Fun Facts of the Past
Special thanks to Bill Lace, retired TCC vice chancellor, for archival research.
Three people have served as interim chancellors at Tarrant County College – Larry Darlage in early 1997, Jim Worden in late 1996, and
Erma Johnson Hadley
in 2009-10 before being named chancellor.
The first thing the College did was get the support of the community. I’ve always felt like, for the most part, Tarrant County people have really seen the value in the College, and they’ve really supported this.
Gary Smith, VP of Academic Affairs
Former astronaut and future U.S. Senator
John Glenn
was a special guest at the dedication of the Northeast Campus in the spring of 1970.
TCJC’s first graduating class consisted of two students, Charles Williams and Albert McCord, who had transferred credit from other colleges. College administrators, taken by surprise, had to arrange a quick outdoor ceremony in spring 1968.
South Campus’ opening day enrollment of 4,272 set a record for American junior colleges.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Northwest Campus in 1974 had an agricultural flavor, Chancellor Joe Rushing and Trustee Ardis Bell doing the honors with a mule-drawn plow.
When the community voted for bonds to build this College in 1965, I was teaching at North Side High School. I was good friends with a man downtown, named Lee Goodman, who was president of the Downtown Fort Worth Association. I told him that day, ‘I want to teach at Tarrant County Junior College.’
Anita Barrett, Retired TCC Faculty
As of May 2015, a total of
97,126
degrees and certificates had been awarded by Tarrant County College in its history.
"Celebrating their 50th anniversary makes you realize how much TCC has grown and how they now do so much more than anyone originally thought. TCC develops our future workforce and has expanded into very niche services like health care and aviation, way beyond what was originally dreamed,"
—Judy McDonald, Executive Director, Texas Workforce Solutions
In the 1960s, Northeast and South Campus students voted on what their official campus mascots would be. Northeast chose Vikings and South chose Chargers.
"The rapid growth over 50 years can be tied back to affordability and accessibility. We have five beautiful on-site campuses, another dozen or so off-site community centers, community libraries and we recently added TCC Connect, which is online distance learning."
—Louise Appleman, President, TCC Board of Trustees
I’m a native of Fort Worth, and I remember when the first campus opened. I graduated from high school in ’68, and it opened in ’65 with Chancellor Rushing, whose daughter was a friend of mine. I’ve been to TCC and so have my husband and my children. Saved us major bucks, and in the last 50 years, they’ve just done an incredible job. People can learn nearly anything at the community college.
Betsy Price, Fort Worth Mayor
TCJC’s tuition for Tarrant County residents began at $5 per semester hour and was later lowered to $4 when that became the minimum required by state law.
Texas Governor
John Connally
was the principal speaker at the dedication of TCJC South Campus on December 9, 1967.
A special guest at the opening of the South Campus Fine Arts Center in 1967 was actor Dan Blocker, who played Hoss on television’s Bonanza. He was a former pupil of the campus drama director, Freda Powell.
TCJC’s Board of Trustees considered names such as "Cross Timbers" before finally deciding in April 1967 on directional designations such as Northeast, Northwest and South Campuses.