Motto | “Your Future Starts Here!”, and “Blue Steel” |
---|---|
Type | Public community college |
Established | 1935 |
Endowment | $24 million |
President | Brenda Kays |
Students | 5000+ credit hour; 3700+ non-credit |
Location | , , U.S. 32°22′37″N94°52′21″W / 32.377056°N 94.872600°W |
Colors | Blue and White |
Nickname | Rangers |
Sporting affiliations | Southwest Junior College Football Conference (SWJCFC) and Southwest Junior College Conference (SWJCC) |
Mascot | Rangers |
Website | www.kilgore.edu |
Kilgore College (KC) is a public community college in Kilgore, Texas. It has an annual enrollment in excess of 5,000 students and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate degree. [1] [2] The college was established in 1935 at the height of the East Texas oil boom, [3] and as such, is home to the East Texas Oil Museum which houses a large collection of memorabilia documenting this period of Texas history. It is also famous for having the first ever dance-drill team, the Kilgore College Rangerettes, which began in 1940 under the direction of Gussie Nell Davis.
The East Texas oil boom that started near Kilgore in late 1930 generated large amounts of revenue that made it possible to establish a community college. W.L. Dodson, superintendent of the local Kilgore school district, brought B. E. Masters, then president of Amarillo Junior College, to Kilgore in the spring of 1935 to assist in creating the college. The college was established in August of that year, with Dodson named as the first president, and Masters as the first dean. College classes began that fall with 11 faculty members and 229 students temporarily using the Kilgore public school facilities. [3]
In addition to preparing students for undergraduate degrees that are completed at 4-year colleges and universities, KC's programs also include continuing education, medical training and short-term and long-term workforce training. The college offers Associate in Arts and Associate in Applied Science degrees, as well as tech prep and certificate programs.
KC fields teams in four sports:
The Rangers compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association's Region XIV, as a member of the Southwest Junior College Football Conference for football, and the Southwest Junior College Conference for all other sports.
In June 1986, the Texas Shakespeare Festival opened its inaugural season at Kilgore College; the festival has called KC home for what will be 38 summers in 2023. The college provides financial support and facilities for the festival, which is a vital cultural asset for all of East Texas. [7]
As defined by the Texas Legislature, the official service area of KC includes territory within the following school districts: [8]
Gregg County is a county located in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 124,239. Its county seat is Longview. The county is named after John Gregg, a Confederate general killed in action during the American Civil War.
Gladewater is a city in Gregg and Upshur counties in the U.S. state of Texas with a 2020 census population of 6,134.
Kilgore is a city in Gregg and Rusk counties in Texas, United States. Located where Interstate 20 and US 259 converge just south of the Sabine River. Over three-fourths of the area within city limits are located in Gregg County, the remainder in Rusk County. The population was 12,975 at the 2010 census and 13,376 at the 2020 census.
Longview is a city in, and county seat of, Gregg County, Texas, United States. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. highways 80 and 259 converge just north of the Sabine River. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 81,638. Longview is the principal city of the Longview metropolitan statistical area, comprising Gregg, Upshur, and Rusk counties. The population of the metropolitan area as of 2021 census estimates was 287,858.
East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region consists of the Piney Woods ecoregion. East Texas can sometimes be defined only as the Piney Woods. At the fringes, towards Central Texas, the forests expand outward toward sparser trees and eventually into open plains.
Northeast Texas is a cultural and geographic region in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Texas. Geographically centered on two metropolitan areas strung along Interstate 20—Tyler in the west and Kilgore, Longview, Marshall to the east, the areas of Greenville, Mount Pleasant, Sulphur Springs, Paris, and Texarkana in the north primarily along Interstate 30, and Jacksonville and Palestine to the south are also major cities within the region. Most of Northeast Texas is included in the interstate region of the Ark-La-Tex.
A drill team can be one of four different entities:
Paris Junior College (PJC) is a public community college with three campuses in Texas: Paris, Greenville, and Sulphur Springs. The college was founded in 1924 as a campus of Paris Independent School District. Nearly 5,000 students are enrolled at the college.
Howard College is a public community college with its main campus in Big Spring, Texas. It also has branch campuses in San Angelo and Lamesa.
Ranger College is a public community college in Ranger, Texas. The college's website asserts that it "is one of the oldest public two-year colleges in continuous operation in the state of Texas." In conjunction with its main campus in Ranger, the college maintains several satellite campuses across Erath County and Brown County, Texas. Ranger College provides dual-credit courses to over 40 area school districts.
Lon Morris College (LMC) was a private junior college located in Jacksonville, Texas, United States, and was the only school affiliated with the United Methodist Church that was owned by an individual conference and not the denomination as a whole. Lon Morris was an accredited two-year institute of higher learning, which provided instruction in the arts and sciences with a core curriculum emphasizing liberal arts. While Lon Morris taught as many as 350 students in a semester, enrollment reached more than 1,000, a new record, in the fall of 2009. The school was 30 miles (48 km) south of Tyler. The person who last held the title of college president was Dr. Miles McCall; he resigned effective May 24, 2012.
Joliet Junior College (JJC) is a public community college in Joliet, Illinois. Founded in 1901, it was the first public community college founded in the United States.
A dance squad or dance team, sometimes called a pom squad or song team, is a team that participates in competitive dance. A dance squad can also include: a jazz squad, ballet squad, or any kind of religion dance squad. Dance squads are a type of performance dance.
Metropolitan Community College is a public community college system in the U.S. state of Missouri. The system consists of four physical campuses in Kansas City, Independence, and Lee's Summit, as well as the MCC-Online campus. The campuses had a total enrollment of 13,376 for the fall semester of 2023. The college's athletic teams are known as the Wolves. It is not affiliated with Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska.
Laird Hill is an unincorporated community in northwestern Rusk County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 405 in 2000. It is located within the Longview, Texas metropolitan area.
Pine Tree High School is a suburban public high school located in the city of Longview, Texas, in Gregg County, United States and classified as a 4A school by the University Interscholastic League (UIL). It is a part of the Pine Tree Independent School District located in west central Gregg County. In 2013, the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency.
William Thomas "Will" Walls Jr. was an American football player and coach. He played professionally as an end for six seasons with the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He attended North Little Rock High School in North Little Rock, Arkansas, and played college football at Texas Christian University (TCU).
The Kilgore College Rangerettes, also known simply as the Rangerettes, are an American precision dance team from Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas, created by Gussie Nell Davis in 1939. The Rangerettes have performed in 74 Cotton Bowl game halftimes in a row, and make regular appearances at NFL pre-game and half-time shows for the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans. The Rangerettes perform at Kilgore College football games, and in many other athletic and special events, including the Cotton Bowl game, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and five presidential inaugurations. They have taken several world tours since the 1970s, including South America, the Far East, Romania, France, Canada, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, England, Scotland, and Ireland.
Gussie Nell Davis was an American teacher and choroegrapher best known as the founder of the Kilgore College Rangerettes, who in September 1940 became the first all-girls drill team to perform on a college football field with the forward vision of Miss Davis. The organization created a unique combination of dance moves and precision drills that quickly earned them the reputation not only as the originators of dance/drill teams, but also as the best in the world, with the highest kicks in the world. Known for their high kicks and the jump splits, the organization has traveled around the world, has entertained millions and spurred a multi-billion-dollar dance/drill team industry worldwide.
James Henry "Buddy" Miller was an American junior college football coach. He was the head football coach for Kilgore College from 1976 to 1991. He also coached for Corsicana High School, Jacksonville High School, Roy Miller High School, and Henderson High School.