Tacoma Community College celebrates 50 years, ready for more

Fifty years ago this month, Tacoma Community College opened its doors to 1,084 students.

Next Monday, it anticipates close to 13,000 students will cross the 150-acre campus in West Tacoma for the first day of fall quarter.

Despite Pierce County’s crowded higher education scene — it has four community and technical colleges and three four-year universities — TCC has remained a popular destination for people looking to advance their education.

“We’re the best-kept secret when it comes to the value of education,” TCC President Sheila Ruhland said.

The school’s successes over those five decades were celebrated at the campus Thursday. Visitors were treated to demonstrations of academic offerings and tours of the newest buildings.

Even without the milestone anniversary, the remodel and addition of new facilities on campus are reasons to celebrate, school leaders say.

“Tacoma Community College has always had a good reputation for the quality of education it provides,” former President Pamela Transue said.

But when she arrived in 1997, the buildings and grounds “were sending an entirely different message,” she said.

Transue, who was the longest-serving president in the school’s history before she retired in March, made it a priority that the outward face of the school reflect its quality within.

Her perseverance resulted in TCC receiving unprecedented levels of capital funding to pay for new buildings during her tenure.

In a three year-span, the school opened or began construction on at least four major buildings. They included a 2,000-square-foot art gallery in 2002, a 16,765-square-foot classroom and administration building in 2004, and a 56,000-square-foot information and technology building in 2005.

At the school’s 40th anniversary celebration, ground was broken on a 75,000-square-foot science and engineering building.

“The idea, which is now gradually becoming realized, is that the quality of the buildings and the grounds should reflect the quality of what’s happening inside,” Transue said.

While the campus was getting a facelift, more students were turning to TCC to meet their educational needs.

“Whenever the economy tanks, basically there is a huge enrollment pressure at community colleges,” Transue said.

During the recession, TCC was “overwhelmed” by demand, she said. But while students were “beating down the doors” to learn the skills needed to be rehired, the state was cutting funding.

“The faculty willingly took on more students than it would normally have,” Transue said. “Together we managed to make it work and helped a lot of people back into employment.”

Commitment by faculty to support students is the foundation of the school, retired TCC professor Frank Garratt said.

“When the doors are starting to close, the faculty will stick its foot in the door and keep it open,” said Garratt, who started teaching English at TCC when it opened and retired in 1998. “I know many faculty members who have taken four and five and six extra student in classes where an extra student means a significant amount of more work.”

The recession also shined a light on the value of education received at a community and technical college.

“Increasingly we became a college of first choice for many of our local community members because they realized they could get a very good education at a much lower price,” Transue said.

As the new leader of TCC, Ruhland said her goal is to continue spreading the word about TCC’s value.

“I firmly believe our community college mission is about providing that initial education or that retraining,” Ruhland said. “Over the next 50 years, TCC will continue to be the college of choice for students.”

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Tacoma Community College celebrates 50 years, ready for more."