Pierce College’s Faculty and Alumni Celebrate 50 Years

2017 will mark Pierce College’s 50th anniversary. All over the campus and in the current catalog there are banners and signs celebrating the milestone.  As part of the celebration Pierce College will be having its first Homecoming game on Saturday and entertainment open to the community on Sunday. Along with a car show and food trucks, festivities include alumni reunions and artists booths. But the fun will not stop there; other festivities are planned throughout the school year.

However, a look at the history of Pierce College revealed it is much older than that and bears very little resemblance to its origins.

In the 1940’s, Clover Park School District had a partnership with the federal government. The district taught government-sponsored programs to government workers and members of the military. Then, as the men were coming home from the second World War, members of the district began teaching adult education classes, known as the 13^th grade.

Arthur G. Hudtloff, the Clover Park Superintendent at the time, coordinated with the WA State Education Board to create an education system to serve the growing need for business education as these were not classes being taught at the technical college.

The work was hampered somewhat by politics as the state legislature was slow to change a law that prohibited junior or community colleges in regions that had 4-year universities.

The Clover Park Community College, as it was known then, shared space with Clover Park High School. Finally, in 1967, the Community College Act was passed. This separated junior and community colleges from the regular school districts and allowed a bridge between high school and universities.

 Once the act was passed, the college was able to operate independently of the district, so it no longer needed to share space with the high school.

The first location was an abandoned grocery store. “Alberton’s U,” as it was affectionately known, had its share of challenges. Because of the open design of the building, heating consistently was difficult.  To maximize the use of the space, rolling portable dividers were used to make classroom walls. Consequently, the students in the history classes held at one of the building could also hear the psychology professor at the other end. The teachers often joked that they were teaching each other’s classes. Additionally, the student lounge was located in the former walk-in freezer. Even so, the community college finally had its own space.

Finally in 1970 the Board purchased property for the campus However, when the sign went up, the name of the college had been changed to Fort Steilacoom Community College to better reflect the surrounding community it was intended to serve.

From 1970 to 1974, students used portables parked on the muddy ground and watched the future of their college take shape.

By 1974, the first building was finally open for administration and classes. It still carries the name it was given, the Cascade Building. It still hosts the same administration and registration offices, but the building has expanded to include the library and cafeteria.

The Ft. Steilacoom campus has changed considerably over the years. One of the biggest changes took place in the Cascade building. In the 70’s performances were held in the Performance Lounge. Setting the stage was not the only challenge; seating was also problematic. Danny Marshall, who currently serves as one of the guest directors for the theater programs, remembers being a student at that time and the challenges presented. “When doing a stage production, you want people to be able to see everything on the stage. Having people sit in evenly spaced chairs made that nearly impossible. We were very happy when we were able to salvage theater seats from an old theater being remodeled in DuPont.” Risers were built for the seats as they came only as a set of theater seats attached in single rows. The only drawback was they would have to be brought in from storage when a production was being performed. Once the theater was built in the 80’s productions were easier. More changes came when the library was expanded and the theater was moved to its current location.

Since its creation, the College has served Pierce County’s residents in several ways. In the 70’s and 80’s it brought its “Possibilities Realized” motto to inmates on McNeil Island as well as provided internship training at Western State Hospital for those working towards a degree in Health and Human Services.

Additionally, due to the growth of Pierce County, a satellite campus was built in Puyallup’s South Hill in 1979. This campus continues to thrive and actually hosts around half of the student body enrolled in Pierce.

To continue to meet the demands, construction was done on both campuses. More classrooms and more programs for degrees and certifications were added.

Eventually, since the school reached farther than just Fort Steilacoom, the name was changed again to Pierce College in 1986.

In keeping with the commitment to serve the community, in early 2000’s a partnership was created with the Lakewood Clubhouse and the Web Design Program. In an interview given in October of 2006, Aishe Dent, and student in the program served as one of the coordinators for Lake City. When asked about the program, she said, “It is really important because in Lake City there aren’t all of things for kids to do after school…. not only that but it uses their creativity and expand their interest in technology.” The program still continues today and includes classes with emphasis on STEM courses.

Today the Board overseeing the College is still looking toward the future. Most recently, it has expanded the degree programs to include Bachelor’s degrees. It has come a long way from the 9 faculty members who had to decide what to teach.

Over the years Pierce College has earned a more than a few awards and recognition in various programs. After winning the Reno International Jazz Festival in 2006, one of the members summed up the spirit of the school. “Our greatest strength is probably our individual strengths, because we all bring something different,” said Brecklynn Bradford.

 This year the graduating class of 2016 had over 2,000 graduates; of those graduates 1,500 students earned Associate’s degrees, 500 students earned certificates, and 62 students crossed the stage with a high school diploma.

Today, over 20,000 students are enrolled in the Pierce College system, between the Fort Steilacoom, Puyallup, and the partnership between JBLM. Over half are first-generation students and each one is here to see possibilities realized.