INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / APRIL 18, 1989

 

 

 

 

20th Anniversary Continued

Gilgan says the organizers
need more help.

As part of the 20th Anniver-
sary Celebration, the Steering
Committee has set aside seed
money for activities generated
by various college departments
and disciplines. The money will
be allocated by the committee to
help fund suitable 20-year
proposals.

 

Proposals for fall ’89
must be submitted by
May 30, and proposals
for spring ’90 must be
submitted by October
15.

 

Proposals for the fall of 1989
must be submitted to the Steer-
ing Committee before May
30th, 1989, while proposals for
the spring of 1990 must be sub-
mitted to the Steering
Committee before October 15.

"We’re looking for projects
students and faculty would like
to do at the department level as
their part of the celebration,"
says Gilgan.

"Every week something will
be highlighted. That’s why
we’re calling for proposals.
We’re prepared to coordinate ac-
tivities and provide resources to
help celebrate the anniversary."

Bill Bell, Manager of the
Public Information Office, has
already begun visiting each
department to encourage facul-
ty, staff and students to get

(SPR aN LD SPS TEE DS

 

involved in the celebration.

"We want people to have
fun," says Bell. "It’s an event to
celebrate our past and future.
People are already coming up
with good ideas. I think it will
snowball."

Bell says proposals should
designate a specific time for the
proposed event, and include a
budget not exceeding $500.
Proposals should also outline
how the project will help the
College achieve its 20- Year
Celebration goals and objectives.

Gilgan says the Steering Com-
mittee has already received a
number of interesting ideas.

"Students from the history
program want to collect an oral
history on audio tape from facul-
ty who have been at the college
for 20 years," he says.

"Believe it or not, there’s a
lot of staff and faculty who have
been here since 1970.
Everybody’s a little older, and a
little greyer."

Gilgan is one of the originals.
He fondly remembers the "early
days" in 1970 when administra-
tion offices were housed in a
four-room, two-building com-
plex on Columbia Street, and
courses were offered all over the
region.

"When we started instruction
in September, 1970 we had a
faculty of 90 and about 2,000
students, but no facilities
anywhere," says Gilgan.

"We started off teaching at

 

night in junior and senior high
schools, even church base-
ments...every nook and cranny
we could get our hands on. I
remember a terrible, old build-
ing in Maple Ridge...we called
it the Mexican Jail. There were
mushrooms growing under the
couch in the staff room."

Eventually, courses were
moved to portables in Surrey
and New Westminster and a
warehouse in Richmond. The
existing New Westminster cam-
pus officially opened its doors
in 1983.

Twenty years after its humble
beginnings, the College has
grown at a phenomenal rate.
The faculty now numbers 350
and the student population ex-
ceeds 6,000. The College, says
Gilgan, is bursting at the seams.

He predicts the growth rate
over the next 20 years will be
even more exciting.

Administrators expect to
receive approval any day for
"substantial expansion plans" at
the New Westminster campus,
and for a separate facility in Co-
quitlam.

 

Twenty years after its
humble beginnings,
the College has grown
at a phenomenal rate.

 

"The original design for the
New Westminster campus
called for two more floors on

continued on page 3

 

 

 

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