Remembering RCC’s first president, Henry Pete

Henry Pete recognized an incredible opportunity — for himself, but especially for the community — when he accepted the role of Rogue Community College’s first president in 1971. “It is not often in a person’s career that he has the opportunity to participate from the beginning in building an institution that is going to have the impact on an area that this new college will...

Wiseman had a heart of gold

The Wiseman Center, home to the Redwood Campus library, is named in honor of Lillian Alicia Wiseman, who lived from 1895 to 1983. In 1973, the retired seamstress gave an anonymous gift of $10,000 to Rogue Community College. She’d never even stepped on campus. She just wanted to help future students. This Jan. 12, 1977 article from the Grants Pass Daily Courier tells her inspiring...

Phil Nelson and Marjorie Holzgang

Volunteer, advocate, student: An RCC founder recalls ‘it’s all for the community’

In 1969, three people sat around a table with an idea—to transform the old Fort Vannoy Job Corps campus into a bustling center of higher education. Community leaders Bill Ford, Marjorie Holzgang and newcomer Phil Nelson—a local attorney, the youngest of the group—are credited today for founding Rogue Community College, a staple of Rogue Valley culture and opportunity. But imagine fifty years ago, when Jackson...

TP Trucking wraps truck in RCC student’s design

On Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11, 2020, TP Trucking unveiled a new truck design created by Rogue Community College student Wrenn Arbouin. Arbouin’s winning design was chosen from dozens of other designs submitted by students in RCC’s Design & Digital Media program.  TP Trucking, a short and long haul trucking company based in Central Point, created the design contest as part of its campaign to honor and support...

Ron Goss receives prestigious Cutler Award

Rogue Community College Small Business Development Center Director Ron Goss was announced this week as the recipient of the 2020 Cutler Award from the Oregon SBDC Network. The award is among the highest honors an SBDC director can receive for services to Oregon businesses and the Oregon SBDC network.  “I doubt that there are many businesses in Oregon that haven’t in some way benefited from...

Jason Meyer

Racing Toward Success | RCC helps motorsports entrepreneur design a new future

Jason Meyer has been racing dirt bikes since he was 14 years old. A self-proclaimed “dirt bike nut,” he built an award-winning custom Honda CR500 in 2010, which was featured in two magazines and over a dozen industry websites around the world. And that was just the start. “Building my own bike fulfilled a dream of mine,” Jason said. He remembers being the oldest and...

Jennifer Stover

Choose Your Future | RCC graduate overcomes a difficult history to achieve unthinkable dreams

Trucks aren’t just for boys. Jennifer Stoker can testify. As a graduate of RCC’s Manufacturing/Engineering Technology program, this no-nonsense mom of four spends her workdays at Hassell Fabrication in Ashland making truck beds for some of the largest semis on the road. And she loves every minute of it. “I chose manufacturing because I wanted to do some hands-on work and employ my creative side...