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91_HR0982
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1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives are
3 pleased to honor milestone dates in the history of education
4 in the State of Illinois; and
5 WHEREAS, Joliet Junior College, America's oldest public
6 community college will be commemorating its 100-year
7 centennial anniversary, which will take place in 2001; and
8 WHEREAS, Joliet Junior College is a comprehensive
9 community college which offers pre-baccalaureate programs for
10 students planning to transfer to a four-year university,
11 occupational education leading directly to employment, adult
12 education and literacy programs, work force and workplace
13 development services and support services to help students
14 succeed; and
15 WHEREAS, Joliet Junior College began in 1901 as an
16 experimental postgraduate high school program; Joliet Junior
17 College was the brainchild of J. Stanley Brown,
18 Superintendent of Joliet Township High School and William
19 Rainey Harper, President of the University of Chicago; the
20 college's initial enrollment was a total of six students; and
21 WHEREAS, By December of 1902, the Board of Trustees of
22 Joliet Township High School officially sanctioned the program
23 and made postgraduate high school courses available
24 tuition-free; and
25 WHEREAS, In 1916 the Board of Trustees officially named
26 the post-high school program Joliet Junior College; the
27 following year the North Central Association of Colleges and
28 Schools accredited Joliet Junior College and the State
29 Examining Board approved selected courses for teacher
30 certification; enrollment at that time numbered 82 students;
31 and
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1 WHEREAS, In 1965 the Illinois General Assembly enacted
2 the Illinois Junior College Act, creating specific districts
3 served by various community colleges; Joliet Junior College
4 was to serve the people in parts of seven counties in
5 northern Illinois; and
6 WHEREAS, By 1967 college enrollment approached 4,000
7 students; in February of 1967, the citizens of 12 high school
8 districts in portions of Will, Grundy, Kendall, LaSalle, and
9 Kankakee counties voted to establish Illinois Community
10 College District 525; and
11 WHEREAS, In February of 1968, the Board of Trustees
12 selected 368 acres on the west side of Joliet for a new
13 campus; in April of 1969, the Board voted to build interim
14 facilities consisting of 17 temporary buildings on the new
15 site; the college began offering classes at its new location
16 in September of 1969, serving 4,130 day and evening students;
17 and
18 WHEREAS, In September of 1970, contracts for the
19 construction of a permanent campus were awarded, and the $50
20 million main campus became fully operational in the Fall of
21 1974; during 1973 and 1974, the area and population of the
22 district expanded with the addition of Peotone, Dwight,
23 Odell, and the area of Lemont that is in Cook County; and
24 WHEREAS, In the Fall of 1980, the college opened an
25 instructional site at the Louis Joliet Renaissance Center in
26 Joliet's City Center, which today is the college's City
27 Center Campus; and
28 WHEREAS, In January of 1993, Joliet Junior College opened
29 its North Campus in Romeoville, marking the beginning of a
30 new chapter in the history of America's oldest public
31 community college; the main campus expanded in 1996 with the
32 opening of the Arthur G. and Vera C. Smith Business and
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1 Technology Center; and
2 WHEREAS, In the Spring, 2000 semester, the college opened
3 the new Veterinary Technology and Industrial Training
4 Building; and
5 WHEREAS, Illinois Community College District 525 is one
6 of 40 community college districts governed by the Illinois
7 Community College Board under the Illinois Board of Higher
8 Education, which was created by the General Assembly under
9 the provisions of the Illinois Public Junior College Act of
10 1965; and
11 WHEREAS, Joliet Junior College is accredited by the North
12 Central Association of Colleges and Schools and approved by
13 the Illinois Community College Board, the Illinois Board of
14 Higher Education, the Illinois State Board of Education, the
15 American Culinary Federation, the Association of Collegiate
16 Business Schools and Programs, the National Automotive
17 Technicians Education Foundation, the National League of
18 Nursing Accrediting Commission, and the State Approving
19 Agency for Veteran's Education; the college is also an
20 approved Nursing Home Administrator Continuing Education
21 Sponsor and Real Estate Appraiser Education Provider; and
22 WHEREAS, The college holds membership in the American
23 Council on Education, the American Association of Community
24 Colleges, the North Central Community College (Athletic)
25 Conference, and the National Junior College Athletic
26 Association; and
27 WHEREAS, On January 13, 2001, Joliet Junior College will
28 host a reception in the Main Campus Cafeteria at 2:00 p.m. to
29 commemorate the kick-off of the centennial celebration events
30 which will be taking place throughout the year 2001;
31 therefore, be it
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1 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
2 NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
3 we congratulate Joliet Junior College on its centennial
4 anniversary of service to the 1,442-square mile district of
5 more than 400,000 people in Will, Grundy, Kendall, LaSalle,
6 Kankakee, Livingston, and Cook counties; and be it further
7 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
8 presented to the seven-member Board of Trustees, J.D. Ross,
9 President of Joliet Junior College, and the administration of
10 Joliet Junior College, as an expression of our esteem.