Labette Community College

Labette Community College

Labette Community College Seal
Former names	Parsons Junior College Labette Community Junior College
Motto	Ubi de te Omnia
Motto in English	Where It's All About You!
Type	Public
Established	1923
President	George C. Knox
Vice-president	Tammy Fuentez
Provost	Joe Burke
Vice-Presidents	Leanna Newberry (V.P. of Finance and Operations)
Location	Parsons , Kansas , US
Colors	Red and black
Nickname	Cardinals
Website	www.labette.edu

Labette Community College is a two-year accredited college located in Parsons, Kansas, United States. LCC's main campus is situated within Labette County’s most populous city Parson, and was first established in the fall of 1923 as Parsons Junior College. Satellite campuses are located in Cherokee, Oswego and Pittsburg. The mascot of the school is Chris the Cardinal. The official school colors are red and white.

History

The College was initially financed and operated as a part of the public school system of Parsons as a two-year extension program of the Senior High School. Until 1935, the Parsons Junior College was operated as a two-year unit, and was a jumping off point for students desiring to continue their education at a four-year university. In 1935 however, the schools of Parsons became organized into a 6-4-4 basis. Under this new system, the Junior College was a new four-year system, and instructed grades eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen inclusively.¹

Like most Community Colleges and Junior Colleges, Parsons Junior College was first established to answer the ever increasing demands for better public school systems. With the arrival of the MKT Railroad in Parsons, the city began to grow rapidly, requiring Parsons to adapt and create new institutions to help meet the community's educational needs.⁵ Like most rural towns that contain a community college or university, Parsons Junior College served as one of the main focal points of the community as it provided a two-year Associates program for higher education through 1935.

In 1967 Parsons Junior College became known as the Labette Community Junior College, following the new trends of the time period, separating Community Colleges as local, publicly funded school system, and Junior Colleges as private degree institutions. The college remained known by this name until 1980 when the school finally adopted the name of Labette Community College, which remains the name of the college to this day.⁷

Tuition and fees

Originally, Labette Community College was established as a simple extension of the local Senior High School, therefore it was under the management of the cities superintendent of schools. This allowed for the institution to give free tuition to any student that was entering from a Parsons school. Of course incidental fees, books, and other fees (such as athletics, activities, and laboratory fees) still applied. Gradually as the school evolved from an extension of public schools to an actual independent, yet still publicly funded, institution, the cost of tuition and other fees began to rise. However to this day, local students (those living within Labette County) receive discounts, scholarships, and in many occasions, free tuition. ^1,2,3,4

Extracurricular activities

Since its founding, Labette Community College has had a number of both academic, and athletic extra curricular activities available for students. In addition to a variety of two-year degrees and one year certificates, LCC has Transfer Equivalency agreements with the other colleges and community colleges in Kansas.

LCC won the NJCAA national basketball title in 1960, and were the national men's wrestling champions in 2005, 2012 and 2013.

Some of the programs available currently are: Men's and Women's basketball, volleyball, baseball. softball, and wrestling. Additionally, the school offers academic activities, not to mention the multitude of other school clubs ranging from spirit squad to math.

Cherokee Campus

In 2008 Labette Community College opened a satellite campus in Cherokee County, Kansas on the outskirts of Pittsburg, Kansas.

Labette Community College renovated a 14,000 square foot, ten acre, space on the corner of highways 400 and 69, near Pittsburg to better serve the students of southeast Kansas. Seven classrooms, a student commons area with computers, and office space for faculty.

LCC is offering remedial and general education courses, which prepare students to pass placement tests that are required before taking college-level courses.

Athletics

Main article: Labette Cardinals

Notable alumni and faculty

• Rand Chappell, college basketball coach
• LC Davis, mixed martial artist

References

Primary Sources:
¹Parsons Junior College Handbook, 1938-1939
²Parsons Junior College Handbook, 1966-1967
³Labette Community Junior College Handbook, 1967-1968
⁴Labette Community College Handbook, 1980-981
Secondary Sources:
⁵The Community College Movement, Ralph R. Fields, McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc. 1962
⁶The Community Junior College 3rd Edition, James W. Thornton Jr. John Wiley & Sons Inc. 1972
⁷The American Community College 4th Edition Arthur M. Lohan and Florence B. Brawer John Wiley & Sons Inc. 2003

External links

• Official website