10 Decades of History

Skagit Valley College Timeline

1920s

  1. Union High School completed in Mount Vernon; built to accommodate 700 students (only 500 at first).
  2. Superintendent C.A. Nelson begins a campaign to sell the community on the idea of a junior college.
  3. Mount Vernon Junior College opens at Union High School. Joseph Reeves serves as first principal; 5 faculty (also HS staff) and 26 students. Sept 7, 1926 first day of school.
  4. College accredited by the University of Washington. First 9 graduates: 4 men and 5 women.
  5. Mount Vernon Chamber pledges $2,000/year to support the college. Charles Lewis named dean.

1930s

  1. Washington State Junior College Association established to advocate for junior colleges.

1940s

  1. Mount Vernon College moves from the high school to Roosevelt Elementary. Night school begins. College offers pilot training (first vocational program, 1940–1942).
  2. State House Bill 102 formally recognizes junior colleges with standards and public funding up to $10,000/year.
  3. WWII: Enrollments plunge; junior colleges assume more vocational responsibilities. Mount Vernon JC drops to 33 students in ’41–’44; by next spring, down to 5.
  4. Charles Lewis on leave; Donald Ferris acts as Dean (1944–48).
  5. Secretarial program introduced.
  6. GI Bill boosts enrollment; the college acquires 3 surplus military barracks.
  7. Pre-professional programs added (medicine, law, dentistry, education, engineering). Evening school offers non-academic classes (Dressmaking, Citizenship, Norwegian).
  8. Name changes to Skagit Valley Junior College. First dormitory: converted farmhouse on Clear Lake Road housing 20 men. First AA degree offered (90 credits, C average). Leroy W. Good becomes Dean; staff grows to 15 full-time.

1950s

  1. New occupational disciplines: nursing and agriculture.
  2. Korean War reduces enrollment to 57 full-time and 257 night-school students. Community approves a six-mill tax levy to keep the college open. Vocational nursing and agriculture programs added. Juan Center Extension opens in Oak Harbor (30 students across English, Psychology, Accounting).
  3. Enrollment doubles to 131 (over 50% from MVHS class of 1952); 400+ enroll in night classes.
  4. Juan Center students housed in Old Roosevelt School and surplus military buildings.
  5. State BOE approves 5 buildings and parking for ~800 students (est. $1,160,000). Permanent 35-acre campus purchased. Name becomes Skagit Valley College.
  6. 100 graduates: 52 AA, 44 Practical Nursing, 4 Secretarial Science.
  7. Sept 19: Campus opening; Angst and Lewis Halls dedicated.

1960s

  1. Legson Kayira completes a two-year, 2,500-mile trek across Africa to attend SVC.
  2. SVC becomes a community college. Dean George Hodson becomes first president.
  3. New library built (former library remodeled for Student Services).
  4. First distribution requirement adopted (Humanities, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, English Composition, PE & Health). Hodson resigns; Academic Dean Norwood Cole named Acting President. Jim Ford first Dean of Instruction; Del Tillotson first Dean of Administrative Services.
  5. 40th Anniversary; inauguration of President Charles Ingman (2nd). Focus on upgrading curriculum. Speech: “Changing Values in American Society.”
  6. Agreement with WWU: SVC’s AA degree accepted by Western.
  7. Record enrollment: 1,154 day and 1,341 night students.
  8. More prescriptive degree requirements (state gen-ed alignment with WWU). First TEXPQ Exposition. State legislature cuts budgets; SVC salaries among lowest in WA. SVC accredited.

1970s

  1. Whidbey Island Branch campus opens; 600 students register that fall. SVC offers vocational and basic-skills training at Swinomish, Lummi, and Tulalip reservations.
  2. SVC adopts affirmative action policy for minorities and women. New bookstore opens. Whidbey at 922 students; 75% Navy personnel/dependents. Classes at Langley High School serve South Whidbey residents.
  3. KSVR begins local broadcasting as a 10-watt station. MV students forgo commencement; graduation at Whidbey (MV commencement resumes in 1977).
  4. U.S. Navy transfers property & former hospital building leading to the Whidbey Island Campus. Enrollment up 18%. Students buy property on Big Lake for classes and activities.
  5. New distribution requirements: University Transfer AA or General Studies AA. Tuition rises from $7/credit to $8.30.
  6. Norwood Cole retires; James Ford appointed president; Dick Nowadnick appointed Dean of Instruction. 50th Anniversary celebrated.
  7. First Cinco de Mayo celebration.
  8. SVC Foundation created.

1980s

  1. SVC Art Gallery (a Foundation project) opens, showcasing local artists.
  2. Budget cuts eliminate cross-country, golf, track, baseball, and softball programs.
  3. New 2-year program in Computer Science.
  4. Anthony Wong (Wong Chau-Sang), Hong Kong actor, graduates. Little Theater in Hodson Hall renamed Phillip Tarro Theatre. First annual Artsphere festival launches.
  5. 60th Anniversary celebration with Gov. Booth Gardner as speaker.
  6. KSVR begins weekly Spanish broadcast.
  7. Dedication of James Ford Hall.
  8. SVC Hall of Fame established.

1990s

  1. Campus View Village housing opens. Running Start brings qualified HS students; enrollment grows. Persian Gulf War demonstrations at Whidbey.
  2. First Pow Wow (Oct 12–13) on the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival.
  3. Hayes Hall opens at Whidbey Island Campus (named for dean Harlow Hayes).
  4. Dr. Lydia Ledesma-Reese named president—the College’s first female and Latina president.
  5. Memorial for English instructor Jill Fugate.

2000s

  1. 75th Anniversary celebration. George Smith hired as Interim President.
  2. Dr. Gary Tollefson named president. Oak Hall opens at Whidbey Island Campus (Student Services, faculty offices, classrooms, labs).
  3. McIntyre Hall opens (700-seat hall; 300-seat conference center).
  4. Laura Angst Hall opens, replacing original 1959 structure.

2010s

  1. Northwest Career & Technical Academy and Marine Technology Center open.
  2. Dr. Thomas Keegan, SVC alum, becomes sixth president. First bachelor’s program launches: BAS for Environmental Conservation and started accepting students.
  3. New Charles Lewis Hall opens with Student Services and classrooms.
  4. Cardinal Craft Brewing Academy opens.
  5. Core themes developed with focus on equity in access, achievement, and community.

2020s

  1. SVC receives $2.5M federal grant to provide college access to migrant and seasonal farmworker families.
  2. Christopher Villa named 7th president. Partnership with Swinomish Indian Tribal Community launches a nationally accredited Dental Therapy Education program. Community pickleball pavilion opens (June 30). New childcare center opens.
  3. First Summer Bridge Program; new B.S. in Computer Science launches; SVC Foundation receives multimillion-dollar endowment.
  4. Grand opening of Fire Technology Building; launches Bachelor of Applied Science in Advanced Manufacturing and Design.
  5. SVC becomes an HSI (Hispanic-Serving Institution).
  6. SVC celebrates 100 years.