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EGCC wins with good people

Longtime Jefferson Community College board member Nick Mougianis had a saying: “You win with people.”

In the three-day celebration of what is now Eastern Gateway Community College, the phrase was obvious. From high school students visiting campus to EGCC students, staff and faculty celebrating the anniversary, it was people at the forefront.

People such as the college’s presidents, the late Fred Robie who was followed by Edward L. Florak, Laura Meeks each led the school through periods of change and development, as current president Jimmie Bruce is doing today. Robie gathered the fledgling Jefferson County Technical Institute and turned it into an accredited school conferring associate degrees and training the work force for the jobs of the 1970s and 1980s. Florak led a period of growth and change, from physical additions to the building to the growth into a community college. Meeks adapted the school to the 21st century in terms of curriculum and affordability so that a college education became available to nearly all who wanted it. She also led the college through the growth into a multi-county institution.

Bruce is continuing to lead growth and change, with new programs and services, keeping the college a vital part of the educational system of not only Jefferson County but also Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.

All of them spoke of executing the leadership displayed by exceptional, community-involved board members.

The anniversary celebration included dedication of the Gator Center, a $2.1 million refurbishing of what was the college’s state-of-the-art, circa early 1990s, data center. Now, brightly colored, filled with modern furnishings, the Gator Center is a place where students find advisors, financial aid, admissions, job services and a new Barnes and Noble college book store.

The center also brings the point back to people.

The Gator Center has become a gathering place during the first weeks of its first semester in service. Students meet, hang out, talk, study, and simply spend time on campus with one another in this new facility that grew out of an outmoded facility.

The changes since 1968 have come about because of board members with vision, presidents who can lead and execute those visions, and have kept what started with a little more than 300 students moving ahead into a new century, having touched the lives of more than 50,000 students.

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