ANDERSON — In a 22-minute ceremony, Ivy Tech Community College and city leaders dedicated the new Anderson campus on Thursday, culminating an effort that took years to achieve.
"This journey started a long time ago," Kaye Whitehead told hundreds of guests who gathered in the Ricker's Student Commons area at the new campus for light refreshments and campus tours.
Whitehead is an Ivy Tech state trustee, and Ricker's made a $500,000 donation to support the new campus.
"A couple of times we thought it was on track when it wasn't on track and we had to start over again," Whitehead said.
Despite those delays, now that the new campus is a reality, it will not only help existing businesses thrive, it "puts out the welcome mat for new business to come to Anderson," she said.
The Ricker's gift, the largest philanthropic donation the company's history, reflects both how Anderson has embraced the company and how Ricker's employees have benefited from the college to achieve their education goals.
"When classes begin on Aug. 24, the construction workers will be replaced by students eager to learn," said Nancy Ricker, co-founder of the company and a member of the East Central Region Board of Trustees.
"We love this community and we've prospered here from its support," Ricker said.
With 85,000 square feet of space, the new campus on 38 acres off 60th Street adjacent to Interstate 69 will help relieve overcrowding, particularly at the college's 53rd Street and 38th Street campuses.
The new campus will become home to four academic schools — business technology, public and social services, liberal arts and sciences.
Students will find classrooms with state-of-the art network capability and robust Wi-Fi; glass-enclosed meeting rooms and floor-to-ceiling white boards in nearly every classroom.
In addition, modern science laboratories, a unified student services area, adaptable spaces dedicated to advanced manufacturing instruction, and numerous alcoves for rest, study or private conversations will welcome students.
"This is a really big step for Anderson," said Ivy Tech Community College President Tom Snyder. "It's going to be a world-class campus. It's been almost 25 years since we built the campus on 53rd Street. We invested millions in that campus, and the state invested millions in this one.
He said the new campus is important because about 1,200 students per year graduate from Madison County schools.
"Every year we've got about 500 students who get out of school and don't go to college; 700 that do, and most of them go to Ivy Tech," Snyder said. "We think this is going to be a turning point for Madison County."
Snyder said space made available to Ivy tech by Anderson Community Schools at the former Ebbert Education Center — now The District 26 Career Center — on 38th Street helped the college expand.
"This is equipment and a building that's purposely designed for college students," Snyder said. "I think that people forget that 30 percent of our students are in transfer programs, 70 percent are in one-year or two-year programs designed to go into the job market, so we have to be very cognizant of where the best jobs are."
Planning for the new campus began in 2007, and the Indiana General Assembly approved $20 million in bonding for it in 2009, with another $4 million to be raised locally.
It would be four years before the State Budget Committee would release the funds so construction could begin. When that occurred, college officials moved quickly to finalize building plans.
Efforts to raise the $4 million that represents Anderson's 20 percent match for the project continues as 30 members of a local campaign committee work to secure major gifts from corporate sponsors, as well as donations from small businesses and individuals.
Andrew Bowne, chancellor, East Central and Richmond regions, said those fundraising efforts continue, although he hopes they will conclude by year's end.