In 2001, community colleges will celebrate 100 years of service and achievement.
The oldest continuously operating public community college in the United States is
Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Illinois, which opened its doors in 1901.
April is Community College Month - an ideal time for Phi Theta Kappa chapters to
plan projects that call attention to the Centennial Anniversary of the two-year
college. This anniversary also provides a great opportunity for your chapter to work
together with the college administration on a College Project for the
Five-Star Chapter Development Program.
Your 2000-01 International Officers and Regional Officers brainstormed together
the following ideas to help you celebrate this special milestone.
Honor someone in the community who has supported
community colleges, perhaps the county officials, retired professors, or
scholarship donors.
Throw a party! Order 100 pizzas at lunch, and promote the
Centennial Celebration on campus. If your campus is small…make it 100
slices of pizza!
Do something special for the graduating class of the
Centennial
"100 Thank You Cards" - Bring all the clubs and students
together. Write 100 thank you cards to people in the community that have
supported the college. Inform them that it is the 100-Year Anniversary of the
community college, and thank them for their support!
Produce a play or skit pertaining to an event that
happened in the year 1901, or the year your college opened. Host a puppet show
describing segments of history over the last 100 years. Invite local elementary
schools to attend the production. This would be a great tie-in with the
America's Promise Program.
Host a fellowship dance with music spanning over the last
100 years. Invite alumni and current students to attend.
Create a list of the 100 reasons why you should attend a
community college and ask your local newspapers and college newspaper to
feature it.
Create a picture/memorabilia wall or board of your
college's history.
Select various departments throughout the year and
highlight its achievements, including the faculty.
Sponsor a parade. Bring together community colleges,
throughout your area, and parade their achievements.
Incorporate faculty and staff into your celebration;
honor them for their contributions. Without them, we would not be here!
Have your college faculty participate in a dunk tank. Set
a goal of "100 Dunks." This could be utilized as a fund-raiser for a $100 book
scholarship recipient.
Hold a special event highlighting achievements of
students, faculty, and alumni. You may want to consider sharing the program
with local high schools.
Host a fellowship gathering at your college highlighting
Joliet Junior College and the oldest college in your region.
Prepare an article describing the history of the
community college and distribute it to your student body and local
newspapers.
Bring in objects that are the same age of the community
college and share the significance in relationship to the community
college.
Highlight programs that have made your college successful
and share them with neighboring colleges.
Hosting a faculty appreciation day titled "100 Reasons to
Applaud Community College Faculty."
Setting up art works and historical books throughout the
college from the last 100 years.
Create a program that highlights academic excellence.
Include milestones of all two-year college honor societies over the last 100
years.
Unite with community colleges throughout your state and
capture the history of its community colleges. For those states that hold
special events for the All-State Academic Teams, it could be shared at the
event.
Build a web site about the history of community
colleges.
Develop an oral history and create an audio or videotape
by interviewing alumni and those who founded colleges, and/or faculty who were
part of the community college growth.
Create a time capsule to be buried during Founders Day.
It could include such things as, lists and/or pictures of student club members,
the graduating class, and articles of significance from today's community
college. The time capsule can then be opened at a determined time in the
future.
Create a poetry or essay contest that describes life on
the community college campus. The entries could be compiled to share with
future generations about campus life during the year 2001.
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