Tyler Junior College will observe its 91st Founders Day on Friday.
The ceremony begins at 7:15 a.m. Friday, Sept. 15, at Windsor Plaza, located at the corner of Apache Pass and South Mahon Avenue on the TJC main campus.
The annual event celebrates the day the institution was founded – Sept. 17, 1926 – and serves as a time to remember the TJC employees and board members who passed away in the last year.
The program is the same each year: the TJC president speaks, a prayer is offered, and TJC musicians perform songs of remembrance, followed by a reading of the roster of recently departed TJC family members. Plaques bearing their names are added to the Windsor Plaza memorial wall.
On this Founders Day, TJC will honor the memories of: Nancy Griffin, Kevin Lampin, Verna Martin, Billie Pye Murphey, Betty Plyler and Linda Zeigler.
TJC President Dr. Mike Metke will give remarks, and TJC Presidential Honors scholar Aaron Kelley will give the invocation.
The TJC Chamber Singers will perform under the direction of Dr. Eric Posada; and a TJC saxophone quartet will be led by Dr. Steven Meier.
The public is invited to attend.
About TJC
Established in 1926, Tyler Junior College is one of the largest community colleges in Texas, with more than 11,500 students enrolled per semester.
For more than 90 years, TJC has embodied the true sense of the term “community college,” as reflected in its foundational promises to provide students with a quality education, a vibrant student life and opportunities for service to the community.
TJC offers more than 120 degree and certificate programs, plus extensive training and technical programs, and offers opportunities for students to transfer to a four-year institution or gain the skills they need to go directly into the workforce. The college received legislative approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to be the only Texas community college to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in dental hygiene.
TJC features a 137-acre campus, rigorous academics, 56 national championships in athletics, stellar fine and performing arts programs; modern residential facilities, and organizations and clubs that reflect student diversity. In 2016, the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program named TJC one of the nation’s top 150 community colleges.