Back (way back!) to SchoolHIGHLANDERS OF THE ’60S

As McLennan Community College celebrates its 50th Anniversary, the library staff wishes to welcome students back with a look at the very first students of the College.

These are the pioneers of McLennan – their experiences shaped the future of the college….just as yours will.

Why did McLennan come to be?

The baby boomers of the post-World War II United States were going to college! Texas wasn’t alone in expanding its institutions of higher education as fast as they could in the mid-1960s – there were more students than ever looking for opportunities that only a college education could provide.

Proponents of the college argued that local students needed access to higher education without traveling to other cities and counties across the state. The petition to bring a college to Waco had over 4,000 signatures on it! Registration for classes, 1966

How did McLennan come to be?

The Community

The idea of creating a junior college in Waco emerged from the Waco Chamber of Commerce, but the Steering Committee that garnered the needed signatures of support to send to the Texas Education Agency to begin the process provided the commitment to make it become a reality.

Steering Committee members inspect the temporary campus in 1966.

Henry V. Griffin

The Administration

Once the college was created, seven trustees were appointed to make the vision come to life. They began a search for a president of the college, and quickly settled on Wilbur A. Ball, an administrator at Wharton Junior College, whose task it became to choose a site, a curriculum, and get staff to hold classes in under six months!

How did McLennan come to be?

“Rice on the Runway”

The James Connally Air Force Base (JCAFB) was McLennan’s first home. With mere months to renovate air force barracks and mess halls into classrooms, faculty offices, and meeting spaces, the base provided a temporary place to hold classes while a permanent campus was envisioned and built.Students called this campus home from September of 1966 until December of 1968, when the present campus’s construction was completed and classes began in January 1969.

Just north of Waco, James Connally Air Force Base became McLennan’s first home

Student Population

Almost 300 members of the first freshman class at McLennan had been commuting all the way to Temple or Hillsboro before the college opened. It’s no wonder the anticipated enrollment of 500 finally ended up at 855!

Student Population

Almost 300 members of the first freshman class at McLennan had been commuting all the way to Temple or Hillsboro before the college opened. It’s no wonder the anticipated enrollment of 500 finally ended up at 855!

Registration

Next time you’re on WebAdvisor selecting which classes you want to take, think about a time when students got up early to stand in a long line during the heat of summer to wait their turn and find out if there was room left in a class they wanted to take.

The First CatalogThe first semester began on September 19 and continued through January 27.

The College employed:

•5 administrators

•7 support staff members

•2 librarians

•22 faculty members

ClassesBefore anyone was using personal computers, typing on a keyboard was a valuable skill for students to acquire.

“Administrative assistants” were called “secretaries” back then, but typing skills were important to anyone who was entering the business field.

McLennan pioneered data processing classes before most were even aware of the need for them!

To complicate matters further, the campus was housed on an active military base at the time. Faculty members were forced to pause lectures as B-58 bombers took off and landed because no one could hear a word over the deafening noise.

One unhappy student was overheard saying that he should get credit for the class being held next door because the walls were so thin, he’d heard all of their lectures!

Intramurals were an important fixture through the years at the air base. In fact, they continued up to the early 1990s.

Assemblies of the entire student body to share information of interest to all were common – and there was an “activity hour” with no classes scheduled for such meetings, as well as club meetings to take place.

McLennan student Charlesetta Green, below, ponders her class choices at registration.

Students get organized

“In October, a student Planning Committee, an interim student government, was formed; students were nominated by petitions. Elections were held, with Bob Mosley chosen as chairman, Leroy Wachtendorf, vice chairman; and Candace Shivers as secretary. The planning committee was divided into four committees; they were student government, traditions, clubs and organizations, and student publications.”

Members of McLennan’s First Student Government

Student Activities

L-R: Members of the singing quartet, “The Tonics” pose in front of a F-593 Northrop “Scorpion”; students seek autographs of a guest speaker on campus; students enjoy a band at a dance held on base.

TraditionsThe traditions committee would later choose the McLennan tartan and Scottish theme to represent the college, getting school colors from the tartan colors of black, blue, green, red and yellow, and the Highlander was chosen as the mascot.

Base LifePhotos tell a story of excitement and anticipation, as sports came to campus with the addition of basketball team in 1968 (coached by James Burroughs, who became Athletic Director, and still manages the weight room today).

Student publications like “The Highland Herald” newspaper (January 1967) and “The Clan” magazine (Spring 1967) got their start while the college was housed at the James Connally Air Force Base.

These are scenes from McLennan’s first Highland Games, an event that continues today. The first event was held in Cameron Park, but now they’re held on the campus grounds.

Photo and article from 1967 student publication, “The Clan.”