Wider Horizons

With Lethbridge College turning 60, it seems appropriate to reflect on the history of Lethbridge College. For this edition, we focus on the last 20 years.

Anniversaries encourage people and institutions to reflect on past achievements and hopes for the future. The college took the opportunity of its 50th anniversary in 2007 to renew a commitment to students and to refocus its mandate, changing its name (which had started as Lethbridge Junior College and changed to Lethbridge Community College) to Lethbridge College.

Becoming Lethbridge College was about so much more than a name change. It was about the evolution of the college and recognition of the diverse faces of the student body. When the college started, its primary focus was to serve Lethbridge and district students and it truly was a community college. By 2007, the college was serving students from around the world and a new name reflected that new reality. With the new name came a new vision which helped to enhance the identity of the college locally, provincially and nationally.

As one looks back, it also becomes clear that the college has always had the trades and technologies area as one of its main priorities. As a result, new programs have been introduced to ensure college graduates have the best possible skills. The Wind Turbine program was introduced in 2005 as the first of its kind in Canada. Considering the great growth in the wind turbine industry, both across southern Alberta and around the world, it would be fair to say that Lethbridge College wind turbine graduates have a brisk future ahead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The trades and technologies areas have also been enhanced with new facilities to help grow the programs. These state-of-the-art classrooms and labs will ensure students are provided the most up-to-date learning opportunities so they stay ready for challenges today and far into the future. It will be fascinating to see what the college and its students and graduates achieve in the next 20 years.

Who knows, perhaps 40 years from now, when the college is 100 years old, these new graduates will look back on their college years and see the important ways it shaped their lives, just as grads like Mark Campbell (Communication Arts 1975) does: “Going to Lethbridge College back in 1973 was the best decision I ever made in my life. It provided me with the groundwork for a career that I was able to sustain for over 40 years in Lethbridge.”

Do you have memories of the past 20 years to share? What do you think the future of Lethbridge College will be?


If you have a memory of the last 20 years of Lethbridge College’s history that you’d like to share, email WHMagazine@lethbridgecollege.ca or post your story and photos on the college’s social media channels:

We can’t wait to hear from you.

Wider Horizons
Story by Belinda Crowson, Galt Museum and Archives / Photos from Lethbridge College archives
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