50 years - Watertown Daily Times

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8 Friday,February 11,2011WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES N JCC 50TH ANNIVERSARYMissionary impulse drove ‘democracy’s college’By JOHN W. DEANSJCC PRESIDENT EMERITUSIn late March 1967, I arrived atJefferson Community College for ajob interview as an instructor ofhistory and political science. Whatresulted has been a four decadepluslabor of love — as a youngclassroom instructor, as chair ofthe Social Science Department, asLiberal Arts Division chair, academicdean, college president andnow, back to my classroom rootsas an adjunct professor in the college’sContinuing Education Divisionfacilitating the Great Decisionsglobal issues seminar.A recent college marketingtheme reminds us that “There’smore here,” and that is exactlywhat this aspiring young teacherdiscovered. As my wife and Idrove down the winding treelineddrive that remains the college’smain entrance, we spiedamidst towering pines, apple andwhite birch trees, an impressivecollege campus taking shapealong the banks of the Black River.At a time when community collegesin New York state were stillrelatively new to the higher educationallandscape, with manystill located in old abandoned factories,what I saw came as a realsurprise. Here was JCC with threenew, beautifully designed buildingsalready in place. Two morestructures were nearing completion— an impressive library thatupon opening in the summer of1967 would boast 25,000-plus volumesand a student center buildingwith a magnificent 500-seattheater and gymnasium set foroccupancy midway through the1967-68 academic year. I wouldlater learn of Jefferson’s humblebeginnings when, in the fall of1963, it first opened its doors in anold elementary school on Watertown’sLansing Street.My interview and campus tourleft no doubt that Jefferson CommunityCollege was already a specialplace. There was a well justified“pride of place,” visible in theattractive, exceptionally wellmaintainedfacilities. Yet, this wasonly part of what I found. It becamevery apparent this collegewas home to people who werepassionate about education andthe special mission of communitycolleges to “open doors” of opportunity,heretofore closed to somany by cost and/or distance.“No,” I acknowledged as the interviewdrew to a close, “I do nothunt, nor am I a particularly goodfisherman, but I have dreamed ofbeing a teacher since my oneroomschool days.”That seemed to cinch it! In aletter to me dated April 20, 1967,James E. McVean, the collegeleader whose foresight, organizationalskills, political acumenand, oh yes, slide rule and graphpaper, had brought Jefferson sofar, so fast, formally offered me aposition: Instructor II, Step 1 atan annual salary of $7,064. The“Dean boy from Malone” as hesometimes referred to me in lateryears (and I took that as a complimentas Mrs. McVean also grewup on a small farm near ours) hadfound not just a job, but a calling.As classes opened on the dayafter Labor Day 1967, I was one of11 new hires (nine new facultymembers and two non-classroomprofessionals) making usone of the biggest incomingclasses of staff in the college’s 50-year history. And like the facultyalready in place, there was a missionaryimpulse among this bandof believers in what then Gov.Nelson Rockefeller called“democracy’s colleges.”Professors John W. Deans, history and political science, and Richard F.Young, speech and communication, meet on the Jefferson CommunityCollege campus on the Coffeen Street hill in Watertown.My first class took place in the“night school” and remains memorableon two scores. First, at 23years of age, I suddenly realizedthat I was the youngest person inthe room and, second, a somewhatnervous instructor discoveredhe had reached the end of hisnotes 10 minutes before the Surveyof American History sessionwas scheduled to conclude! Thecauses of European expansionhad been explained and Columbushad arrived in the “New World”in just 55 minutes! Though somewhatchagrined, I do not recallanyone complaining about thespare minutes; and, as I’ve been remindedover the years, rarely was Iat a loss for words again!Then, as now, I learned asmuch from these adult learnersas I may have taught. Oneevening a woman in the classdressed as a “flapper” as part of asmall-group student project onthe Roaring Twenties. Considerableinsight was added to the understandingeach of us had ofthat by-gone