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 ° 2