Happy Founder’s Day!
NCCC celebrates 50th anniversary with inaugural event
The Founder’s Day reception in the college Connector drew 125 people, including current and former students, faculty, board members and administrators, and a long list of local, county and state elected officials. The timing of the event was meant to correspond with the first college Board of Trustees meeting 50 years ago this month.
“Today’s event kicks off 15 months where the college will host events across all three campuses to recognize the impact the college has had on the region for a half a century, and to celebrate our partners who have helped us become the great institution of higher education that we are today,” said college President Steve Tyrell.
Since North Country opened its doors in Saranac Lake in 1968, 52,546 people have taken classes, and it’s had over 12,000 graduates since its first commencement in June 1969. The school now has campuses in Malone and Ticonderoga as well.
Tyrell said the college’s graduates “permeate all major enterprises in the Adirondacks.
“Seventy percent of the nurses at Adirondack Health are our graduates,” he said. “Seventy-one percent of the medical imaging staff at Adirondack Health are our radiological technology graduates. Our chemical dependency and human services graduates work throughout the region. Municipal law enforcement, state police and correctional facility officers throughout the region are graduates of our criminal justice program. Many trail guide services and recreational service businesses are led by graduates of our wilderness leadership program.
“I can’t take the time to acknowledge every academic program’s impact on the region, but hopefully you get the point. We’re part of this fabric we call the Adirondack and North Country region.”
Citing one of the college’s recent challenges, Tyrell said college leaders have “slowed the pace” of declining enrollment.
“Our new student applications were up in fall ’16 and again this spring of ’17, and with the addition of the new Second Chance Pell Program, our enrollment at North Country Community College for 16-17 will climb for the first time in seven years,” he said.
The president also referenced some of the recent discord between North Country’s faculty union and the college administration.
“Our passions make things messy for us at times, but at the core of all of this remains each person’s strong dedication to our students,” Tyrell said. “I’ve been in the field for over 30 years. I’ve seen no place better in higher education regarding the level of support and instructional quality that our employees provide to our students.”
Tyrell outlined a list of critical upgrades made to the Saranac Lake campus recently, but he said the college needs more help for the campus from Essex and Franklin counties.
Mayor Clyde Rabideau called the college’s Saranac Lake campus “the epicenter of magic in the North Country” and read a proclamation declaring 2017 as the year of North Country Community College throughout the village.
Tyrell then called on current town of Harriestown Councilman and local historian Howard Riley, who as village mayor presented the college’s charter to its leadership 50 years ago.
In a speech filled with funny sidebars and jokes that kept the crowd laughing, Riley credited William Meyer with reviving the idea of creating a community college here, in a conversation with Dr. Anthony Gedroiz at Meyer’s Drug Store. Meyer, Gedroiz, Riley and several others were part of an ad-hoc committee that traveled to Albany and New York City to organize and launch the college.
“From our many trips, this is what evolved,” Riley said. “I can’t tell you what the impact was on the community, especially in that first year. It wasn’t just economic, it was social. It just changed the whole atmosphere of the downtown of Saranac Lake. It was the greatest thing to happen to Saranac Lake at that time. It helped everybody. It helped all the business.”
Friday’s event also featured the presentation of plaques to the college’s sponsoring counties. They were accepted by Franklin County Legislative Chairwoman Barbara Rice, D-Saranac Lake, and Essex County Board of Supervisors Chairman Randy Preston, who is also the supervisor for the town of Wilmington.
Rice said the region is “incredibly lucky to have a college of this caliber, and the incredible staff and faculty who work here in our own backyard.” Rice also extended greetings and congratulations from her mother, Gail Rogers Rice, a former college president and one of North Country’s original faculty members, who couldn’t be there for the ceremony.
Preston said his board is proud to support the college. He said he knows the Saranac Lake campus needs additional upgrades and improvements.
“I’m also very aware there’s a tax cap,” Preston said. “Having said that, I do think there’s a path forward. I look forward to the future, and Essex and Franklin counties and the college sitting down together and coming up with a plan forward that’s good for everybody.”
State Assemblyman Billy Jones, D-Chateaugay, a former chairman of the Franklin County Legislature, closed the ceremony by presenting Tyrell with an Assembly proclamation that recognizes and honors North Country for 50 years of serving the region.
The college will celebrate its anniversary with several other events over the next 15 months, including an athletic Hall of Fame induction in September, an alumni reunion in February of next year, and its 50th commencement in May 2018.