era! Following asummer of study at the Universityof Hawaii’s East-West Centerand a subsequent summer in India,I introduced a World Affairscourse. The students made presentationson topics rangingfrom the Cuban Missile Crisis tomarriage ceremonies around theglobe to Middle Eastern cuisine.Culinary presentations, as manystudents may remember, alwaysseemed to earn high grades!Students in my day classes inthe early years consisted almostexclusively of recent high schoolgraduates, many of whom continuedto wear their high schooljackets or sweat shirts. As timewent on, both day and eveningclasses became more mixed inage. By the time of Fort Drum’sfortuitous expansion in the late1980s, and the advent of a morediverse and widely traveled studentpopulation, fraternities andsororities had long since disappearedand high school attire hadlargely gone by the wayside.In the ’60s and early ’70s, theworld of technology includedstate-of-the-art 16 mm projectors.I wheeled those big projectorsinto the classroom and madethe past come alive with reels offilm material borrowed from theNorth Country Library System.My new office-mate, Jim Jerome,and I produced stacks of purpleprintedhandouts with ditto machineswe learned to run and refillwith an unforgettably smellyfluid. PowerPoint and even overheadprojectors were technologiesof the future; we had “opaqueprojectors” which allowed one toenlarge and display a picture orthe printed page on a blank wall.The tools of higher educationin these early years may havebeen primitive, but what is gloriousis that hundreds of studentsfor whom higher educationwould not have been possiblecompleted their degrees andtransferred to colleges across thestate and nation. Horizons werebroadened in classrooms andthrough a vibrant annual CulturalAffairs program that broughtthe likes of David Halberstam,Frederick Exley and Ralph Naderto the campus. Students and thecommunity attended college artshows and theater productions,including Shakespearean plays.The Vietnam War was debated;the deaths of Martin Luther Kingand Robert Kennedy in 1968rocked both staff and students;and toward the end of the springsemester in 1970, class attendancebecame optional as teach-See DEANS 18Telephone(315) 788-7149CONGRATULATIONS JCCJefferson CountyBoard of LegislatorsROBERT J. THOMASLegislator - District 2(Towns of Brownville & Lyme)610 Church StreetGlen Park, NY 13601-1013“JCC Alumni 1979”WE OFFER:PET SUPPLIES,EQUINE & WILDBIRD FEEDBLUE SEAL23175 Murrock CircleWatertown, NY315-788-0541HOURS: MONDAY-FRIDAY 8:00-5:30SATURDAY 9:00-3:00NEW PROPANEEXCHANGEONLY...$12.99
WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES N JCC 50TH ANNIVERSARYFriday,February 11,2011 9College graced by top-flight athletic competitionWATERTOWN DAILY TIMESA comprehensive, competitive athletics program enhances campuslife for Jefferson Community College students, such as 2006 volleyballteammates Jennifer Nowak, left, and Cija Tanner.Athletic competition has beena part of Jefferson CommunityCollege since the college openedin the fall of 1963, and no sporthas brought the college more acclaimthan basketball.Under the direction of CoachJim Jerome, Jefferson’s first men’sbasketball team played in the BorderLeague against such rivals asCape Vincent, the 655th AC&W,Copenhagen, Harrisville, CampDrum, Hammond, Indian River,Lyme, Watertown YMCA, AlexandriaBay and Kingston. The followingyear was the first season of intercollegiateplay in the NationalJunior College Athletic Association,and the Arsenal Street StateArmory was rented as “homecourt” for the newly nicknamedCannoneers, who won their firsthome game against Mohawk ValleyCommunity College.In 1968, Robert H. Williams Sr.took the helm of the men’s basketballprogram and became thecollege’s athletic director in 1981.The following year, Mr. Williamswas recognized by his followcoaches and named Region 3coach of the year.