‘Founding Fathers’ meet on NW
Campus celebrates 25th anniversary
by Matt Skates, nw news editor

      “NW Campus wasn’t like this; I can tell you,” Dr. Leonardo de la Garza, chancellor, said during his opening remarks at NW Campus’ annual Founder’s Day ceremonies.
      The campus celebrated its 25th anniversary Wednesday, Sept. 20, with the dedication of the new Founders Garden on the south side of B Building.
      Special guests included both current and retired faculty and staff that were among the original members of the NW Campus family.
      Students and faculty listened to and honored faculty members who helped the NW Campus get started.
      Speakers included Dr. Laura Wood, chair of the 25th anniversary committee and professor of history and government; Dr. de la Garza, current chancellor; Dr. Michael Saenz, president of NW Campus; Mollie Newcom, English professor emeritus; Ron Morgan, assistant professor of health and physical education and Dr. Joe B. Rushing, chancellor emeritus. All were part of the initial NW Campus opening.
      Dr. Rushing, the first chancellor in the district, evoked many outbursts of laughter from the crowd as he told of his experiences at the donkey-powered ground breaking ceremonies.
      “It’s been a running joke that the team in front knew more than the team in the back,” he said.
      Teachers for NW Campus in 1975 were forced to teach in portable classrooms at local high schools. These primitive structures offered no plumbing of any kind.
      According to Newcom, “We used to tell everyone we were paying our taxes when we went to the bathroom because we used the bathrooms in the tax attorney’s building.”
      Physical education classes in the opening year, taught by Morgan, did much of their workouts on staircases.
      “Sometimes we would run on the football field, but I found it was hard to keep the students and the parents on task because they would talk to people they knew at the high school,” he said.
      Ceremonies concluded with the recognition of all the founding members.
      “We will come, we will go, and proudly so,” de la Garza said in conclusion to his speech.