Butler Community College - Grizzly Growl Yearbook (El Dorado, KS)

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THE GIEIEAT GETAWAY Butler County Community Col- lege is the setting for The Great Getaway The Great Getaway is a program devised by students aiding them in (1) making the big break from high school or (2) escaping their home town or country (and parents) and or (3) making the great decision whether to continue with their col- lege education or to just get away permanently, and (4) preparing for the outside world with more educa- tional smarts. Once the program was underway, students made various mini- getaways. An example of a mi ni- getaway is that of male students fre- quently dashing by in their little uni- forms which identify them as cross country squad runners. Field trips in the name of higher learning also provided a form of get- ting away for students. The field trip to New Orleans taken by members of The Lantern staff is a good example of a really big getaway. The Student Union is also a popu- lar getaway spot. Male students are frequently seen en masse around the pinball machines. Their minds, far far away from academic matters, are transfixed on the small silver ball shooting up to the sound of bells, dings, dongs, and flashing lights. Fantasizing about escaping to a life of daring and thrilling escapades is another form of the mini -getaway. Yes, the Great Getaway is possible.

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50 years reviewed Butler County Community College was born 50 years ago on September 5, 1927 as El Dorado Junior College. When the college opened, it was housed on the fourth floor of the old junior high building on Central Avenue. Its enrollment to- talled 115 students — 23 sophomores and 92 freshmen — and the handful of faculty mem- bers divided its time between high school and college teaching assignments. Today Butler County Community College is spread over an 80 acre campus containing 12 buildings locat- ed at the southwest edge of El Dorado. Enrollment grew as well as the campus. Today, BCCC ' s enroll- ment numbers around 1,800 and its faculty nearly 60. From 1927 to 1964, the college grew to an enroll- ment of approximately 400 students. EJC was operat- ing in an abandoned grade school building under the direction of the Board of Education. From the mid 1930 ' s to 1956, El Dorado Junior College shared the El Dorado High School Building at 500 West Central which is now the junior high school. In the summer of 1956, junior college classes were moved to the remod- eled and vacated Jefferson Elementary building at 1000 West First to provide a more collegiate atmo- sphere. Laboratory and physical education classes were still held at the high school. In the fall of 1963, the first board was appointed and the new junior college district of Butler County was in operation. Edwin J. Walbourn, former dean, was ap- pointed president. A successful bond issue in 1964 authorized $1,998,000 for construction of the new campus. A fed- eral appropriation of $525,446 was added in 1965. But- ler County Community Junior College was ready to go- Enrollment grew, first to 700, then 900, then past 1,000. In October 1966, Gov. William Avery spoke in an address of dedication officially opening the new campus at a public open house attended by almost 8,000 persons. BCCJC was the first county community college in the state. The first Grizzly Growl, the college yearbook pub- lished in the spring of 1928 carried on its dedication page this tribute: To those far-seeing, unselfish citi- zens of El Dorado who caught the vision of the need for higher education, and gave to Butler County the El Dorado Junior College. Today is a far cry from those days of beginning 50 years ago.