During the 1960s, with the community college movement at its height in Tennessee, Roane County residents united as never before to bring one of these new institutions to their community. Originating simply as a vision of local leaders, the college opened its doors in 1971 in an old elementary school building and a collection of temporary trailers. From this humble beginning, the college quickly grew, eventually into an institution consisting of ten campuses spread over nine counties which would educate hundreds of thousands of students over the ensuing decades.
This book tells the story of the first fifty years of Roane State Community College, from the movement to create it to the challenges it faces in the twenty-first century. Examining the campus culture and institutional history as experienced by leaders, employees, students, and community members, Roane State's place in the history of higher education is illustrated, as is the influence it has had on East Tennessee and beyond.