Grammy Award-winning country music artist Joe Diffie performed on stage in the NGTC Quad. (photo/Melissa Henderson)
It was a celebration 75 years in the making and it was worth the wait. On Oct. 20, around 2,000 people gathered on the Clarkesville campus of North Georgia Technical College to celebrate the school’s 75th anniversary.
The free community event featured a cruise-in car show and concerts by singers Carly Buruss and Grammy Award-winning country music artist Joe Diffie.
The evening was capped off with fireworks.
“It was a wonderful turnout of our community and college family!” says NGTC’s Vice-President of Community and College Relations Amy Hulsey.
NGTC President Dr. Mark Ivester was equally enthusiastic. “Spectacular! It was everything I had hoped it would be,” he says. “After a year of planning, we finally saw it all come to fruition.”
As the evening unfolded Ivester says he thought about all of the employees who, over the past 75 years, have helped change students’ lives. “I thought about how those students changed the communities where we live,” he adds. “It was great walking around campus hearing everyone’s NGTC story. Everyone has a story about this college. It is amazing.”
“It’s not every day that you celebrate 75 years of such rich history of a workforce development college in your own neighborhood,” says Hulsey. “We wanted to plan an event that our graduates, faculty and staff, family members, students and community members would always remember. With the help of our generous sponsors, we were able to host an exciting event free to our community.”
The anniversary bash was the last of the college’s anniversary year celebrations but the memories will long linger. The college has compiled a history book entitled “Living and Learning in the Mountains: 75th Anniversary of North Georgia Technical College.” It’s now on sale to the public.
“It features so many stories of area alumni as well as timeless photos of the beginning of the school, explains Hulsey.
The book costs $29.95 and may be purchased from any of the NGTC bookstores at Clarkesville, Blairsville or Currahee.
“It is an absolute blessing to serve the local communities in northeast Georgia,” says Dr. Ivester. “The relationship our college has with local education, as well as, all the other areas that make up a community is what makes us so successful. We are so proud of every graduate from the past 75 years and will continue our great tradition for training students with timeless skills for tomorrow’s technology.”
Georgia’s oldest technical college
That tradition of training students extends back to 1943 when North Georgia Trade and Vocational School was first established. The school sits on the former site of the Georgia Ninth District School of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts (1907-1933). It also housed “Habersham College” (1938-1943) which provided job training for youth during the Great Depression.
The school accepted its first student in February 1944.
As the demand for technical training grew, more courses were added, according to the school’s website. In 1962, the school’s name was changed to North Georgia Technical and Vocational School. On July 1, 1985, North Georgia Tech was placed under the governance of the new state board, which today is called the Technical College System of Georgia. In 1987, the name was changed to North Georgia Technical Institute.
Expansion
For 62 years NGTC only had one campus. That changed under the late Gov. Zell Miller who pledged to bring a postsecondary institution within 40 miles of every Georgian. As part of that initiative, in 1995, the Georgia State Legislature appropriated $5.5 million to build a state-of-the-art, 45,000+ square-foot facility just outside of Blairsville. The Blairsville Campus of North Georgia Technical Institute opened in September 1998.
In July 2000, Georgia lawmakers passed a bill that paved the way for Georgia’s technical institutes to become technical colleges. The last and most recent name change occurred in October 2000 when North Georgia Technical Institute became North Georgia Technical College (NGTC).
In 2005, construction was completed on the college’s Currahee campus in southern Stephens County.
As the college has grown, so has its programs. NGTC now offers a wide range of courses from traditional trades such as cosmetology, automotive, and welding, to two year degree programs in computer/IT, photography, business, early childhood eduction, nursing, criminal justice, and more.