“I think Bobby Williams was themost respected basketball coachin Region 3,” said Thomas W. Myers,Class of 1968, who became JCCbookstore manager and wasscorekeeper and statistician forCannoneer basketball. “He alwayskept his cool during a game. Heand his assistant coach, MalBiedekapp, worked well togetheras a team. And Bob had a followingin the community. Students cameto JCC to play for Bob Williams.”The women got in the gamewith the start of the Lady Cannoneersin 1970 with Coach MarciaWalton. In 1992, coached byJohn Penrose, a chemistry professor,they were the first Jeffersonteam to win a regional title.The Lady Cannoneers took theNJCAA Region 3, Division III basketballchampionship and wenton to finish third in the nationalcompetition for Division III.Not to be outdone, in 1997 themen’s basketball team, coachedby Robert H. Williams Jr., claimedthe Region 3 championship titleand was runner-up in the nationalcontest, losing to Eastfield Collegeby four points.In 1998 and again in 1999, theLady Cannoneers repeated theirperformance under the directionof Jeffrey Wiley, former Cannoneerbasketball player and the college’scurrent athletic director. “Jeffersonwomen’s basketball has had astrong tradition of winning andexcellence,” Mr. Wiley said. “Walkingin coach Penrose’s footstepswas a huge undertaking. It feltgratifying to be able to continuethe success that he built with area786- 1900Lori Gervera Productions“Setting the stag e ® ”www.LoriGervera.comathletes and winning the championshipsin 1998 and 1999.”In 1999, the Lady Cannoneerslost the national title for DivisionIII in a 68-62 match to Anoka-Ramsey Community College ofMinnesota.At various times over the past40-plus years, Jefferson has offeredtennis, wrestling, bowling,skiing and cross country. Currently,Jefferson fields 10 intercollegiateteams in Region 3: men’sand women’s basketball, men’sand women’s soccer, men’s andwomen’s lacrosse, baseball, softball,volleyball and golf.The Cannoneers have a historythat features many outstandingteams, seasons and athletes, includingAll-American and All-Regionplayers and another Region3 championship team — the firstin women’s soccer — in 2008.“As a former player, alumnus ofthe college, and former coach,”All-American CannoneersJCC All American AthletesMen’s BasketballHank Darden, 1969 All-AmericanDan Woodward, 1974 Honorable MentionAll-AmericanScott Wilson, 1984 Honorable Mention All-AmericanScott Wilson, 1994 Honorable Mention All-AmericanFloyd Burgher, 1995-96 1st Team All-AmericanSteve Howard, 1996-97 1st Team All-AmericanChristopher Hunter, 2003 2nd Team All-AmericanChris Noel, 2008 Preseason All-AmericanKadeem Nicholas, 2009 2nd Team All-AmericanWomen’s BasketballJoy Williams. 1991-92 2nd Team All-AmericanAmy Jo Leonard, 1991-92 2nd Team All-AmericanJennifer Podvin, 1992-93 1st Team All-AmericanNikki Seller, 1995-96 3rd Team All-AmericanJennifer Knox (Williams), 1998-99 1st TeamAll-AmericanAngie Brouty, 2000 3rd Team All-AmericanMr. Wiley said, “I can attest to thecommitment of Jefferson CommunityCollege to our studentathletes. Strong support servicesand instructors contributed tomy success as a student and as anathlete, and I am committed toproviding the same for our currentCannoneers. We strive toprovide our athletes with the bestco-curricular mix and the opportunityto achieve athletic and academicsuccess.”The Cannoneer Hall of Fame,established in 2009, recognizesthe athletes and teams that haveWatertownURGENT CARECorner Of CoffeenStreet & Gaffney Drive- Across from JCCColds & Flus, Minor Illnesses,Earaches, Cuts and other Non-Threatening Sports InjuriesCALL US AT779-22737 Days: Mon.-Fri.8am-7:30pm Sat. &XRAY SERVICE NOW OPEN Sun 8am-5:30pmMost Insurance Accepted • No Appointment NecessaryWILLIAM SPEARANCE, PA STEVE TIERNAN, PA MARK KNOWLES, PADR. COLLINS KELLOG JR. M.D. - MEDICAL DIRECTORMen’s SoccerCharles Pratt, 1996 NSCAA/UMBRO All-AmericanWomen’s SoccerJennifer Zehr, 1997 1st Team All-AmericanCharity Carroll, 1997-98 1st Team All-AmericanHeather Bush, 1999-2000 Honorable MentionAll-]AmericanMalynda Rumble, 2003 2nd Team All-AmericanElysa Doldo, 2009 1st Team All-AmericanMen’s LacrosseCasey Dickinson, 2009 Academic All-AmericanWomen’s LacrosseTheresa Staab, 2009 1st Team All-AmericanMaria Martusewicz, 2009 1st Team All-AmericanGolfAdam Brown, 1999-2000 2nd Team All-AmericanRob Peluso, 2003 Honorable Mention All-AmericanTyler Woodward, 2010 Honorable MentionAll-Americanshaped Jefferson athletics overthe years. Inductees to the CannoneerHall of Fame are nominatedby the community and selectedby a committee of communitymembers, staff andcoaches. Honorees include Jeffersonalumni Cheryl A. Clark ’86,Lawrence “Hank” B. Darden ’71,Dianne D. McCargar ’78, Mr. Myers,Marcia J. Laidlaw ’69, Elizabeth“Bippie” Luckie ’82, Jerry B.Flanders ’66, and Daniel P. Woodward’77, as well as former coachesand athletic directors D. ReneValentine and Robert Williams Sr.
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