1945

• • World War II is over, and part of the rebuilding involves creating greater educational opportunities for New York State residents
  • The NYS Regents Plan for Postwar Education recognizes the educational needs of those returning from service during World War II and the general public.
  • The plan, later approved by the state legislature, calls for the creation of five temporary institutes of arts and sciences.
  • October 2– A hearing is held in Binghamton, with the State Temporary Commission on Institutes, presenting testimony to the Commission on the need for establishing an institute in the Binghamton area.
    • Photo below: Clockwise, starting at bottom-left: Dr. L.L. Jarvis, Dr. Joseph T. Ivory, Dr. Lewis Wilbur, Paul F. Titchener, Charles Kirk, Mrs J.H. Robertson, Bernard H. Chernin, Harold P. Smith, and Bruce L. Babcock.

• Local leaders – including Paul F. Titchener, the President of the Binghamton Chamber of Commerce – advocate for the selection of Binghamton as a location for one of the institutes. “Perhaps more than anyone else,” Cecil C. Tyrell said, “[Titchener] was instrumental in getting that state to locate one of the five original institutes in Binghamton.”

1946

• • The state legislature agrees to establish five institutes of arts and sciences – in Binghamton, Buffalo, Utica, White Plans, and New York City – for an experimental five-year period.
  • Governor Dewey appoints a Board of Trustees of the Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences at Binghamton: Paul F. Titchener, Chairman; Bernard Chernin, Vice Chairman; Mrs. John H. Robertson, Secretary; Bruce Babcock; Dr. James Ivory; and Harold P. Smith
  • Cecil C. Tyrrell was appointed Director of the State University of New York Institute of Applied Arts & Sciences at Binghamton in August of 1946.
  • On the basis of the classification of faculty designated by the Education Law, Mr. Tyrrell, Director, proceeds to hire faculty to run the school. The Education Law dictates the following classification of faculty be used for the Binghamton Institute: Director, Assistant Director for Extension and Registrar, Department head, Senior Instructor, Instructor, Junior Instructor, Technical Assistant.
  • In addition to securing faculty, Mr. Tyrrell and the Board of Trustees are faced with the complex problem of obtaining quarters and equipment for the new Institute. It is further desired to have the Institute in operation as soon as possible in order to accommodate veterans of World War II.
  • By November 14, eight of the proposed teaching staff of 22 are hired:
    • Ellis L. Manning, Head of Electrical Department
    • David E. Meade, Registrar and Director of Extension
    • Lawrence J. Sitterlee, Senior Instructor of Electrical Technology
    • H.H. Gruber, Instructor of Mechanical Technology
    • Roy Greenwood, Senior Instructor
    • Clyde E. Chauncey, Instructor in Mathematics
    • Lloyd Hartman, Instructor of Communication
    • Tracy Cone, Principal Accounts Clerk
  • Photo below: Bids are submitted to make structural changes in the Municipal Auditorium of the State Armory in downtown Binghamton, so that it can become home to the State Institute

1947

• Reconstruction of the State Armory (amounting to $160,000 is finished: 12 classrooms, 12 laboratories, 2 mechanical drawing rooms, auditorium, cafeteria, gymnasium and library. Administration and faculty move in early September.
• Oct. 1 – The Institute officially opens in the State Armory. 215 students are registered of which 63 are World War II veterans. Tuition is free for NYS residents
• Coach Dick Baldwin starts the first drills for the new basketball team and 35 players turn out. The first win comes on December 17: a 41-39 victory over Triple Cities College.
• 1947-1948: Five programs are offered:
  • Chemical Technology
  • Electrical Technology
  • Mechanical Technology
  • Medical and Dental Office Assistant
  • Technical Office Assistant
• Oct. 21 – The State Education Department presents a state charter to the State Institute of Arts and Sciences at Binghamton
• A Student Government is organized
• Remaining faculty of original 22 are all hired:
  • Miss Neva Ash, Head of Medical, Dental and Technical Office Assistant Program
  • Michael J. Kapral, Instructor in Mechanical Technology
  • John Kushner, Instructor in Chemical Technology
  • Carl F. Abissi, Instructor in Mechanical Technology
  • Miss Mary E. Gaudio, Junior Instructor in Medical, Dental and Technical Office Assistants Program
  • Marion A. Forbes, Instructor in Mechanical Technology
  • Richard E. Baldwin, Junior Instructor in General Studies and Director of Athletic Activities
  • Norma Burkhardt, Junior Instructor in General Studies
  • Leroy Wright, Instructor in Electrical Technology
  • Luella V. Pauley, Instructor in General Studies
  • Myles E. Wood, Instructor in Electrical Technology
  • Joan Foley, Assistant Librarian
  • Fred Sanders, Senior Instructor in Mechanical Technology
  • George A. Elliott, Instructor of General subjects

1948

• 385 students enroll for the Fall Term.
• “Technicats” is chosen as the nickname for the athletic teams via a meeting of the student body, directed by the Student Council.
• Feb. 7 – The Queen of Hearts Ball is held in the school gymnasium. It is so successful students decide to make it an annual affair. Miss Veronica Biros is voted “Queen of Hearts” by students attending the dance.
• “State Tech on the Air” (WKOP) – This ten minute radio series explains and interprets the Institute to the community.
• 70 students from Mechanical, Electrical and Chemical Technology take paid industrial jobs. This is the beginning of the Co-op program.
• First courses are offered in the Extension Division
• Tech Talk makes its debut as a student publication, February 11. Front page of Tech Talk Volume 1, No. 1, shows a drawing of a stork carrying a slack entitled “First Issue.”

