sam Hill, Stacey Metzler, Reginald Lewis and Suzanne Groves.