History of Oakland Community College

   Oakland Community College was established by passage of a district-wide ballot proposal on June 8, 1964. Under its provisions, the college was authorized to levy a permanent property tax of one mill to support operations. Governance of the new institution was lodged in a six (later changed to seven) member board of trustees elected at-large in a nonpartisan ballot by residents of the college district. The boundaries of the OCC district coincided with those of Oakland Schools, the county’s intermediate district, roughly matching the borders of Oakland County.
   The college began classes in September 1965, in adapted buildings at two newly purchased sites: the Auburn Hills Campus, a demobilized army missile base dating to the 1950s, and the Highland Lakes Campus, a former county tuberculosis sanitarium in Waterford built in the 1920s.
   In late 1964, the college purchased an undeveloped tract in Farmington Hills and quickly undertook an ambitious ten-building construction program on the site, which opened as the Orchard Ridge Campus in September 1967. Property was also acquired in Bloomfield Hills to establish a separate administrative center, which was completed in 1969.
   At the time of its launch in the fall of 1965, Oakland Community College set a national record for a community college opening semester enrollment – 3,860 students. Five years later enrollments had risen to 15,142.
   The decade of the 1970’s saw major growth, both in OCC’s student population and physical plant. At the Auburn Hills Campus seven principal structures were completed, including classroom buildings, an administrative center, a library and a student center. At. Highland Lakes, three new structures, a physical education facility, a student center and a science building, were built to supplement the three original buildings. Orchard Ridge added a large community activities building featuring an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
   Growing demand spurred the college to lease properties in the cities of Oak Park and Royal Oak in order to serve better the communities of the southeast quadrant, the most populous portion of the county. By the end of the decade, OCC’s student population had grown to 22,431 students attending day and night classes at five campus sites, as well as a large number of extension centers.
   The 1980s marked another major construction phase of the college with the opening of a business science and art building, a criminal justice complex and an advanced technology center at the Auburn Hills Campus. Highland Lakes completed an additional classroom building, and Orchard Ridge converted its outdoor amphitheater into a 450-seat enclosed center for the performing arts. In the southeast, operations were transferred from Oak Park to a new building constructed on property purchased in the City of Southfield.
   The southeast building program was completed in 1982 with the opening of a large enclosed campus in downtown Royal Oak containing classrooms, administrative offices, a library, a theater and extensive facilities for arts instruction.
   Finally, in 1987, a permanent center was established in leased facilities in downtown Pontiac to meet the educational needs of that community. By the fall of 1990, OCC’s student population had risen to 28,667, making it the largest of Michigan’s 28 community colleges – a position it continues to occupy.
   In January 1999, the State of Michigan announced the award of a $5 million grant to OCC for the construction of an M-TEC information technology training center at the Auburn Hills Campus. Ground was broken in July 1999, and the 38,500 square foot facility opened for business in June 2001.
   OCC completed the last phase of its Combined Regional Emergency Services Training (CREST) project in early 2004. Built on 22 acres at the Auburn Hills Campus, CREST is a mock town featuring paved roads, residences, a bank, a motel/hotel, gas station, convenience store, school building and a multi-story fire simulation facility. Designed as a setting for training first responders (law enforcement, fire and EMT personnel) in real-time emergency scenarios, CREST has become a national model for emergency services and anti-terrorist training.
   Having operated for three decades on the revenues generated by one mill, authorized at the time of its establishment, OCC embarked on a millage campaign in 1994, winning voter endorsement in June 1995. The proposal provides the college with an additional eight-tenths mill over a seven-year period. The-proposal was renewed for 10 years in 2001.
   The college had set renovation of an aging and deteriorated physical plant as its top priority, and a comprehensive reconstruction program encompassing all sites began as soon as the millage passed. Other stated objectives now being implemented include replacement and upgrades of instructional technology, institution of new programs with requisite staffing, and the expansion of scholarship opportunities.

LOGO (1965 to 1969)                                LOGO (1969 to 1994)

LOGO (1994 to Present)

LOGO (2005 to Present)