1949

• • Photo above: Sept 23 – The first commencement Exercise is held in the Armory auditorium. 139 graduates attended.
  • The student body votes to replace the athletic team name, “Technicats,” with the name, “Hornets.” It took the sports editor of a local newspaper to come up with the right name. He took one look at the black and gold uniforms with the striped knee length socks and the name was inevitable.
  • The Citadel ‘49, the school yearbook features this message from Director Tyrell to the first graduating class:
    • In these days when we have reached the end of our geographical pioneering, it is in the American tradition that another group of “Forty-niners” should be engaged in a venture which is opening the frontiers of opportunity for the youth of our State and Country, In our democracy it is a fundamental concept that each of us has the right to develop as an individual to limit of his capabilities and ambition…
  • Based on Act of Legislature in 1948, State Tech is placed under the control of the Board of Trustees of SUNY
  • March 17-18 – State Tech’s first annual Open House

• Photo above: The Automotive Technology Program is introduced and the Dental Office Assistant program is dropped from the catalog

1950

• The 1950 yearbook is thick in hornet imagery:
  • Once inside the portals of State Tech, the bewildered freshman enters a nest of bustling activity. From that time on, he is caught up in the buzzing atmosphere of complex courses, humming motors, hurting students, and is kept busy as any bee… the State Teacher himself may also be likened to the hornet, for with the courage and tenacity of his namesake, he has clung to the slide rule and typewriter..the class of ‘50 will buzz nomore through the halls of State Tech… they will buzz out to make a beeline for their own new nest.
• NYS Legislature votes to make the Institutes permanent (original legislation was scheduled to expire by August 1951.) Governor Dewey vetoed this bill and instead approved a master plan for the development of higher education facilities of the State of New york. This plan includes a two-year community college for the Binghamton area.
• The second commencement exercise is held for 115 graduates.

1951

• • Photo above: At 4:30am, Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 3) fire was discovered in the State Tech Armory. The fire which destroyed the building is the worst property damage fire in the city’s history.

• • Photo above: Telegrams of support for State Tech pour in from across the state, including one, of course, from Governor Dewey. Library books and other supplies are quickly volunteered from other colleges and trucks labeled “Bundles for Binghamton” arrive.
  • According to his fellow administrators, as Director Tyrell, the eternal optimist, stood and surveyed the fire ruin he said, “We’ll never have a better opportunity to plan for the campus that we all know we’ll need someday… we’ll start planning tomorrow morning.”

• Photo above: Oct. 3 – The main campus is transferred to Kalurah Temple (currently the First Assembly of God Church in Binghamton). Classes are also held in the Prescott Building, the Rider Building (324 Water St.), and the Central High School.
• The 1951 Student Handbook explains the school’s grading system this way:
  • A (Actively Attentive), B (Busy Bee), C (Contentedly Coasting), D (Doggedly Drifting), and F (Fizzling Flop).
• The Student Handbook encourages social relationships:
  • You may get a chance to ask that cute chic who sits next to you in math class or the handsome guy, who reminds you of Van Johnson and Guy Madison, to the annual Queen of Hearts Ball.

1952

• Governor Dewey signs a bill to begin converting the five institutes, still entirely funded by the state, into community colleges.
• Volleyball has become an intercollegiate sport.

1953

• The Broome County Legislature votes to accept the Community College plan, which changes the funding structure and requires students to pay tuition. The plan was that Broome County and New York would evenly split the cost for the construction of new buildings while maintenance and operating costs would be covered by state and county funding and tuition.
• The college is renamed Broome County Technical Institute – BCTI.
• A new nine-member Board of Trustees is established with four governor appointees and five appointees selected by the Broome County Board of Supervisors.
  • Appointed by the Governor:
    • Paul F. Titchener
    • Bernard Chernin
    • Robert F. Kelley
    • Allan Williford
  • Appointed by the Board of Supervisors:
    • F. Clyde Eggleston, Chairman of the Board
    • Arnold F. Mitchell
    • Dr. James T. Ivory
    • Miss Linda Stanford
    • Darwin R. Wales.
• The Student Loan Fund is established.
• For the first time, BCTI offers diploma courses in the Evening Extension

1954

• • February– the Broome County Planning Board considered over 20 sites for a new BCTI location, including a farm at the intersection of Vestal Avenue and the Vestal Parkway. The final decision is to build on land at the County Poor Farm on Upper Front Street.

• Photo above: March 1 – The Board of Supervisors appoints A.T. Lacey and Son began work on the architectural plans for the new campus and BCTI became the first SUNY community college to undertake construction of a completely new campus.
• March 27– The State University Trustees approve the Jail Farm tract (25.75 acres) for the new campus.
• The student activities program includes the State Park Get Acquainted picnic, Frosh-Senior Volleyball games, the Halloween Dance, and the annual Senior Dinner Dance.
• The Broome County Dental Society submits a resolution to the Board of Trustees to consider a program to train dental hygienists.

1955

• • May 17– The first step toward a new Broome Tech is taken; Ground is broken by Paul F. Titchener, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Harry D. Prew, Chairman of the Institute Committee of the Board of Supervisors. President Tyrrell and others also take part in the ceremony.

• Photo above: October 27 – Governor Harriman and President Tyrrell inspect the new campus site
• Sept 12 – BCTI is awarded contracts totaling $1,539,682 for the construction of five of the six planned buildings. (Later the contracts are revised to $2,900,000.)
• 367 students enroll for the Fall term (235 are freshmen); the college is still located at Kalurah Temple.

1956

• September 1 – the name of the school is changed to Broome Technical Community College (BTCC), the third of it’s five name changes.
• September 28 – the cornerstone-laying ceremonies are held at the Front St. Administration Building. A varied assortment of historic documents and mementos of the first decade of BTCC are stored for posterity.
• Nov. 8 – 155 electrical students begin classes on the new campus into the new and only college-ready building on campus, the Electrical Building (now known as the Student Services Building).
• The Student handbook suggests that all students observe 7pm – 10pm as study hours on weekday evenings.
• June 9 – The first diploma is given to a BCTI evening student at Commencement – Leonard T. Foster, of Electrical Technology
• The dental hygiene program begins at BTCC
• Richard E. Baldwin is appointed Public Relations Director in addition to his position of Director of Athletics.
• The first African-American students are enrolled in the college
• Tuition increased 10%, which meant that students were more in need of outright grants. The Student Aid Association focuses its fundraising on local businesses and industries.

