History of Craven Community College

On Aug. 15, 1961, a tall, young native of Cumberland County, Thurman E. Brock, was employed as Director of Vocational Education for the Craven County School System. "I began my first day with a pencil, legal pad and a small empty desk and office on Craven Street across from the County Courthouse," wrote Brock, who at the time held one of only five such positions in the state. Brock's assignment was two-fold: to lead an expanded vocational program in the schools, and to promote night adult education classes in coordination with the Lenoir County Industrial Education Center in nearby Kinston.

The network of Industrial Education Centers, authorized by state legislation in 1957, were a key initiative of Governor Luther Hodges, a business leader who gained national acclaim as the "economic development governor." The network of 18 original Industrial Education Centers was created to foster the development of an industrial workforce through adult education and customized training. These Centers were a centerpiece economic development initiative of the Hodge's administration, along with the creation of Research Triangle Park.

The first Craven County adult education classes, funded through the Lenoir IEC, were held at Brinson Memorial School in 1961. Two of the first classes illustrated the workforce development focus of the IEC's: a blueprint reading course offered for the employees of Riverside Iron Works, and basic electronics course comprised primarily of employees from the local telephone company. From these humble roots, Craven Community College was born.

The year 1961 was an important year in the creation of the overall system of North Carolina community colleges, marked by new Governor Terry Sanford's appointment of the 25-member Governor's Commission of Education Beyond the High School, commonly referred to as the Carlyle Commission in recognition of its chairman, former State senator Irving Carlyle of Winston-Salem. Created based on concern over North Carolina's low ranking (47th) in the number of college-age citizens attending college, the final Carlyle Commission report included 61 recommendations. These recommendations became the blueprint for the North Carolina Community College System, and suggested promoting access with a proposal for 55 tentative locations that would enable 30-minute access from anywhere in the state.

While the Carlyle Commission report provided the skeletal structure of the future North Carolina Community College System, it was Dallas Herring, then Chairman of the State Board of Education and a member of the Carlyle Commission, who became the ideological pioneer of the System through the promotion of its future mission, based on an open-door philosophy of "total education":

The only valid philosophy for North Carolina is the philosophy of total education; a belief in the incomparable worth of all human beings, whose claims upon the state are equal before the law and equal before the bar of public opinion; whose talents (however great or however limited or however different from the traditional) the state needs and must develop to the fullest possible degree. That is why the doors to the institutions in North Carolina's system of community colleges must never be closed to anyone of suitable age who can learn what they teach. We must take the people where they are and carry them as fare as they can go within the assigned function of the system.

On May 17, 1963, North Carolina passed the Omnibus Higher Education Act, merging the system of 19 Industrial Education Centers with two public junior colleges, all placed under the administration of a Department of Community Colleges reporting to the State Board of Education. Within 18 months, there were 34 colleges in the newly created system of North Carolina community colleges. In 1963, Craven County School Superintendent, R.L. Pugh, a vocational education champion, named a local advisory committee, chaired by Mr. Lynn Kelso, to assist Thurman Brock in developing plans for a community college in Craven County.

While Craven Community College did not yet exist, its formation in 1963 was developing under the sponsorship of the Lenoir County Industrial Education Center, soon to begin its first year of operation as Lenoir Community College. Nursing, the first curriculum program in Craven County, began on the fourth floor of the old St. Luke's Hospital Building with 14 students. In addition, over 1,500 people participated in continuing education classes held in public schools and other locations throughout the county. On July 1 1965, the N. C. General Assembly officially created the Craven Industrial Education unit as an exension of LCC.

The next milestone occurred in 1966, when the Craven unit of Lenoir Community College moved to a new temporary location, 223 Tryon Palace Drive, in the building now known as the Harvey Mansion Restaurant and Inn. In this location, nursing classes were located on the third floor and business classes on the second floor. The first floor was also used for general classrooms and a learning laboratory, with a neighboring two-story duplex housing administration functions. A machine shop was developed in the former Leona Tolson School in Croatan, and the Craven unit employed nine full-time employees, including Lewis (Steve) Redd, the Director of the Evening Program and the second president of Craven Community College.

