Happy Birthday, Fremont Campus

The Pueblo Community College Foundation was pleased to present a birthday celebration for the Fremont Campus.  The festivities took place on September 22.  Many from the Canon City community joined with PCC Administration, Faculty and Staff to learn about the history of the current location and help to blow out the candles on the very special birthday cake.

From the Canon City Daily Record

For Dr. Lana Carter, dean of the Pueblo Community College Fremont Campus, the school’s 15th anniversary celebration on Thursday was “more than a birthday party.”

Instead, she said, it was a celebration of years of work that went into creating an education option for local people.

As Carter and other PCC officials took time to remember the campus’s first days, they recognized the community for its support over the years, even through tremendous change.

With a snapshot in time, Carter remembered that when the campus opened its doors to students in August 2001, the country was just one month away from Sept. 11 and the tremendous change that followed.

“2001 was a very difficult year for the United States,” Carter said.

“A lot of things have changed, but many things have stayed the same,” she said. “One of those is the dedication, once again, of this community and members who came together to make it happen.”

Patty Erjavec, president of PCC, told a crowd of educators, administrators, community members and elected officials that when the campus opened, she could tell it would have an impact on the community.

“In 2001, I was actually a board member for the State Board of Community Colleges and I remember very clearly the ribbon cutting, and I knew that I was part of something big,” Erjavec said, adding that on that day, the community, students and faculty came out to celebrate.

Erjavec became president of PCC seven years ago, but even before then, she said she appreciated the campus.

“I have really come to appreciate the importance of this campus, not just from a volunteer perspective and a board member perspective, but as someone who gets to see the absolutely fabulous work that is done here,” she said.

After state funding started to decline, she said, the community came together to support the college.

“You’ve done that over and over again, to support this campus and this college,” Erjavec said.

Officials also credited donors to the PCC Foundation, as well as founding members, with helping support the campus.

“Over the last 15 years, it (PCC) has changed and evolved with the times,” said Gordon Bell, a staff member and landscaper who has been with the school since 2001.

“But even with faculty changes and retirements and administrators changing of the guard, one thing that has never changed in the college atmosphere is the commitment and loyalty to its students,” he said.

Sara Knuth: 719-276-7644, knuths@canoncitydailyrecord.com