1957

• Photo above: January – The Science Building is completed and occupied
• March – The first five buildings of the Front Street campus are completed: Electrical, Science, Administration, Mechanical, and Maintenance (temporarily housing a cafeteria).
• Yearbook includes sponsor ads from: Link Aviation, Fowler’s, McLean’s, Gale’s Wieners, Ansco, Villa Mia Restaurant, The Industrial Bank, Harris Army and Navy, and more
• 2000 people attended the first Open House of the new campus
  • Administrators hope for no South winds which would carry odors from the neighboring pig farm.
• Governor Harriman signs a bill that allows transfer credits for BTCC students
• The Student Union building opens and the Alumni Weekend of November 22-24 is the first scheduled event.
• Fourteen additional acres are given to the college by the County for parking lots.
  • This signals an end for the pig farm.
• The technical office assistant program is dropped, and the Business Technology program begins.
• Darwin R. Wales becomes the Board of Trustees Chair after Paul F. Titchener resigns as chair. However, Titchener remains a board member.

1958

• Photo above: May 2 – A formal dedication of the new campus takes place in the student gymnasium.
• June 7 – First commencement ceremony on the Front Street campus for 159 graduates.
• The BTCC choir and the IBM choir combine efforts to produce the first locally originated program of live stereophonic sound broadcast from the Triple Cities – December 22
• Soccer is introduced as an intercollegiate sport.
• The Engineering Physics, Construction Technology (later renamed Civil Technology), and Pre-Tech programs are established.
• The first Science Fair is held on the campus, jointly sponsored by Broome Tech, Harpur College, and the Southern Zone of New York State Science Teachers Association.
• The dental hygiene program is accredited by the American Dental Association, before the rest of the college.
• The Engineers Council for Professional Development approves the college’s technical curriculum

1959

• December 28 – BTCC hosts the first Annual Christmas Classic in Basketball.
• The Student Handbook notes that out-of-town students must live in a college-approved room with one person to a bed. Rooms typically cost $5 per week.
• December – over 400 alumni, faculty, staff, trustees, and guests attend the alumni dinner-dance.

1960

• Photo above: The first use of computers on campus by Civil Technology students. The students are introduced to computer programming using time borrowed from an IBM 1620 computer located at the Endicott IBM plant.
• William Spring, a BTCC student, writes the lyrics for a new alma mater. All first-year students are expected to memorize it.
• July 19 – The Broome County Board of Supervisors approves a new classroom building, priced at $500,000, to house the growing student population. This building will later be dedicated Titchener Hall.
• April 28 – Middle States accredits the college on BTCC’s first attempt. It is one of the first two-year schools to be accredited by Middle States.
• The Faculty Association of BTCC, chaired by Robert Cann of the business technology program, adopts its first constitution.

1961

• Jan. 7 – A BTCC Basketball game versus NYC Tech is televised. It is the first junior college game televised in the USA.
• July 17 – Governor Nelson Rockefeller visits campus for the first time.
• Bob Williams is the first BTCC basketball player to be named the All American JUCO Team.
• The first summer session begins with 21 courses and 250 students.
• The Board of Supervisors rejects a two-year Nursing Curriculum proposed for BTCC.
• The first annual President’s Reception is held in the Student Union Building.
• A bid of $719,505 is accepted for the construction of the Paul F. Titchener Hall.

1962

• A liberal arts curriculum is established to allow students to take the first two years at BTCC and then transfer to a four-year college.
• “Twist” dances on campus are very popular. However, the Student Handbook recommends that “Tilly Tech” (female students) wear hats and gloves when attending a tea or reception.

1963

• • Nov. 25 – BTCC cancels classes due to John F. Kennedy’s funeral
  • Fall – The first computer for administrative and campus use is installed, an IBM 1620 that uses punch cards for input.
  • Feb. 13 – Paul F. Titchener dies of a heart attack.
  • Construction on Paul F. Titchener Hall is completed.
  • The 15th Commencement exercise honors 315 graduates. Scheduled as the first outdoor commencement ceremony, rain forces it indoors.
  • The business administration program begins

• Photo above: At this time, freshmen are required to wear beanies, know the entirety of the Alma Mater and carry demerit books. Penalties include carrying the books of a senior or washing a senior’s car.

1964

• Enrollment booms to over 2,700 students, 23 new faculty are appointed, bringing the total faculty to 98. Students begin to grumble about parking availability on campus.
• April – the Broome Tech Choir performed at the World’s Fair in New York City.
• A May Community Night is attended by 1000 people. Clinics and laboratories are open, and students demonstrate their professional skills.
• Tennis introduced as an intercollegiate sport
• An IBM 1620 computer with 20K memory is installed in the Administration Building.
• The X-Ray technology program begins.
• The 1964-1965 Student Handbook contains this note from President Tyrell, “Both the classroom and co-curricular offerings here are designed to make your stay at Broome Tech profitable and enjoyable. So take full advantage of them but keep them in the right perspective. The classroom work comes first. But whether at work or play, always try to do your best.”
• The dress and deportment of students are expected to “be in good taste.” The college’s dress code for classes suggests that “Tom Tech” or male students wear trousers, sport shirts, sweaters, and “Tilly Tech” or female students wear skirts, sweaters, blouses, and dresses. Women may wear slacks only at picnics.

1965

• The college acquires 9.5 acres for a library, road relocation, and more parking spaces.
• The singing group The Lettermen headline Spring Weekend in the first of a campus Artist Series. Ann Landers speaks at an October convocation.
• April – The Student Aid Association (SAA) is dissolved, and its assets are transferred to the newly incorporated 501 (c) 3 organization, the BCC Foundation. Seven active SAA members become the Foundation’s directors, and the new organization is run entirely by volunteers.
• After staff member John Young experiences a house fire, students raise money to assist his family.
• 392 degrees are granted.

1966

• Students protest the college’s dress code — which notably did not allow female students to wear slacks on campus — and demonstrate in the Administration building.
• Tech Talk presents a front page advising male students to check their grade averages.
• The medical laboratory technology program begins.
• Feb. – During a convocation event, over half of the student body supports the Student Council’s position of total victory in Vietnam.
• Construction begins on the Library building. The $1.6M project includes relocation of entrance roads.
• The New Christy Minstrels highlight Spring Weekend. Buffy Sainte-Marie sings in concert and the Four Seasons are scheduled to appear, but are snowed out.

1967

• Enrollment stands at over 3,400 students, a 25% growth since 1964.
• Nursing and Environmental Health Technology programs begin.
• President Tyrell presents Coach Richard E. Baldwin with a golden basketball to represent 400 wins by the men’s basketball team

1968

• • Photo above: May – The construction of the library is completed. The senior class recommends naming the building after President Tyrell.
  • Dress code on a trial basis.
  • Henry Kissinger speaks at the college convocation in January and “The Glen Miller Band” performs later in the month.
  • The Bio-Medical Sciences Division is created.

