By Wesley Northcote
Staff Writer

Clackamas Community College celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2026. 

The college was built in 1966, initially holding classes at Gladstone High School until it established its 165-acre campus in 1968. 

In 1975, the college began welcoming a growing number of female students, marking a shift toward greater gender inclusion and expanded access to higher education. In 1982, the first annual Handicapped Awareness Week took place. In 1987, a proposition for the Gay/Lesbian Club was approved. In 2009, the Veterans Center opened in DeJardin Hall.

Tim Pantages, former administrator and current instructor in the health education department has worked at CCC for 35 years. He thinks the college has done a great job at making sure the college is an inclusive environment.

“They’re really good at supporting students and giving them what they need. The college including the instructors will do what they have to do to help the students succeed,” said Pantages. “Programs like that were designed to help students overcome their life obstacles.”

Jennifer Bown, a biology instructor of 30 years at CCC, agreed with Pantages.“They’re always very receptive to giving people that space. I appreciate that there’s that platform there, that if you’ve got a group of people, you can get together and they’ll help.”

Bown. Photo provided by Jennifer Bown

Lori Hall, executive director of college relations and marketing, has worked at CCC for over a decade and described how the campus has changed over the years.

Hall. Photo provided by Lori Hall

“The industrial technology center wasn’t here, the welcome center wasn’t here, the addition to DeJardin Hall wasn’t here, Harmony West wasn’t here. We’ve added a lot of buildings and resources, just in the last 10 years,” said Hall. 

The college plays a sizable role in the local community. from 2021-22, CCC added $314.7 million in income to the Clackamas County economy and supported 3,962 jobs, according to a pamphlet titled “Investing in Clackamas County’s future,” The activities of CCC and its students support one out of every 63 jobs in Clackamas County. 

“We really are the economic engine of the workforce. We are the place where people come and get trained for jobs that are needed in the community. We supply the workers for our community, who can earn a living wage job, to support their families, and just make the community thrive.” Hall said.

Over the years, community support has also been demonstrated through successful bond measures. 

“In my time here, we’ve had two bonds passed,” Hall said. “That takes the majority of the community to vote and approve. So just knowing that we have that community support backing us up and continuing to invest in the college is super important,” said Hall. Those bonds have helped fund new facilities and improvements around the college..

Hall points to something that has remained constant throughout its history — the budget. “It’s always the budget,” she explained when asked about the biggest challenges the college has faced. 

As a public institution, funding relies on property taxes, tuition, and state support. 

“Balancing the budget in order to keep up our services and programs for students while also staying within budget has always been a challenge for the college. We want to be good fiscal stewards of taxpayer dollars, but also serve our students and help them succeed,” said Hall.

For its first 12 years, the college had to go to the voters each year and seek reconfirmation to operate the following year.

The University of Oregon has a historic newspaper archive that can be found on The Clackamas Print Archive. Photo provided from The Clackamas Print Archive

“The mission. Really wanting to serve students to the best of our abilities,” said Janelle Vader, communications specialist for the college. “We’ve got a wide range of people from diverse backgrounds as employees and faculty, but the core mission is to serve students.” 

Looking ahead, both of them shared an optimistic view about CCC’s future. Hall pointed to upcoming improvements, including a new Natural Resources Center, new athletic fields, and upgrades at the Wilsonville campus. “I’m hoping that our spaces continue to adapt and change the way technology changes and the needs our students have,” she said. “To deliver education that’s meaningful to them.”

Bown mentioned a new building and program coming to CCC in the future. “One of the things that we were backing was the Challenger Center. We’ll actually have a building and programs to bring in K-12 and college groups to run through simulators as if you’re running trips to outer space. So you’ll have command control, the scientists, the engineers, if you want to go into Space Exploration, NASA or any of that type of stuff, like, this is what it might entail.”

Some of the faculty and staff offered simple advice to today’s students: 

“Find your mentors, find your passion. Every path is different for every student, so find those people around you who can lift you up and support you along the way,” said Hall.

“Structure the commitments that you’ve taken on, we call it scaffolding. Take one at a time, build a schedule and keep yourself to that schedule.” said Bown.

“Make connections with your instructors, don’t be afraid to ask questions or show up at office hours,” said Pantages.