McLennan Community College

The McLennan County Junior College District was approved by the citizens of McLennan County on November 2, 1965. The school's name was changed from McLennan County Junior College to McLennan Community College in early 1966, making the school the first public junior college in Texas to include the word "community" in its name. The enrollment was 858 when classes began in September 1966 in temporary quarters on the deactivated James Connally Air Force Base. A 150-acre site, a former home of William Waldo Cameron, was purchased later as the permanent campus. Construction of the new facility began in late summer 1967 and was completed by January 1969. By the fall of 1970 enrollment had increased to 2,900. Wilbur A. Ball, president of the school since its beginning, retired in 1988 and was succeeded by Dennis Michaelis. In 1990 the school had 165 full-time faculty and 5,750 students; its library holdings numbered 87,000 volumes. The college offered two-year associate of arts degree programs, as well as technical and vocational courses. It was a member of the American Association of Junior Colleges and the Texas Public Junior College Association, as well as an affiliate member of the Association of Texas Colleges and Universities. In 1999 McLennan County voters approved a $17.95 million bond package for campus improvements and additional facilities. In the fall of that year the college had an enrollment of 5,584 and a faculty of 295.