• Photo above: an aerial photo of campus.

1969

• May 26 – Veterans protest that classes are scheduled during Memorial Day. A water pipe near Titchener Hall bursts, flooding campus and shutting down classes anyway.
• Business major Alan Reid is voted Broome Tech athlete of the year for his work on the basketball team. The basketball Turkey Trot replaces the Christmas Classic and the Broome Hornets are undefeated in the tournament.
• October – The BTCC Master Plan is published, detailing President Tyrrell’s previously announced $15M expansion plan and shows a new physical education building, a police science building, and a greatly expanded Student Center. Sketches also propose student dormitories on the back hillsides for the first time.
• The Count Basie Band plays at the graduation dinner dance and Julian Bond and Ralph Nader speak at college convocations.
• The November issue of Broome County Medicine is devoted to the health care programs at BTCC, including the Medical Records Technology and Medical Office Assistant programs.

1970

• May 8 – Students vote to suspend classes to discuss the Kent State events and the war in Vietnam.
• May 10 – Many students join a protest march in downtown Binghamton.
• April – BTCC students take the lead in preparing activities for Earth Day, planning a week of events around environmental issues.
• The campus administration is routinely discouraging “streakers,” as the new fad becomes a bit too popular.
• July – The old Broome County infirmary is pulled down to make way for campus expansion.
• A dramatic growth in the Liberal Arts program results in the hiring of a record number of new teachers.
• May – The BTCC Tennis team racks up its 15th straight win
• February – Dick Baldwin gains his 500th coaching win in an 88-50 game over Cornell.

1971

• • September – BTCC becomes Broome Community College (BCC). The new name is a reflection of the college’s broadening scope of offerings.
  • BTCC formally adopts an “open admissions” policy. Tuition remains at $400 per year, due to enhanced state aid to open-admission colleges.
  • Some male students participate in a “shave-off” of their beards to raise funds for the BCC Foundation. A razor firm donates $500 to the Foundation.

• Photo above: Construction begins on a building to house business classes and computer operations.
• 90% of BCC liberal arts graduates are enrolled as juniors at four-year colleges
• The Business Building is constructed.
• Tech Talk, the student newspaper, is renamed The Fulcrum.

1972

• While BCC celebrates its 25th Anniversary, Cecil C. Tyrrell, president of the College since its inception, retires after 26 years of service.
• Tyrrell is hailed as “mentor and midwife” for BCC; the Library Building is named in his honor. Herbert Durst becomes Acting President.
• Ward Jarvis, a student in Effective Speaking class, brings his horse to class for his speech on harness racing.
• A new Counseling Center is established and the college hires a director and seven counselors.
• Space limitations necessitate that they be located in a trailer located behind the Administration Building.
• February – Muriel Fox, head of the National Organization of Women (NOW), speaks at a convocation. Stewart Udall appears in March. Margaret Mead discusses anthropology with students in October.
• A strike by faculty is narrowly averted, after arguments on wages and autonomy between the Faculty Association and the County.
• The College discontinues its Cooperative Education program.
• The college offers 20 different degree programs, and one out of three local high school students enroll at BCC.
• Tensions over wages and autonomy rise between the faculty and Broome County. A faculty strike is narrowly avoided

1973

• • Sigmund A. Smith becomes the second College President on February I, 1973. He soon announces sweeping changes in the administrative structure, including the creation of Vice President titles and Dean of Liberal Arts title. He also asks for the resignations of all department chairpeople.
  • BCC and SUNY Binghamton initiate a joint-degree program, allowing students to receive both associates’ and bachelors’ degrees.
  • A deer leaps through a plate glass window in the Library, saunters down the hall, slips and falls. Nursing students rush to its aid and hold it down while they bandage its head. Eventually sheriffs and wardens arrive to admire the skills of our nursing students and to take away the recuperating deer.

• • The Business Building opens for classes in December,.

• Photo above: Rod Serling makes his third visit to BCC.
• The biology field-trip course, Ecology of the Everglades, is estimated to begin this year. Professors Rick Firenze and David Walsh bring students to hike, canoe, camp, and learn in Florida’s Everglades National Park.

1974

• BCC’s administration building is formally named in honor of Darwin R. Wales, a longtime College supporter and trustee.
• County jail inmates are offered college-level instruction by 15 BCC faculty.
• The BCC Players, a drama group headed by theater instructor Angelo Zuccolo, perform in Norway in March.
• Students whip the faculty 22-16 in a crazy Donkey Basketball game.
• For the first time, students may use credit cards to pay for tuition costs.

1975

• On May 9, President Smith resigns and Ronald Horvath becomes Acting President. Gary Reddig next becomes Acting President on August 4.
• The College academic year changes from a quarter-term to a semester structure.
• The Hanneford Circus visits BCC; prior to performance, elephants stroll the campus. The Broadway musical Grease also plays to a packed Broome audience.
• BCC students travel to The Pines for Winter Carnival festivities.
• Phillip Berrigan and Jack Anderson speak at convocations.
• 4753 students are now enrolled.

1976

• • 901 Front Street is renovated and opened for nursing and biology classes.
  • Peter Blomerly assumes the College presidency in February.

• Former President Cecil C. Tyrrell dies in February, after a brief illness.

1977

• • Spring semester is slightly delayed due to cuts in energy; heat for all buildings is mandated at 40 degrees Fahrenheit until classes begin.

• Photo above: The Campus Quad turns into beachfront property for the Spring Picnic: frisbees, kegs, cutoffs, burgers, music, and no classes.
• Dental Hygiene students clean the teeth of more than 3500 students and community members.

1978

• Study Abroad courses are introduced, as well as new programs in paralegal studies, banking, and interior design.
• Dick Gregory and Carl Sagan engage students in convocations.
• More than 300 military veterans are enrolled at BCC.

