Wallace Community College


Wallace Community College is a community college in Dothan, Alabama. The college enrolls 3,958 students and has been accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools since 1969. , the college has three campuses: the Wallace Campus and the Center for Economic and Workforce Development in Dothan, and the Sparks Campus in Eufaula.

History

Wallace Community College was established as the George C. Wallace State Technical Trade School under the Alabama Regional Trade School Act of 1947. Over the following years, the institution's name was changed, first to George C. Wallace State Vocational Trade School and then to George C. Wallace State Technical Junior College, finally being reorganized in 1969 as George C. Wallace State Community College. It was the first comprehensive community college in Southern Alabama.
In 1997, the Alabama Aviation and Technical College became part of WCC. However, in 2003, the Alabama Aviation and Technical College operations and the Mobile Aviation Center were transferred to Enterprise State Junior College to reflect that institution's growth as a community college. Sparks State Technical College had been founded in 1966 as Sparks State Technical School, being named after former Alabama Governor Chauncey Sparks; following a rename as Sparks State Technical Institute in 1968, it was accredited by the Council on Occupational Education until merging in 1999 with WCC. WCC is also associated with two foundations that provide financial support for its operations: the Wallace Community College Foundation, founded in 1992, and the Wallace Community College Sparks Campus Foundation, founded in 1991.
In his later years, former Attorney General Richmond Flowers, Sr., taught history at Wallace Community College. His attorney general service occurred during the first term of Governor George Wallace, but the two were intraparty political rivals. In 1966, Flowers lost the gubernatorial primary to Wallace's first wife and successor, Lurleen Burns Wallace, for whom the community college in Andalusia is named.

Athletics

WCC maintains a men's junior college baseball team affiliated with the Southern Conference and women's softball team.
Even though known as a men's junior college baseball school, back in 2001, the Wallace Community College Men's Basketball team won the AJCCC State Championship under coach Eddie Barnes and Assistant Coaches Philip M. Cassis and Tom Helmeyer. The team also made it to the NJCAA final four and finished third in the Nation. The baseball team is currently coached by former Major League Baseball catcher Mackey Sasser.