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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to congratulate Waubonsee Community
4College on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its founding
5in 2016; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Waubonsee Community College, a two-year public
7institution of higher learning, came into existence in August
8of 1966, when the electorate of 12 school districts in most of
9Kane and portions of Kendall, DeKalb, LaSalle, and Will
10Counties voted to establish Community College District 516; and
 
11    WHEREAS, From the beginning, the philosophy of Waubonsee
12Community College has been that education is the cornerstone of
13a literate, democratic society, that learning is a lifelong
14process, and that the pursuit of knowledge must be supported by
15institutional policies demonstrating accessibility, service,
16quality, innovation, and value; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Waubonsee Community College truly began taking
18shape in early 1967, when its first president took office and
19subsequently began assembling a staff, developing a
20multi-level curriculum, and locating classroom space; in March
21of 1967, in order to give the college a suitable name, the
22school called upon its community through a district-wide naming

 

 

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1contest; from among the 600 entries, Susan Miller of Aurora and
2Patricia Ann Dillon of Batavia suggested Waubonsee, a
3Pottawatomie Native American chief who lived in the Fox River
4Valley during the 1800s, so the Fox Valley Community College
5officially became Waubonsee Community College; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Waubonsee Community College had a permanent name
7but not a permanent campus; when the college opened its doors
8for classes on September 11, 1967, the doors were those of a
9variety of community facilities; the school had an initial
10enrollment of 1,603 students, 403 full-time and 1,200
11part-time; in December of 1967, a successful bond referendum
12allowed the college to begin planning its first permanent
13campus; the campus, situated on a 243-acre tract of land north
14of Sugar Grove on Route 47, still serves as the main campus; a
15second Waubonsee campus opened in 1986 in downtown Aurora at
16the corner of Galena Boulevard and Stolp Avenue, which ceased
17operations in May of 2011; and
 
18    WHEREAS, In June of 2011, Waubonsee Community College moved
19its downtown campus to a new 132,000-square-foot facility at 18
20South River Street, while the Aurora Downtown Campus remains
21the headquarters for Workforce Development, Adult Education,
22GED, English as a Second Language, and the Adult Literacy
23Project; Waubonsee established another major extension in
24January of 1997 on the Rush-Copley Medical Center campus, which

 

 

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1was renovated and renamed the Aurora Fox Valley Campus in the
2summer of 2016; in the spring of 2011, courses began at a
3fourth permanent campus in Plano; classes are also held at
4nearly 16 other extension sites throughout the district; and
 
5    WHEREAS, In accordance with the Waubonsee Community
6College 2020 College Master Plan, five building projects were
7completed at the Sugar Grove Campus: the Campus Operations
8facility, which opened in August of 2005; the new Science
9Building, which opened during the Fall 2006 semester; the
10Academic and Professional Center, which held classes for the
11first time in the fall of 2007; the Student Center, which
12opened in the spring of 2009; and the Field House, which opened
13in the spring of 2015; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Waubonsee Community College has always been a
15leader in distance learning; the college was a founding member
16of the Illinois Virtual Campus and has provided courses to
17students statewide through Illinois Community Colleges Online;
18the college offers nearly 200 online courses and delivers
19fully-accredited associate degrees and certificates to
20students on an online platform; therefore, be it
 
21    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
22NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
23congratulate Waubonsee Community College on the occasion of the

 

 

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150th anniversary of its founding in 2016 and wish the college
2continued success in the future; and be it further
 
3    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
4presented to Waubonsee Community College as a symbol of our
5esteem and respect.