1979

• President Blomerly leaves BCC on July 1. Terry Cline becomes Acting President.
• George Takei, of Star Trek renown, and Congressperson Bella Abzug speak on campus (unfortunately, not together).
• A new Learning Skills Center is established to assist students in improving learning and study skills.
• Broome County Industrial Exposition, co-sponsored by the College and the Chamber of Commerce, is held May 20.
• Renovation of the Science Building is completed; it now includes two new dental hygiene clinics and x-ray facilities. Renovation is also completed for the basement area of the Business Building (occupied by Radiologic Technology, Medical Records, and Medical Assistant).
• 90% of the 1979 graduates either find employment or transfer to four-year colleges.

1980

• Photo above: Coach Dick Baldwin breaks the record, with the most career victories ever by a two-year college basketball coach. He becomes the “winningest” active college coach at either two-or four-year colleges.
• Donald Beattie becomes the College’s fourth President on July 14.
• A new Computer Studies Department is established, with programs in Computer Science, Data Processing, and Data Processing: Technical.
• Ice Hockey becomes a varsity sport and the 13 athletic teams compile a cumulative record of 131 victories and only 58 losses during the 1979-80 school year. The women’s tennis team is undefeated.
• A new program of contract courses for local industries and agencies serve thousands of workers in the community.
• The men’s basketball team travels to Brazil and plays the Olympic teams of Uruguay, Puerto Rico, and Brazil.
• The College begins the popular “College for Kids” series of courses.

1981

• BCC leases the Nimmonsburg School on Upper Front Street, to add much-needed classroom space -the County Alms House is also adapted for classroom use.
• BCC becomes one of the first American colleges to have a CAD/CAM (computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing) system.
• The BCC Hornets play their 1000th basketball game, all coached by Dick Baldwin.
• Tuition is now $800 per year.
• The BCC Foundation hires its first employee, an executive director. Prior to this, the Foundation raised approximately $31,000 a year for scholarships and students in need solely through volunteers.

1982

• Dorothy Darrien, who is 74 years old, is the oldest person to receive a BCC degree. She graduates with honors in Radiologic Technology.
• Almost 130 international students spend the year at BCC, bringing more than one million dollars into the local economy.
• The combined choirs of BCC and the Central United Methodist Church of Endicott offer a December performance of Handel’s Messiah.

1983

• The high point of student enrollment is reached -7132 students are on campus.
• The Office of Continuing Education becomes the Center for Community Education, reflecting a larger vision for BCC in the community and organizational changes for the college.

1984

• Construction of the new Applied Technology Building begins in September.
• BCC librarians respond to nearly 70,000 requests for assistance.
• BCC establishes the first Institute for Community College Research. It will sponsor, collect, and disseminate research on community college education.
• 1182 degrees are awarded to students.
• A new Academic Dean structure is instituted. Existing three-position structure – Deans of Academic Services, Instruction, and Liberal Arts – is replaced by a four-position structure: Deans of Health Science; Technology, Engineering, and Computing; Business and Office Technologies; and Liberal and General Studies.

1985

• Alex Haley, the author of Roots, talks to students about the future of the family.
• Computer Graphics students work with state-of-the-art equipment given to the college by IBM.
• BCC (and all other NYS colleges) is forever changed: On December 1, the drinking age in New York State changes from 18 to 21.
• A BCC Retirees Club is formed, and their first luncheon is scheduled.
• Leonard Melfi’s play The Little Venice Makes a Good Drink has its world premiere on the BCC stage, produced by Theatre/BCC.

1986

• • The campus “Y” Building, part of the original County Poor Farm, is demolished, over faculty protests, to make way for more parking spaces.

• Photo above: The Alms House cupola is restored and replaced.
• In October, BCC and SUNY-Binghamton co-sponsor a state-wide conference on the social role of the community college.
• Cathy Rigby, former Olympic gymnast, speaks to students in April about wellness and eating disorders. Ethicist Jeremy Rifkin spends a day at BCC, as does Henry Steele Commager.
• The Communication and Media Arts program is started in Spring 1986.
• A County retirement bonus period results in a record number of staff retirements.
• BCC’s student newspaper, The Fulcrum, receives top honors from the Associated Press for its 1985 and 1986 publications.
• The last “Citadel,” the college’s yearbook, is published

1987

• • In March, BCC President Donald Beattie resigns. Helen Veres becomes Acting President until Interim President Murray Block is appointed on July 15.
  • BCC celebrates its 40th anniversary year. Music professor Michael Kinney composes A Hymn for all Times in commemoration of this year.

• Photo above: The newly completed Applied Technology Building is dedicated on May 21.
• G. Gordon Liddy, of Watergate fame, speaks on ‘Watergate and Contragate.”
• The College endorses a comprehensive plan of General Education reform. Curricular changes will affect all programs in the fall. Awareness of cultural and global diversity for students is central to the plan.
• On February 14, Basketball Coach Dick Baldwin wins his 877th game, establishing him as the winningest college basketball coach in the U.S. (both 2-and 4-year school).
• New Business programs are started in Retail Management, Real Estate, Entrepreneurship, and Travel and Tourism.

1988

• • Donald A. Dellow becomes BCC’s fifth president, on March 15.
  • BCC student Patricia Beauseigneur presents a paper on her original research to the international meeting of the American Chemical Society.
  • A new Athletic/Physical Education wing of the Student Center opens, and in October the main gym is renamed the Richard E. Baldwin Gymnasium.

• Photo above: The first classes for Physical Therapy Assistant begin, and a new College-on-the-Weekend program allows students to earn a business degree on weekends.
• The physical therapist assistant program begins

1989

• • The College hosts an official delegation of visitors from the Soviet Union, and hosts a Friendship Banquet for residents of Binghamton’s Sister City, Borovichi, Russia.
  • BCC sponsors its first Creative Writers’ Conference. The theme centers on working-class writers.
  • Donald Woods, South African author of Biko, speaks at a February convocation in denunciation of his country’s apartheid policy.

• Photo above: In August, a new concrete and brick entrance sign for the College is completed. An official Installation Ceremony for President Donald Dellow is held on May 5.

1990

• • On November 6, Broome County voters approve Local Law No. 9, generally referred to as “Plan C.” The Plan gives greater fiscal and management autonomy to the BCC Board of Trustees.
  • Astronaut Scott Carpenter, Adirondack writer Anne LaBastille, and the Count Basie Orchestra visit campus.

