Sunday, March 01, 2009
Chris Craddock, spokesman for Kilgore College, compiled information about his college.
Name: Kilgore College
Location: Kilgore
Institution's roots: Henry Foster, superintendent of Longview Independent School District, wanted to see a junior college built in Longview (the county seat) and suggested that W.L. Dodson would be a good president.
In 1934, Foster suggested a college be created in Longview that would include the entire county in the district, giving the school tax money from all the oil wells in Gregg County, especially from Kilgore, which had more producing wells at the time. Dodson believed the college should be in Kilgore, where the greatest source of revenue was at the time, and presented the idea of establishing Kilgore College to the Kilgore ISD board in April of 1935, which was well received.
Opened: Sept. 13, 1935
Number of students then: 229, mostly from Kilgore and surrounding towns, but two students from out of state.
Number of students now: 5,550
Majors offered then: Unknown. Afternoon classes met at Kilgore High School when regular school was dismissed at 3:30 p.m.
Number of majors offered now: 138
Number of teachers employed then: 11
Number of teachers employed now: 147
Campus size then: 7 acres
Campus size now: About 60 acres at the main campus
Number of buildings then: None that belonged to Kilgore Junior College. Morning classes of English, history, language, math and education met in the First Baptist Church. A two-story administration building with a gymnasium/auditorium in the rear of the building was built in 1936..
Number of buildings now: 35 at the Kilgore campus
Sports offered then: Football
Sports offered now: Football, men's and women's basketball.
Tuition then: $2.50/credit hour in district and $3/credit hour for out-of-district
Tuition now: In-district tuition - $21; out-of-district tuition - $21; non-resident tuition - $53
President then: W.L. Dodson
President now: William Holda since August 1996
