Celebrating 50 Years!

As we enter the second week of this new semester, I find myself reflecting on the excitement 2012 is bringing for St. Louis Community College students, alumni, faculty and staff. This year marks St. Louis Community College’s 50^th anniversary. Throughout the year we’ll celebrate five decades of dynamic learning and a legacy of positive impact on our region and our alumni. For our campus, this is especially exciting as we also celebrate the 5^th anniversary of the opening of the Wildwood campus this August.

Anniversaries remind us to look back and reflect on how far we’ve come — the important milestones, great achievements, challenges overcome — to get where we are today. 50^th anniversaries are celebrated as a “golden” anniversary in recognition of the importance of this milestone. Gold is a precious metal often seen as a symbol of beauty and strength, optimism and wealth. Our wealth at STLCC is in our students and alumni. We measure our success one student at a time. And, we have a lot to show for it. St. Louis Community College has enriched more than 1.2 million lives in pursuit of personal and professional development and higher education.

Our alumni are the fabric of this region. Business and civic leaders, entrepreneurs and working professionals, and even World Series-winning baseball players, have made STLCC a stop on their journey. This year we will celebrate their accomplishments and commemorate their successes. We’ll be collecting alumni stories on the website and on Facebook, and hosting events for current students, faculty and staff. We’ll have a special anniversary focus at commencement and an STLCC Homecoming event at Busch stadium on May 21st. And watch for information on a variety of activities and events sponsored by Campus Life throughout 2012 to add to the celebration.

I like to also think of this as our 50^th birthday because birthdays are usually a time to look toward the future. A 50^th birthday is a time to reflect on how we take the experience of our first 50 years into an exciting new future and start the journey into our next 50 years. Please join in this year’s celebration with a focus on how we can create the best possible learning experience for our students for the next 50 years. Even though the near future has some important challenges for us overcome as we face possible state funding cuts in this difficult economy, we know that as an institution STLCC will stay strong. We will face these issues united in the goal to continue providing our students with the best possible learning experiences, both within and outside the classroom.

I hope you will join in the anniversary celebration by attending some of the planned events and by sharing your thoughts about how STLCC has impacted your life on the website or in the comments on this post.