Kellogg Community College will mark its 70th birthday with a public celebration at noon Thursday, Sept. 17, in the Student Center on the College’s North Avenue campus in Battle Creek. All KCC students, employees, retirees and members of the general public are invited to attend.
Sept. 17, 2026, will be 70 years to the day since the College’s founding on Sept. 17, 1956, when it first opened its doors as the Battle Creek Community College.
The brief gathering will include remarks from KCC officials regarding KCC’s seven decades of history before attendees join in a mass singing of “Happy Birthday.” The College will then cut and serve pieces of a five-tier birthday cake made by Continental Pastries & Deli of Battle Creek.
Commemorative coins and books also will be available that day for a donation of $19.56 to the KCC Foundation.
“Seventy years is a major milestone and we want to celebrate it in a fun, traditional way by throwing a birthday party and inviting our whole community,” said Eric Greene, Vice President for Communications and Advancement at KCC. “This is a moment in time, but it’s part of a year’s worth of activities honoring the origins of the College while looking ahead to its future.”
The birthday cake celebration is one of several ways KCC is observing its 70th anniversary throughout the 2026-27 academic year. The yearlong celebration will include articles on KCC’s history in the College’s quarterly BruIN magazine and special anniversary banners displayed around its campuses. The College’s birthday also will be woven into the annual Bruin Blast event for students on Sept. 16, a celebration of arts and sculpture tour on Oct. 1, the dedication of the newly renamed Sojourner Truth Building in February, a concert featuring KCC’s bands and choirs in April and the installation of a bronze bear sculpture on campus.
The celebration offers the campus and community a chance to reflect on KCC’s history and its ongoing role in providing accessible higher education throughout the Battle Creek area and across the College’s service area of Calhoun, Barry and Branch counties.
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