2008

PROFILE 2008 East Central Community College

physical plant (eight major buildings were added lo the campus) and increase till' number of faculty member~ and student:-. The Colles:rt> also broadcnt•d its cur– riculum, sought and received accreditation, excelled in intercollegiatl' ~ports and took a recognized place among ~lic;..;j.:;sippi's public mstitution:-. Also during this pt•riod, East Central wa:-. host to the famed Thirty-Fir::.t (Dixie) Division of the ~Iississippi ~ational Guard. The group was mainly composed of college students and was commanded by Pat Wilson. then dean ofmen and former EC roach. The unit was activated early in World War II. and as a result, the College - mcluding the fac· ulty and student body - was mostly composed of women. Because of the war, East Cen· tral operated on a reduced scale from 19-12 to 1945. When the war ended. an influx of student::.- mostly vet– erans - arrived on campus. Thanks in part to the Gl Bill. East Central experienced its greatest period of gro\\1h in students and faculty. Throughout lhe Collegl', firs lb year-.. tht· curriculum vas mainly liberal arts in .tture. offering college-par– allel work in the arts and '-'d· enres. the first two rears of teacher education programs. and lower-division work 111 agriculture, home economic~ and bu"iness Beginning in the late fortil's, the Colkgc made a concerted effort to offer vocational courses in ttw 'Killed trades. Five non-credit courses wen• offered in the immediate post-war period. Beginning in 1952, 1\.lissis– ,jppi\; public junior colleges began rert>iving capital improvement lunds from thC' :-.tate. Ayear later, a new pres– ident began his tenure. Arno \ incent. an EC alumnus who

served the College as math instructor, coach and admin– istrator, was named as Dr Todd's !SUCcessor. During \ tncent's nine years at the helm, onl' building was completed and four other major buildings were constructed Also during this period. \1ississippi changed ib basic school law-.. llH:- "minimum foundation" program was approved in 1953, restructuring the sec– ondary districts. In 1958, East Central discontinued the high school division. thus ending the agricultural high school. which served the area for approximately 44 years. Doug\ac; Montgomer} became the College's fourth president in 1962. L'nder his leadership. tht College began offering technical courses. as the state renewed emphasis on vocational education l\lontgomcry'~ tenure abo resulted in the completion o si!,rni.ficant construction in tht– dormitory and food scrvic( areas. The Charles Wright t•ra began · n 1' 6 and during the tirst si.\: years of hl-. tration ix rna or building" "ere construl'led and a sev– enth -.tructure was on the drawing boards. The educa– tional levels of faculty and staff were upgraded during this period. ECJC completed the 1972 school year with the highest qualified staff (by degree and t•xperience) up lo that point in time A change in leader-•htp occurred at the Colleg<. in 1985. as Dr. Eddie \1. Smith n.•turned to his alma mater and bt•came Ea5l Cen– tral's sixth president. It was abo during this period when East Central joined other two-year institu– tions in changing their name from "Junior" to ··commu– nity," to more accuratlly reflect the College's mb~t. n of service to the community and surrounding area.

for the former longtime dean of women) and the Eddie M. Smith Student Union (hon– oring the longtime president). A dedication ceremony was also held for Founders' Gym– nasium, named in tribute to Dr. Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Hunter, James "Jim'' McDonald Thames and the many others instrumental in the establishment of East CentralJunior College. Buildings were also dedi– cated and named for Denver Brackeen (now deceased), former standout basketball player and Lucille Wood, former longtime East Central women's basketball coach (Brackeen-Wood Physical Education Building); Dr. Brad Tucker. former dean of instruction (Bradford J. Tucker Applied Technology Center); Ovid Vickers, former English instructor and divi– ~on ch~rman (Ov~ & Vickers FineArts Center); Dr. Richard Ethridge, former ~ocial sciences instructor and division chairman (Richard C. Ethrids.!e Hall); and Arno Vin– cent. 10rmer prec;ident ~alter Arno mcent Aumm· istration Building). The Col– lege also designated an area of campus as Sullivan Park, named in memory of Mrs. Janie Harrelson Huff Sullivan, longtime education instructor. An increased emphasis was also made in the area of alumni relations and fundraising with the creation of the Office of Development and Alumni Relations in 1996. By the fall of 1999. the ECCC Foundation had secured over $1 million in cash and in-kind cont:Jibutions. An alumni mag– azine - The Warrior - was also established during the Smith administration. Among projects sponsored and complt·ted through the Foundation include the Wel– come Home Archway and electronic marquee. The archway is a re-creation of a ~imilar structure that greeted

its citizens in the five-county district. Through tlie efforts of East Central's Workforce Development Center. a new facil ity - the Productivity Enhancement Lab- opened at the Philadelphia/Neshoba County Career-Technical Center to provide customized training to meet the technical, professional and personal needs of area industries and businesses. Mobile class– rooms were also established throughout the five-county district to provide computer training. Various campus improve– ments have also been made during the Sutphin Adminis– tration, including the Richard L. "Dick" Livingston Recre– ation/Study Trail. an exten– sion of the existing trail located near the College lake. The trail, named in memory of the late state representa– tive from Pulaski, is paved. lighted and handicapped accessible. The path also includes trees that are labeled with !heir scientific and common names, making- the trail pan of the College'c; {.;rban For6tn· Outdoor Classroom. · Other improvements include the completion of Lhe second and final phase of the Eddie M. Smith Student linion Building: renovation of the area known as the "East Mall," which is located between the Vincent Admin– istration Building and Mabry Memorial Cafeteria; renova– tion of several classrooms in the Frank Rives Education Building; and the establish– ment of the Memorabilia Room located in the Mamie Ethel Burton library. The mo t recent project is the construction of a new entrance to the Warrior foot– ball stadium, now known as Bill and Louise Bailey Sta– diwn. Funding for the project came from private sources and included a $100,000 dona– tion from the Baileys, who

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