The story
Kansas City Kansas Community College was founded in 1923 as a junior college within the Kansas City, Kansas Public School system by Superintendent M.E. Pearson. The college initially operated as two segregated divisions: the Central division for white students at Wyandotte High School and the Sumner division for Black students at Sumner High School. The inaugural class consisted of 56 students taught by high school instructors. In 1951, Superintendent F.L. Schlagle integrated the college divisions, citing low enrollment during the Korean War. That same year, the institution received its first accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
In 1965, the college joined the Kansas statewide community junior college system. This led to the 1967 establishment of an independent Board of Trustees and the expansion of the college district to include all of Wyandotte County. Following a 1968 bond approval, the college opened a West Campus at 72nd and State Avenue in 1972 to address overcrowding; this became the primary campus after the downtown location closed in 1973. The college added a nursing program in 1970 and, in 2008, absorbed the Kansas City, Kansas Area Vocational Technical School to form the KCKCC Technical Education Center (TEC). The TEC moved to the former Walmart at 65th and State Avenue in 2013, and the Leavenworth campus transitioned to the Pioneer Career Center in 2015. In 2022, the college completed Centennial Hall, its first on-campus residential facility.
From Wikipedia’s article on Kansas City Kansas Community College, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4