Kellogg Community College will celebrate its origin as Battle Creek Community College with the dedication of a state historical marker that commemorates the birth of the institution in 1956.
The dedication ceremony will begin at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, on the north lawn of Battle Creek Central High School on Calhoun Street, near where the first college classes were held. The ceremony will include the unveiling of a newly engraved Michigan Historical Marker and musical performances by the Battle Creek Central High School Bearcat Marching Band Drum Line as well as the Kellogg Singers from KCC.
Speakers will include former faculty and students of KCC as well as public officials from the college, school district, city of Battle Creek and state of Michigan.
During the event, presenters will salute Harry Davidson, former superintendent of BCPS, and Emory Morris, former president of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, both of whom were integral to the creation and early life of Battle Creek Community College.
“We are enormously proud of our history as an institution built by the community and for the community and we are delighted to permanently honor our beginning with this State Historical Marker,” said Dr. Dennis Bona, president of KCC. “We hope this marker reminds people that the college, the local schools and the people of Battle Creek have a strong partnership that was forged in a commitment to higher education.”
Speakers at the Oct. 14 dedication are expected to include Russell Mawby, Jack Mawdsley, Linda Hicks, Reggie LaGrand, Susan Baldwin, Tom Truscott, Elizabeth Neumeyer, Sidney DeBoer, John Cerva, Tom Carpenter, Gary Cantrell and Dennis Bona.