• Photo above: The first “BCC Honors” banquet (later known as the Awards & Retirement Recognition Event” is held to celebrate veteran and retiring employees.

1991

• • The BCC Foundation achieves its $500,000 matching funds goal set by the Dr. G. Clifford and Florence B. Decker Foundation. A total of $1.5 million in private monies are now available as part of the funding for a new Health Science Center.
  • A day-long Spring Renaissance Faire introduces students to wandering minstrels, fortune tellers, court jesters, and Renaissance food and plants.
  • BCC sponsors a series of discussions about the Gulf War. Several students leave classes to respond to Reserve and National Guard call-ups.
  • A Teaching Resource Center is established to help teachers improve skills and share ideas.

• Photo above: International students from across the globe attend BCC; in addition, 80 refugee students now living in Broome County are at the college.
• Bee students are enrolled in courses being offered in the Everglades, the Caribbean, Africa, Australia, and Europe.

1992

• • Fall: The College agrees to a land exchange agreement with Broome County, paving the way for a new County Jail. The County promises the college more land on Front Street, a new entrance, and a new athletic field.
  • May 27: Ground is broken for the new BCC Campus Services Building.
  • December: Titchener Hall closes for major renovation.

• Photo above: Governor Mario Cuomo visits campus in October.

1993

• Photo above: September – Grand opening of the B.C. Center day care facility, with a special logo designed by syndicated cartoonist Johnny Hart.
• Noted African history scholar Ali Mazrui addresses students, in recognition of the year-long College theme of cultural diversity.
• Reconstruction of Titchener Hall starts on August 20. Liberal Arts classes are scheduled in temporary classrooms in the new Campus Services Building.
• Disability Awareness Week sees activities including a wheelchair navigation race, films, and lectures on the difficulties facing those students who are differently abled.

1994

• The traditional library card catalog gives way to an on-line computer catalog in the Leaming Resources Center.
• Newly rebuilt Titchener Hall reopens to students on November 20.
• A new Master Plan for the College is announced. The Plan envisions a campus with new parking lots and playing fields, a communications building, and new student facilities including an ice rink.
• Math professor and pilot Daniel Dodway is killed when his single-engine plane crashes into a Chenango Bridge neighborhood shortly after take-off.
• The College adopts a new Common Hour – one hour each Thursday when most students are free to enjoy special lectures, meetings, and presentations.

1995

• • Construction begins on the Decker Health Science Center.

• Photo above: After a nearly 5O-year reign, the college Hornet, an angry, feisty-looking bug, is retired and replaced by “Stinger,” a smiling user-friendly hornet.
• Over $600,000 in grants help BCC offer assessment and retraining skills to employees of local industries.

1996

• Photos above: Broome Community College proudly celebrates its 50th year as a vital educational resource in Broome County and New York State. To commemorate the event, the Ecology Club builds a special garden display and the Press & Sun-Bulletin publishes a special anniversary section.
• Edgar Bean, a 1949 alumnus, donates the largest-ever alumni gift to the College. The estate of Alice and William Gansdorf, longtime area residents, also donates a large gift for scholarships and other campus needs.
• The World Games come to BCC in April. Aiming at increasing global awareness, students role-play to represent 1 % of the world’s population and solve world-wide problems.
• April – To increase global awareness, students roleplay “solving” the world problems during the World Games.
• The Fulcrum is renamed the BCC Hornet

1998

• The Decker Health Science Center opens, becoming home to the largest health science division in all of SUNY’s community colleges.

2003

• The Fulcrum ceases publication. News is distributed through the college’s staff-run e-newspaper, the Buzz.

2004

• July 1 – Dr. Laurence Spraggs becomes the college’s sixth president.

2006

• SUNY’s Collaborative Online International Learning initiative, which allows students to interact and collaborate with college students in other countries, is established

2007

• Photo above: SUNY Broome awards Darwin Wales the college’s first honorary doctorate. Wales, a local attorney who served on the SUNY Board of Trustees, the BCC Foundation Board, and chaired the college’s Board of Trustees, dedicated himself to promoting affordable college education for all. His son, John Wales, said of his father, “He loved this college. This educational facility was probably the most cherished thing he’s ever done.”
• Students receive the first Presidential Honors Scholarships. The scholarship, which covers full tuition for two years, is initially funded by the Conrad and Virginia Klee Foundation and an anonymous donor.

2009

• “Sleep Out for the Homeless,” an annual fundraiser where students, faculty, and staff sleep outdoors to raise awareness and money for the homeless community, is organized by History professor Doug Garnar, Sara Doane, and the chair of Criminal Justice and Homeland Security programs, Wes Warren.
• The first annual Ethics Conference, which brings together faculty and students from SUNY Broome and surrounding institutions to discuss applied ethics, is held.
• Co-sponsored by the Eastern Southern Tier STEM Hub and SUNY Broome, the first annual Southern Tier Robotics Competition is held. This competition pits high school students’ robots against varied challenges.
• April 5 – Theater students perform a benefit performance of “Rumors, A Farce” for the Humane Society and raise $660.
• April 10 – BCC hosts a remembrance service in memory of the victims of the shooting at the Binghamton American Civic Association.
• September 15 – Interim President Dr. Daniel T. Hayes is replaced by Interim President Dr. John Deans as the search for a permanent president continues

2010

• February 1 – A Welcome Reception for the college’s seventh president, Dr. Kevin E. Drumm, is held in the Decker Building Atrium.
• February 5 – The Alms House, a building original to the campus location’s previous life as the County Poor House, is torn down.
• GI Jobs magazine selects BCC as a Military Friendly School for 2010, placing the college in the top 15% of all schools nationwide.

2013

• • Spring – “The Hive,” SUNY Broome’s online campus radio station launches under the guidance of student Elijah Weber-Han (LACM ’13).

• • Photo above: September – The college is renamed SUNY Broome Community College to highlight its long history as a State University of New York institution.

• Photo above: Fall – The Natural Science Center building, with high-tech laboratories and classrooms, is opened
• Fall – BROOME, the college alumni magazine, launches its first issue.
• Eleven faculty and staff members, including President Drumm, climb Mount Marcy, the highest mountain in New York State, to inspire perseverance in students.
• The sports management program begins.
• 12-year-old Johannes Mason Nightingale (ISAS ‘17) enrolls as an Early College student. Later Johannes reflected, “Simply letting someone my age take classes – it made everything after that possible.”

