50 years - Watertown Daily Times

WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES N JCC 50TH ANNIVERSARYFriday,February 11,2011 7Five presidents give JCC five decades of leadershipDuring Jefferson CommunityCollege’s half-century, only fiveindividuals — two engineers, ahistory teacher, a criminal justiceprofessional and an economist— have served as the college’spresident.James E. McVeanJames E. McVean came hometo the north country in 1962 toconquer what then was a highereducation wilderness. Born inMissouri, he grew up in SaranacLake and was a World War II Marineveteran who received degreesfrom Canton Agriculturaland Technical College, ClarksonCollege and Cornell University. In1948, he joined the faculty of whatis now Broome Community College,rising to be dean of faculty.He was about to take charge ofa technical institution inRoanoke, Va., in 1961 when heheard of a college being started inJefferson County.“There was a raw statistic herethat intrigued me,” Mr. McVeanrecalled decades later. The Watertownarea then had one of NewYork’s lowest percentages of college-boundhigh school graduates.There was clearly a pool ofprospective students just waitingto be tapped.Jefferson’s first president startedthe job in September 1962,facing the challenges of hiring afaculty and building a campus.One year later, JCC opened in Watertown’sold Lansing StreetSchool with a faculty of eight anda full-time student body of 119.The college moved to its permanenthome on Coffeen Street in1965, where the new administration,science, and liberal artsbuildings had been built. The libraryand student center followedin 1968.Mr. McVean remained JCC’sguiding force for 15 years, buildingprograms, expanding facultyand watching a mostly male studentbody diversify with increasingnumbers of women and olderadult learners. By the time he retiredin 1977, Jefferson was solidlyits community’s college.Jefferson honored its foundingpresident in 1990 by naming oneof the original campus buildingsthe McVean Student Center.Mr. McVean died in 1998 at theage of 76. His legacy lives on at thecollege, not only on the buildingthat bears his name, but alsothrough the James E. McVeanMemorial Scholarship, endowedby his many community and collegefriends.John T. Henderson inheritedin 1977 a solid foundation at JCC.In many ways, his backgroundechoed that of his predecessor.He held engineering degreesfrom two of Mr. McVean’s almamaters, Canton and Clarkson, aswell as from Rochester Instituteof Technology. Like Jefferson’sJohn T. Hendersonfounding president, Mr. Hendersonserved in the military, as asurveyor with the Army Corps ofEngineers.Mr. Henderson taught at Cantonand at Onondaga CommunityCollege before holding administrativeposts at SUNY Centraland RIT. Prior to the Jefferson job,he was vice president for academicaffairs at Morrisville Agriculturaland Technical College.Under his leadership, JCC continuedto grow. The reactivationof the 10th Mountain Divisionand expansion of Fort Drum inthe 1980s fueled college enrollment,especially the growth innontraditional learners (studentscoming to college later in life asopposed to directly from highschool). Jefferson became afounding member of SUNY Collegesin the North Country, partneringwith four-year schools tobring bachelor and master degreelevel course work to thearea, and also began offeringclasses on post.To spur scholarship development,Mr. Henderson oversawthe creation of the JCC Foundationby merging the college’s formerScholarship Corporationand the Trustees’ Fund.Mr. Henderson was responsiblefor a major addition to the sciencebuilding, expansion of athleticfacilities and creation of a facilitiesmaster plan. To supportgrowing numbers of young parentspursing college studies, heguided the completion of the firstentirely new building to be constructedon campus since the1960s — a structure known todaySee FIVE 17CONGRATULATIONSWaste Management is proud to be a supportingmember of the Business Community and extendsa sincere Congratulations toJefferson Community Collegeon their continuing success and for another 50years of educating the North Country.JeffersonCommunity Collegeon your 50th year!You are one of theNorth Country’s Finest.WASTE MANAGEMENTOF NEW YORK• 315-773-5696 •