San Jacinto Community College District

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just gonna pass it along to you straight. Now, if you want to understand how a community college gets built, you have to first understand what happened to Pasadena, Texas. In 1940, the city's population stood at three thousand, four hundred and thirty-six souls.

Ten years later, twenty-two thousand, four hundred and eighty-three. Ten years after that, fifty-eight thousand, seven hundred and thirty-seven. That is not gradual growth, friends.

That is a wave. Industrialization during and after World War II hit the Greater Pasadena area like a tide coming in, and it did not go back out. So picture it: the late nineteen-fifties, and community leaders and school district representatives from along the Houston Ship Channel are sitting around, looking at all those graduating students and petrochemical industry workers, and asking a hard, practical question.

Where are these people supposed to go to get an education? They got to work. In March of nineteen-sixty, college supporters carried petitions to the county and state boards of education.

Two months after that, in May of nineteen-sixty, an election created the East Harris County Union Junior College District, a board of regents, and a supporting property tax. Now, that didn't happen without a fight. The effort withstood early opposition, and we're talking legislation and lawsuits, the kind of opposition that ends a lot of good ideas before they get started.

This one didn't end. In December of nineteen-sixty, the federal government gave the college a hundred and forty-one acres for its Spencer Highway Campus. Two months later, the regents approved Dr.

Thomas Spencer as the first president. And then, one week after Hurricane Carla damaged temporary classrooms in downtown Pasadena, the college opened anyway. September eighteenth, nineteen-sixty-one.

You want to talk about stubbornness? The opening enrollment of eight hundred and seventy-six students set a new record for first-year enrollment for Texas junior colleges. A new record.

One week after a hurricane. The college moved all its classes to the main campus in nineteen-sixty-four, with the completion of the Vincent Heinrich Science Building and the McCollum Administration Building. State and national accreditation followed quickly.

Voters approved bond elections that built a North Campus in nineteen-seventy-five and a South Campus in nineteen-seventy-nine. Hurricanes weren't done with this place, either. Alicia hit in nineteen-eighty-three.

Ike hit in two-thousand-and-eight. The college sustained damage both times, and both times it rebuilt, with enrollment steadily growing at all three campuses. San Jacinto College has gone on to add new buildings, new programs, community extension centers, online and hybrid courses, and continuing education courses, all aimed at meeting the educational and workforce training needs of the region.

They started with a petition and a storm-battered classroom. That's the whole foundation, right there.

What the marker says

SAN JACINTO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT THE GREATER PASADENA AREA GREW RAPIDLY FROM INDUSTRIALIZATION DURING AND AFTER WORLD WAR II, WITH THE CITY’S POPULATION INCREASING FROM 3,436 IN 1940 TO 22,483 IN 1950 AND TO 58,737 IN 1960. IN THE LATE 1950s, COMMUNITY LEADERS AND SCHOOL DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVES FROM ALONG THE HOUSTON SHIP CHANNEL DISCUSSED EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATING STUDENTS AND PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY WORKERS. IN MARCH 1960, COLLEGE SUPPORTERS PRESENTED PETITIONS TO THE COUNTY AND STATE BOARDS OF EDUCATION. A MAY 1960 ELECTION CREATED THE EAST HARRIS COUNTY UNION JUNIOR COLLEGE DISTRICT, A BOARD OF REGENTS AND A SUPPORTING PROPERTY TAX. THE EFFORT WITHSTOOD EARLY OPPOSITION INCLUDING LEGISLATION AND LAWSUITS. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GAVE THE COLLEGE 141 ACRES FOR ITS SPENCER HIGHWAY CAMPUS IN DEC. 1960. TWO MONTHS LATER, REGENTS APPROVED DR. THOMAS SPENCER AS THE FIRST PRESIDENT. ONE WEEK AFTER HURRICANE CARLA DAMAGED TEMPORARY CLASSROOMS IN DOWNTOWN PASADENA, THE COLLEGE OPENED ON SEP. 18, 1961, AND THE OPENING ENROLLMENT OF 876 SET A NEW RECORD FOR FIRST-YEAR ENROLLMENT FOR TEXAS JUNIOR COLLEGES. WITH COMPLETION OF THE VINCENT HEINRICH SCIENCE BUILDING AND McCOLLUM ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, ALL CLASSES MOVED TO THE MAIN CAMPUS IN 1964. THE COLLEGE QUICKLY ACHIEVED STATE AND NATIONAL ACCREDITATION. VOTERS HAVE APPROVED SEVERAL BOND ELECTIONS, BUILDING NORTH (1975) AND SOUTH (1979) CAMPUSES. THE COLLEGE SUSTAINED FURTHER HURRICANE DAMAGE FROM ALICIA (1983) AND IKE (2008) BUT HAS REBUILT WITH ENROLLMENT STEADILY GROWING AT ALL THREE CAMPUSES. SAN JACINTO COLLEGE HAS ADDED NEW BUILDINGS AND PROGRAMS, COMMUNITY EXTENSION CENTERS, ONLINE AND HYBRID COURSES, AND CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSES TO MEET THE EDUCATIONAL AND WORKFORCE TRAINING NEEDS OF THE REGION. 175 YEARS OF TEXAS INDEPENDENCE * 1836-2011