ACC: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
Today's program features Rotarian and President of Arapahoe Community College, Diana Doyle. Diana will bring us up to date on the impressive growth and success of the very first community college is Colorado as it celebrates its 50th Anniversary.
Littleton Rotary has had a close relationship with ACC, and several of it's founding proponents were members of the Rotary Club of Littleton. For decades, the Littleton Rotary Foundation has funded scholarships for deserving students at ACC in honor of Jim McKechnie, JR., the first Chairman of the college's Governing Council and long time Littleton Rotarian. Other Littleton Rotarians prominent in the creation of the college were A. A.. (Andy") Brown, Superintendent of Littleton Public Schools, and Reg Besette, prominent local Realtor and served as President of the South Metro Denver Realtor Association.
Since 1965, when it became the first two-year college in the greater Denver area, Arapahoe Community College has been the place of choice for people who want to Move Mountains.
In 1970, the former Arapahoe Junior College became Arapahoe Community College. Adjacent to downtown Littleton, Colorado, and just 10 miles south of downtown Denver, ACC’s Littleton campus offers a spectacular panoramic view of the Colorado Rockies.
ACC Today
ACC is an open-door admissions institution, educating people from age 17 on up — with or without a high school diploma or General Education Development (GED) certificate. About 18,000 students attend ACC annually. ACC offers more than 100 degree and certificate programs. Most classes are held at the Main building, completed in 1974, on ACC’s 51-acre Littleton campus. Our facilities include:
- The Weber Center for Learning Resources (library), completed in a $13 million renovation in 2001 of the Main building, is now the architectural centerpiece of campus
- A large Annex, completed in 1977, houses additional classrooms, laboratories, the Colorado Gallery of Arts, Community Education, the automotive technology department and the Fitness Center, which includes a gymnasium and swimming pool
- The Art and Design Center, acquired in 1990 in downtown Littleton, houses ACC’s art, fine art, design and some technology programs.
- The ACC Parker Campus, ACC’s satellite campus in Parker that opened in 2000 houses ACC's Workforce Training Program.
- ACC opened the Castle Rock Campus in October 2011. The campus features five classrooms configured with the latest technology and a large computer lab.