The year 1967 began with a Jan. 16 meeting of the Advisory Committee to begin development of plans for developing a technical institute in Craven County. The Committee developed plans for submitting a required local referendum to Craven County voters to create an independent technical institute. Almost a year later, on Dec. 5, 1967, Craven County voters approved a $5.5 million education bond referendum that included $500,000 for capital construction for a new technical institute and a 10-cent-per-$100 property valuation levy for operating expenses.

On a date now annually commemorated as Craven Community College Founders' Day, April 23, 1968, Craven County Technical Institute became an official independent institution of the North Carolina Community College System with the first meeting of the newly constituted Board of Trustees. Charter Board members included Mr. Lynn Kelso (chairman), Mr. Edwin J. Cella, Mr. Edward C. Howard, Mr. James B Wiggins, Mr. Hiram Mayo, Mr. John R. Hill, Mrs. Leah O. Ipock, Mr. Charles T. Denham, Dr. Charles T. Barker, Mr. Albert Salem, Mr. James F. Gavin, and Mrs. Evelyn C. Haire. Thurman Brock was officially employed as President, and Mr. David Ward began a long professional association with the College when he was elected as Board attorney. Within just a few months, the College began official operations and the Board decided to purchase 100 acres of property from Weyerhaeuser on Racetrack Road, and Mr. John Peterson was selected as architect for the new campus.

The January 1971 Board meeting began another eventful year, as the Board of Trustees approved the addition of a college transfer program to the technical institute program, a move that opened the door to designation as Craven Community College over two years later. In April 1971, the College moved into its new two-building campus on Racetrack Road with an enrollment of 350 curriculum students and 384 continuing education students. That December, the College received accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Rapid growth continued throughout the 1970s, with a major campus milestone in 1979. The College secured funding for a Learning Resources Center building, funded in half by a grant from the Economic Development Administration.

The year 1980 began with the creation of the State Board of Community Colleges, to which Mr. Lynn Kelso, first chairman of the Craven Board of Trustees, was named as a charter member. Plans also began to create a public radio station on campus, now known as Public Radio East. Several new curriculum programs were started in electrical and electronics engineering, general occupational technology, and air conditioning/refrigeration.

Throughout the 1980s, Dr. Thurman Brock presided over the continued growth of the College until his retirement on Dec. 31, 1989. Two new buildings were built at the close of his tenure, a vocational building named after Mr. Lynn Kelso, and a new auditorium/classroom building named for longtime Board member and former chair, Mrs. Kathleen Orringer. At Brock's retirement, Craven Community College had grown to a student body of over 2,400 curriculum students and 10,000 continuing education students.

Dr. Lewis (Steve) Redd, one of the original College employees and Dean of the College at the time, succeeded Dr. Brock as president. During his tenure, Dr. Redd led efforts in constructing a new science building and strengthening of the College's industrial programs.

The crowning accomplishment of Dr. Redd's tenure was securing funding and initiating construction for a new campus in Havelock. In addition to a general instruction building and public library, the campus includes the Institute of Aeronautical Technology, providing state-of-the-art aviation systems technology instruction in support of NAVAIR in Cherry Point. The Havelock campus opened in January 2004; aviation classes started in April of that year.

Dr. Redd retired in July 2002, and was succeeded by Dr. Scott Ralls, a native of Western North Carolina and the former Vice President of Economic and Workforce Development for the North Carolina Community College System. In 2003, Craven was named a national finalist for the Bellwether Awards in workforce development, and in 2004 curriculum enrollment topped 3,000 for the first time.

The college's New Bern campus is home to Craven Early College High School, which began in fall 2006.

Throughout its history, Craven Community College has fulfilled its motto of "reaching new heights," providing educational, career, and personal enrichment opportunities to the people of Craven County and Eastern North Carolina.