The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

OKLAHOMA CITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE.

With a library and main building reconstructed in 2001 and 2002, Oklahoma City Community College featured a new look that promoted a quality learning environment for the sole purpose of student success, the institution's educational philosophy since it opened in 1972.

The college traces its beginning to March 20, 1969. At that time a committee of the South Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce was organized to circulate petitions asking the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to take action to establish a junior college in southwest Oklahoma City. On June 23, 1970, residents of the South Oklahoma City Junior College District voted to approve the two-mill levy to finance the planning of the facility. As a direct result of the interest and initiative of these citizens, a junior college district was formed, and a Board of Trustees was appointed a year later.

In spring 1971 Gov. David Hall announced that the school land commission had granted a permanent easement to 143 acres located on Southwest Seventy-fourth Street. Extensive planning and ground-breaking for the college took place in 1971. Construction began in January 1972.

With an enrollment of 1,049 students, South Oklahoma City Junior College opened on September 25, 1972. In spring 1974 a new Board of Regents was appointed as the governing unit for the school, and in 1983 the name of the college was changed to Oklahoma City Community College. In 2001 the Board of Regents obtained ownership of the college's real estate from the Oklahoma Land Commission.

At the turn of the twenty-first century the college was the fifth-largest higher education institution in the state and served more than twenty-eight thousand people each year. The college offered a full range of associate degree programs, which prepared students to transfer to four-year institutions. Other degree and certificate programs prepared students for immediate employment in a variety of fields such as film and video production, nursing, and biotechnology. Oklahoma City Community College also offered a wide range of community and continuing education courses, workshops, conferences, and seminars.

Jessica Martinez-Brooks