History Of CVCC
The 1966 Session of Virginia's General Assembly enacted legislation establishing
a Statewide system of comprehensive Community Colleges to be located in regions
serving every Virginian. The State Department of Technical Education, under the
direction of Dr. Dana B. Hamel, was reorganized to form the State Department of
Community Colleges. Dr. Hamel became the first Director to serve the Commonwealth in
the new department.
Early in 1965, a local committee was formed to investigate the needs and
feasibility of a community college for the Central Virginia region; and in July,
1966, the State Board for Community Colleges selected Central Virginia as a community
college location to serve the cities of Lynchburg and Bedford and the counties of
Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford and Campbell.
A committee of local business, civic, political, and industrial leaders and a
professional site selection consultants team inspected and investigated more than 20
possible sites for the College before the selection was made. The site selected, where
Central Virginia Community College presently stands, was approved by the State and
Local Boards because of its geographic center to the service area's population and
accessibility to all major highways in the area.
In October, 1966, Dr. S. A. Burnette was named President of the College. He
immediately set up an office in the Lynchburg area and began establishing the new
College. The first meeting of the, newly appointed, Local Advisory Board was held on
March 14, 1967, and the name, Central Virginia Community College was selected. On
July 1, 1967, Central Virginia Community College assumed responsibilities for the
freshman and sophomore college transfer programs previously offered by the Lynchburg
Branch of the University of Virginia's School of General Studies. The College
operated in temporary quarters during the school year of 1967-68 located in the 721
Court Street Building, the Krise Building, and the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center.
The site on U.S. Route 29 South, with the Appomattox (Administration) Building
and the Amherst (Academic Instruction) Building, became available for students and
staff for occupancy in August, 1968. Dedication ceremonies were held on November 1,
1968. The College was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
on December 3, 1969 and reaffirmed on December 12, 1973, on December 20, 1984, The
reaffirmation committee was on campus during Spring 1994.
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