2014

• • Photo above: January – “Health for Haiti,” SUNY Broome’s first faculty-led, credit-bearing global service-learning course, begins. This ongoing effort, spear-headed by dental hygiene program chair Professor Maureen Hankin and biology department professor Dr. Jen Musa, provides humanitarian assistance in Haiti and prepares students to contribute to global security and prosperity.
  • Spring – Former IBM employee Emil Calice leaves SUNY Broome $11.5 Million – the most significant estate gift in the college’s history. Among other projects, these funds are used to renovate the Mechanical Building and fund 32 annual scholarships worth $2,000 each.
  • May – The first Lee Skorko Charity Open golf tournament, created to support the scholarship begun in memory of SUNY Broome computer programming analyst James Lee Skorko, is organized by his co-workers. Later, tournament proceeds will be used to support scholarships in general.
  • Fall – The AA1 program, which allows high-achieving high school graduates to earn Associate in Arts degrees in a single year, is launched. There are five original AA1 participants.
  • Fall – Local photographer Ed Aswad donates his extensive Carriage House Collection of photographic negatives, prints, postcards, and more to SUNY Broome. Executive Vice President Francis L. Battisti said that “to see Broome County through [Aswad’s] lens is a privilege and an education.”

• Photo above: August 30 – SUNY Broome officially becomes a residential campus as students move into the Student Village. The building can house approximately 336 students.
• September – Renovations to the Darwin R. Wales Center are completed and celebrated
• Nov. 11 – The Veterans Resource Center in the Student Services building is unveiled
• December 2014 – The Gallery @ SUNY Broome replaces the college library periodicals space, allowing alumni, student, and guest art showcases.
• The hospitality department’s casino management and event management programs begin

2015

• February 26 – Faculty and staff jump in an ice pool for the first annual Polar Plunge to raise money for a student scholarship. In later years, local law enforcement members would also take the plunge.
• March 12 – Health for Haiti install a water filtration system, donated by Pall Corporation, and solar panels, donated by ETM Solar Works, in Grande Saline, Haiti. Unexpectedly, students also assisted with transport a woman in labor to a local physician and assisting with the birth of a baby. The mother accepted student Olivia Mulvaney’s suggestion of the name George for her son.
• Spring – SUNY Broome and Binghamton University students volunteer with Bridging the Digital Divide program to provide digital literacy and technological skills to seniors. They earn a Community Organization award from the Broome County Office for Aging.
• Sixteen high-achieving students, a record-breaking number, are awarded the Presidential Honor Scholarship, which covers tuition for two full years.
• History professor and civic engagement leader Doug Garnar gives his last lecture as a full-time employee after 44 years of service.
• Fall – The Honors Program, which provides unique and enriched educational experiences through courses and extracurricular activities, is relaunched after going on hiatus in 2006.
• December 1 – The BCC Foundation holds its first 24 Hours of Giving day of fundraising, raising almost $50,000.

2016

• January 23 – The college honors the memory of Bernie “Bones” Bensen (TO ‘55) for his unbeaten college record of the most points scored during a basketball game: 63. Bensen also served on the Board of Trustees and the board of the BCC Foundation.
• Feb. 24 – At a press conference at Greater Binghamton Airport, the college accepts Dr. Richard Bedosky Sr.’s gift of a 1966 Piper Aztec airplane. The plan is to use the aircraft in engineering courses.
• April 19 – A “Hunger Banquet” to expose students to existing worldwide food inequalities is held. Student Activities Director Jason Boring organized the event with the support of faculty, staff, and students
• Sept. 29 – The college holds a ground-breaking ceremony at the Carnegie Library in downtown Binghamton as construction continues to transform the abandoned building into the Culinary and Event Center.
• November 12 – At a ribbon-cutting, 1970s era X-Ray equipment in the Radiology Technology program is replaced with ceiling-mounted and portable X-ray units, a Hovercam, and more.
• Fall – The college launches The Applied Learning and Career Center (now known as The Career and Transfer Services Department) to assist students and alumni with their job searches.
• Health for Haiti and the Bridging the Digital Divide program create four computer labs with nearly 80 donated laptops so that Haitian children and adults can receive regular computer literacy lessons.
• The 901 Front Street building is demolished to make room for parking and a new non-college building, The Agency, which will house the Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, and more.

2017

• • Photo above: Spring – Wells are drilled into the Quad as the geothermal heating system for the Business and Mechanical buildings is installed. The project is estimated to annually save the college $250,000 in energy costs and avoid 135 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Spring – Governor Andrew Cuomo announces the Excelsior Scholarship program to provide a tuition-free college education at New York’s public colleges and universities to families making up to $125,000 per year. Among other qualifications, students must average 30 credits per year, maintain passing grades, and reside in New York State for the same number of years they received the award.
  • June 7 – The college holds a ribbon-cutting at the recently refurbished satellite campus in Owego, located in the Ronald E. Dougherty Office Building. The college started offering classes in Owego in 2003.
  • August 4 – Mrs. G’s Weather Station, with data-gathering equipment on the roof of the Applied Technologies Building and a weather kiosk in the Natural Sciences Center, is dedicated in memory of the late Professor Sallyann Giuffrida.
  • Nov. 30 – Alumni and professionals from BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Keystone Associates, and Raymond Corporation volunteer their time to “mock interview” engineering students and provide valuable feedback.
  • Oct. 27 – SUNY Broome holds a ribbon-cutting for the dental hygiene program’s sterilization lab renovations, made possible by endowed BCC Foundation funds originally donated by the Sixth District and Broome County dental societies.

• Fall – The nursing program celebrates its 50th anniversary
• The Dental Hygiene Club receives the 2017 American Dental Hygiene Association’s (ADHA) Student Member Community Service Award for its work in Haiti. They won the award again in 2019.
• Members of the Student Assembly revive The Fulcrum. The newspaper gained a digital edition in 2020.

