1 0 2
| S C T E CHN I CA L CO L L E G E S Y S T EM ’ S
F I R S T 5 0 Y EAR S
NO TIME OUTS IN THE NAME GAME
The early 2000s brought programs and change. In 2001, Path-
ways to Prosperity addressed career clusters and curriculum
alignment. In January 2002, budget cuts began, a dark foreshad-
owing. Along with the state’s Education Lottery, Lottery Tuition
Assistance arrived August 2002. In 2003, the Palmetto Institute
identified the state’s industry clusters. And something monu-
mental happened that year: Spartanburg Technical College be-
came Spartanburg Community College.
The name controversy fermented into a heady brew. Dr. Den-
nis Merrell, York Technical College president from 1989 to 2006,
said the infusion of new blood stirred things up. “Some of the
‘outsider’ presidents wanted to bring what they knew best from
other states, and those ideas didn’t always find fertile soil among
the ‘good old boys and girls.’” Those veterans possessed about
300 years of collective experience in the tech system, and they
weren’t always eager to jump on ideas transported from what
many thought were less successful systems. “The name change
to ‘community college’ was one of those ideas often supported
by the ‘new guys,’” said Merrell. Growing the college transfer side
of the house was an idea that came from “outsider” presidents
according to Dennis Merrell.
“They wanted the arts, music, etc., and as it turned out, they
prettymuch got it at the expense of technical and trade programs.
For some—myself included—this was a change of mission. We
were moving away from our strong economic development fo-
cus into the world of liberal arts. All good and all needed, but not
the reason tech was created and certainly not the source of our
greatest political and community support.”
Dr. Jim Hudgins served as system president from 1999 to
2005 and remembers the Spartanburg name change. “I have great
heartache over my friend Dan Terhune (Spartanburg’s president)
who acted in his own self interest in Spartanburg and did not
accept a compromise, which would have been very appropriate.”
“Community college” reigned where Terhune came from, and
he didn’t cotton to “technical.”
“He came fromFlorida,” saidHudgins, “and wanted to be only
Spartanburg Community College. He was offered a compromise,
Spartanburg Community Technical College, and his delegation
Spartanburg Community College
The 2000s
F L Y I N G H I G H
