News-Record.com

Thursday's lead editorial

Fifty years ago, on April 3, 1958, the North Carolina Board of Education approved establishing an industrial education center in Guilford County.

Classes training sock and upholstery workers in High Point had caught the attention of Guilford leaders, and they wanted a place that could train more people to work in local businesses. The Guilford County commissioners provided a vacant tuberculosis sanatorium in Jamestown.

Industry donations and $50,000 in state money turned it into a training institute.

A half-century and many expansions and bond referenda later, Guilford Technical Community College is arguably one of the county's strongest assets. It both shapes and serves the community and acts as an industry drawing card.

The college is spending much of the week celebrating its golden anniversary. Tonight's gala at the Koury Convention Center will highlight the college's accomplishments and plans — everything from its aviation-related training to its Larry Gatlin School of Entertainment Technology. Gatlin even will honor GTCC by performing at the coliseum Saturday night.

The entire county, not just GTCC, has much to celebrate. Perhaps more than any other local institution of higher education, GTCC has defined its mission by focusing on the community's needs. Over the years, it has prepared thousands to work in local industry or to go on to four-year schools. It also has acted as an economic development engine, as its ability to work with industry to develop appropriate courses of study has attracted the attention of businesses outside the area.

GTCC's establishment of its College Tech Prep program in connection with the Guilford schools has helped to focus and motivate many younger students. And older, displaced workers have benefited from retraining they have received at GTCC. The college's ESL programs have served many new arrivals to the county.

One reason for GTCC's success is that it has had strong leadership. In the late 1960s and early ‘70s, President Luther Medlin was instrumental in the institute's expansion and accreditation while President Raymond Needham enabled it to make the transition to community college status in the 1980s, ending a decades-long struggle.

More recently, GTCC has benefitted from the 17-year leadership of Don Cameron, whose dedication to and belief in GTCC have made many others in Guilford — and beyond — also believers in the school.

Cameron has helped the school to be nimble — and visionary — enough to adjust to varying economic conditions, from the loss of traditional manufacturing jobs to the current emphasis on transportation and logistics.

The next 50 years will see big changes and challenges, as the state's population increases and resources become more strained. If the past is any indication, GTCC will remain an essential player in helping Guilford County meet such challenges a half-century from now.