advertisers

Ivy Tech Kokomo to celebrate 50th anniversary on Aug. 23 with gift to the community

Last Updated on August 22, 2018 by cassnetwork

KOKOMO Ind. – Ivy Tech Community College is marking its 50th anniversary in the Kokomo area this year and the public is invited to join in a campus/community celebration Thursday, Aug. 23.

A big tent will be up, the balloons will be filled, and the noisemakers will be ready to salute both the anniversary and the “new” Kokomo campus growing on the grounds at 1815 E. Morgan St. The party is scheduled for 4:30 to 6 p.m. with short remarks to begin at 5 p.m.

Planned as a festive get-together for the campus and community, guests will gather to help celebrate the progress of Ivy Tech’s $43 million Kokomo Campus transformation and everyone will have a chance to turn over a shovelful of dirt at a ceremonial groundbreaking.

“The transformed Kokomo campus will serve as a modern, high-tech hub for Ivy Tech’s Kokomo Service Area,” said Chancellor Dean McCurdy. “We hope people from around the area we serve – from Cass, Fulton, Howard, Miami, and Tipton counties – will join in celebrating the kickoff of what will be a greatly expanded and improved center of educational and economic growth for our region.”

In 1968, what was then known as Indiana Vocational Technical College chartered its Kokomo-based region to serve Howard and five contiguous counties and started offering classes in a two-story building on U.S. 31 on the south edge of Kokomo. To support the growing “Ivy Tech,” the Kokomo-Center Township School Corporation donated 20 acres on the north side of Kokomo to Ivy Tech and in 1976, the College moved to its new facilities at 1815 E. Morgan St.

Now, more than 40 years later, those facilities are being transformed into a centralized, cohesive campus where students can walk to classes, participate in student life, and get any service they need in one location. The project is being funded through a $40 million appropriation from the state of Indiana; a capital campaign is under way to raise $3 million in community support to complete the transformation.

To get a first glimpse of the campus transformation, visit www.ivytech.edu/kokomotransformation . For information about the capital campaign, contact Kelly Karickhoff, executive director of resource development for Ivy Tech Kokomo, at kkarickhoff@ivytech.edu or 765-252-5501.

SOURCE: News release from Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo

Cass County Online