Harford Community College opened in 1957, teaching students out of classrooms at Bel Air High School.
Fifty years later, the school?s Thomas Run Road campus in Bel Air encompasses more than 300 acres and houses more than a dozen buildings.
But as Harford Community College celebrates its 50th year, teachers agree that one thing has not changed.
“A lot of the things we were doing then, we?re doing now,” said HCC President James LaCalle, who has been with the college since 1971, starting as a student advisor.
“The school has stayed focused on teaching and learning,” said Loretta Henderson, dean of Humanistic Studies. Henderson began her 42-year career with HCC as an English composition teacher.
“The community college?s mission has been to help students who, for one reason or other, can?t go to [a four-year] college,” said Jim D?Amario, a professor of physics who?s been teaching at HCC for 41 years.
Henderson says part of the reason for the college?s success is the support of the community.
A recent gala at the Maryland Golf and County Club in Bel Air raised $300,000 for HCC scholarship programs, LaCalle said.
As for the next 50 years? LaCalle said the college will continue to grow with the county, but it won?t lose focus on its students and their education.
For the immediate future, LaCalle said he is working with Towson University to get a satellite building at HCC, adding that a majority of Harford students move on to Towson.
By the numbers
HCC students in fiscal 2006
Full-time students: 1,521
Part-time students: 6,185
Average age: 26.6
Source: Harford Community College?s Web site