2018

• June 8 – Conrad and Lorna Steigerwald donate a painting by the late Michael Tanzer, an artist, and former SUNY Broome professor.
• Oct. – Dr. Victor Lamoureux, biology professor and steward of the college’s Natural Areas Trails, promotes a scavenger hunt in the West Woods trail located to the west of the Broome County Public Safety building.
• Oct. 4 – Professor Doug Garnar donates a vintage hand-colored 1857 map of America, and it is hung in Titchener Hall.
• Oct. 16 – SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson announces the grand opening of Calice Advanced Manufacturing Center, which is a significant remodel to the Mechanical Building.
• Fall – During the Students vs. Faculty/Staff Challenge, college employees are routed by students in three sports, kickball, dodgeball, and hockey.
• March 2018 – The Literacy Legacy project, developed by Early Childhood Education and Teacher Education department professor Lisa Strahley, donates three different age-appropriate books to numerous newborns, four-year-olds, and kindergarteners in Broome County. The goal is to encourage talking and reading to young children since approximately 85% of brain development happens early in life.

2019

• Feb. 21 – The Career Closet, a repository of free professional clothing for interviews overseen by the Applied Learning and Career Center, holds its grand opening
• May 22 – George Akel, Jr., a prominent local businessman and SUNY Broome’s Board of Trustees member for 29 years, passes away. His fellow board members begin a scholarship in his memory.
• July 30 – SUNY Broome wins Hobson’s 2019 Educational Advances Award for their use of the Starfish Student Success Network. This online system allows students to receive alerts of their status in classes and faculty to connect students more easily with academic assistance. During the 2015 to 2017 time period, the use of Starfish was linked to students’ grades rising and course failures declining.
• Sept. – Fast Forward, a program that allows high school students to take college classes at participating high schools, is made tuition-free due to support from New York’s Every Student Succeeds Act.
• Oct. 18 – The college’s Women’s Discussion Group collaborates with Phi Theta Kappa to donate 154 books to the Women’s Prison Book Project.
• Nov. – SUNY Broome and SUNY Empire State College sign a transfer agreement that provides guaranteed admission for eligible students in SUNY Broome’s Dental Hygiene, Health Information Technology, Medical Assistant, Physical Therapy Assistant, and Radiologic Technology associate degree programs to SUNY Empire’s online Bachelor of Science in Allied Health program.

2020

• • January – The first classes were held in the brand new Culinary & Event Center located in downtown Binghamton.
  • January 1 – “Experiencing the Everglades,” alumni Nick Venuti and Arthur Bush’s film of the college’s 2016’s Ecology of the Everglades class, airs locally on WSKG Public Television.
  • January 22 – Nearly 2,000 eighth-graders from across the Southern Tier head to campus for a career exploration event known as “Spark” and intended to “spark” their interest in various career possibilities.
  • March 2 – As uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic grows, faculty are encouraged to attend training so that they can set up online courses if “the COVID-19 virus causes any disruption in classes.”
  • March 19 – Due to the pandemic, offices, classrooms, and parking lots empty while newly designated essential employees take on new duties. Most residential students head home and campus — temporarily and necessarily — took on the appearance of a ghost town.
  • Spring – During the pandemic, SUNY Broome donates 11,320 gloves, 1,900 masks, 190 gowns, 80 safety glasses, and more to local healthcare organizations.
  • Summer – Electrical vehicle charging stations are installed at the north side of the Ice Center. Charging fees will be used for future campus clean energy projects.

• Photo above: June 30 & July 1 – Brand-new alumni drive through campus to receive a gift bag of commemorative items and an opportunity for a socially distanced photo with administrators. “Over two hundred graduates came through with signs painted on their cars, balloons streaming out of sunroofs, dogs hanging out of windows, and family members, friends, or other grads accompanying them,” Dr. Drumm said. He added that of the numerous graduations in his life, this one was the most memorable.
• July 25 – SUNY Broome’s commencement ceremony goes virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Student Commencement Speaker Daniel Todd (BUBA ’20) reminded his class that, “Everyone graduating this semester has accomplished much more than earning a degree. We have found success in an unprecedented time. The challenges we faced this past semester were tiresome and demanding…but we persevered.”
• Sept. 24 – Over $68,000 is raised over eight weeks by the BCC Foundation for the brand-new Student Emergency Fund to assist students with sudden unexpected expenses – such as medical bills, rent, internet access – that could derail their college plans. The amount is doubled by a match from the SUNY Impact Foundation and given to needy students in $500, and later $1,000, grants.
• Fall – In the Student Village, the college reduces the number of students per residential suite from six to four to reduce the chance of COVID-19 spreading.
• Fall – The college recognizes four professors with a half-century of service at SUNY Broome: Business Department professor John Bunnell; Dr. Tom Crandell in the History and Social Sciences department; Electric Technology professor Alan Dixon; former Biology Department chair Dr. Rick Firenze; and Professor Suzanne Maier (DH ‘65) in the Dental Hygiene department.
• Fall – The Esports athletic program begins
• The college restructures the four-person dean positions into a two-person structure with Dr. Michael Kinney overseeing the Liberal Arts and Business and Professional Studies divisions and Dr. Michele Snyder directing the STEM and Health Sciences divisions.
• Dec. 1 – Despite economic uncertainty and a pandemic, generosity floods in during the BCC Foundation’s 6th Annual 24 Hours of Giving. $202,341 is raised, an increase of over 300% when compared to the first 24 Hours of Giving.

2021

• • SUNY Broome celebrates its 75th anniversary
  • January – A new music rehearsal and performance space in the Campus Services building is completed
  • January – Under a mandate from SUNY to weekly test regulars on campus, the Health and Safety Department and medical assisting majors collect approximately 800 saliva samples a week and send them to a SUNY Upstate Medical University lab.
  • February 4 – SUNY Broome is selected for a 2020 State Historic Preservation Award for revitalizing the former Carnegie Library and transforming it into the Culinary and Event Center
  • June 1 – College employees, who had been working remotely during the pandemic, begin returning to campus. At this time, fully vaccinated individuals are not required to wear a mask or socially distance except in classes or labs. Unvaccinated individuals must continue to wear a mask and maintain six feet social distance from others in all indoor and outdoor settings.
  • June 11 – Lockheed Martin Owego is recognized for its ongoing valued partnership and its recent generous gift of $75,000.00 to support SUNY Broome’s Student Emergency Fund.

• Photo above: October 7 – College held the long awaited grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony of the Culinary & Event Center.