Delgado Community College (DCC) is a Louisiana public community college with campuses throughout the New Orleans metropolitan area, the East and West Banks of New Orleans, the East Bank of Jefferson Parish and on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Covington and Slidell in St. Tammany Parish. The original main campusâ€"City Park Campusâ€"is located in the Navarre neighborhood adjacent to New Orleans City Park.
Delgado Community College is one of nine community colleges which operate under the auspices of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. The institution originally opened in 1921 as Delgado Trades (plural) School; it went through several reorganizations and was finally declared "Delgado Community College" by the Louisiana State Legislature in 1980, under the administration of Governor David C. Treen.
Delgado history
The College is named after its founder, the philanthropist Isaac Delgado, a 19th-century immigrant from Jamaica, who became a wealthy New Orleans businessman and sugar planter. In 1909, in a codicil to his will, Delgado bequeathed the remainder of his estate to the City of New Orleans to establish a manual trade school for boys. Land was purchased for the 57-acre (230,000Â m2) City Park Campus. The original building on City Park Avenue was constructed and furnished by funding from the Delgado estate.
Delgado Central Trades School opened in 1921 with 1,300 boys and young men enrolled. The institution thrived in the 1920s but languished during the Great Depression, when there was inadequate funding. It was revived during World War II because of the need for technically skilled workers in aircraft construction and maintenance and in the metal and woodworking trades. The school again fell on hard times in the 1950s.
Under the leadership of its director, Marvin E. Thames, Sr., the mission of the college changed. In 1956-1957, Tulane University made a survey of Delgado’s potential role in a changing economy. Tulane proposed that Delgado be expanded to a technical institute at the junior college level and that its main function be to provide technical training. The recommendation was adopted by the Delgado Board of Managers and the New Orleans City Council. As a result, the name of the institution was changed to Delgado Trades and Technical Institute, and a technical two-year college program was implemented. In 1960, the first graduates of Delgado Institute received their college degrees.
In 1966, the state legislature and the city council renamed Delgado Institute as "Isaac Delgado College" and, then, "Delgado Vocational-Technical Junior College". Dr. Thames became the founding president. In 1970, the state transferred Delgado from control by the city to the Louisiana State Board of Education. In 1971, Delgado was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 1980, the name was again changed to the current Delgado Community College. In 1982 the central administration moved to new facilities at 501 City Park Avenue, adjacent to the City Park Campus. With state funding, the original campus expanded, and other campuses were thereafter established throughout the metropolitan region.
In 2001, Delgado joined its sister institution, Bossier Parish Community College in Bossier City to implement a collaborative Pharmacy Technician program through the use of interactive video. The innovative program was inspired by new certification requirements instituted by the state in 1997. BPCC and DCC both determined that the certification requirements established a need for such a program in higher education.
Colonel Long and Delgado
Floyd Harrison Long, Jr. (May 21, 1915 - February 16, 2003), was an assistant professor of business and, later, the executive dean of the Delgado Community College West Bank campus. A native of Winnfield, the seat of Winn Parish in north Louisiana, Long was an older brother of Gillis William Long, a U.S. Representative who made two hard-fought Democratic primary campaigns for governor in 1963 and 1971.
A United States Army colonel in both World War II and the Korean War, Floyd Long recalled that his father sent him to college with $25 and told him, "That's all I have; do the best you can with it". He nevertheless managed in 1936 to obtain a bachelor of science degree in accounting from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Two years later, he received a master of science in marketing and business management from LSU. In 1948, he obtained a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Floyd Long was active in the Southeastern Conference of Junior and Community Colleges through which he lobbied for the interests of Delgado Community College. He was also affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce, Masonic lodge, Toastmasters International, and Rotary International. In 1998, he and Mrs. Long moved to Little Rock. Long is interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
Delgado today
Delgado Community College is under the leadership of Chancellor Joan Davis.
Graduation statistics
In December 2010, a total of 798 students graduated from DCC.
Research is being done for graduation numbers for 2011-2014.
In May 2015, a total of 764 students graduated.
In December 2015, a total of 961 students graduated.
In May 2016, a total of 762 students graduated.
In December 2016, a total of 891 students graduated from DCC.
Athletics
The Delgado Dolphins are composed of 3 athletic teams representing Delgado Community College in intercollegiate athletics, including baseball and men and women's basketball. The Dolphins compete in National Junior College Athletic Association Division 1, Region 23. The Dolphins sports teams are members of the MISS-LOU Junior College Conference.
The Dolphins baseball team plays at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium and the basketball teams play at the Michael L. Williamson Center.
Notable alumni
- Steve Theriot, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives (1988â€"1996) and state legislative auditor (2004â€"2009)
- Irma Thomas, Grammy Award winning artist.
Notable faculty and staff
- Cameron Henry, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 82, is a former adjunct business professor at Delgado.
- Nita Rusich Hutter, District 104 state representative from St. Bernard Parish is an administrator at Delgado.
References
External links
- Delgado Community College - official website