History

Temple College - Then and Now

The Dream - The Beginning

Original Temple Junior College Building

Temple Junior College was founded in 1926 in response to the need for a postsecondary institution in Temple. The college is a result of the joint efforts of civic, business and educational leaders. In the early years, the college was operated by the public school system. Classes were held in the basement of the old Temple High School building. As the student body grew, so did the need for a permanent campus. A separate junior college district was established in 1955, enabling the college to build a new facility. The college moved to its present location in south Temple in 1957.

Temple College has traditionally offered pre-professional courses leading to degrees in medicine, law, education, engineering, and similar fields as well as more general academic courses that enable students to transfer to four-year institutions for baccalaureate degrees. The technical program of the college expanded with the opening of the Watson Technical Center in 1967. In recent years, a wide variety of credit and non-credit classes, programs and workshops have been offered through the Business and Continuing Education Division. Temple College became a leader in education for health professions with the opening of a new Health Sciences Center and Clinical Simulation Center in 2004.

With an enrollment of about 5,000 students, the college is large enough to maintain a flexible and varied program. It is, at the same time, small enough to provide students with opportunities for the development of leadership abilities. Small class size makes possible a close personal relationship between students and their instructors.

Making The Dream A Reality

Temple Junior College becomes Temple College

In 1996, the name of the college was changed to Temple College to reflect its role as a comprehensive college, offering transfer programs, technical education, community education, career and workforce training, and cultural activities. The college now offers day and evening classes; technical and workforce training; on-campus, online, hybrid, and web-enhanced courses; and continuing education classes.

The campus in Temple now exceeds 108 acres, including 27 buildings. The University Courtyard Apartments provide apartment-style student housing and the Temple College Apartments provide housing for low-income student families. Both facilities are located on the east side of the Temple campus.

The Danny Scott Sports Complex includes a gymnasium, fitness center, baseball and softball fields, and an intramural field.

 

Temple Colleges Early Football Team

At the college’s beginning in 1926, the yearbook and other aspects of school’s identity focused on Knights Templar, a variation of the city’s name that conjured up images of medieval nobility, bravery and valor. However, with the transition from a private college to oversight of the Temple public school system, Temple College students sought a new mascot.


The basketball team in early January 1928 first adopted the name “Leopards” as the team mascot. They considered the large feline a more fitting image for their stealthy court dunks than knights in clunky armor. The name stuck, especially as part of a boyish flirtation with a comely cheerleader. In late 1928, Harry E. “Hal” Jackson II (1911-1980) presented a ginger-furred tabby kitten to Mary Alice Reaves, leader of the college’s pep squad, to be the cheer squad’s mascot: Kitten. Orange. Spots. The Leopards’ mascot and school colors were born. To complete the transformation, sports teams and cheerleaders wore orange wool sweaters emblazoned with black leopard’s heads. By the opening of the 1928-29 fall football season, the Leopards marched on the gridiron, ready to claw
their way to victory.

Temple College Expands

Temple College also operates at several off-campus locations. In the fall of 1997, the Temple College Taylor Center opened in the historic area of Taylor to serve the increasing educational and workforce training needs of Williamson and surrounding counties. In fall 2007 Temple College, in partnership with Taylor Independent School District (ISD) and Hutto ISD, began operation of the Legacy Early College High School. Temple College is the lead institution of the East Williamson County Higher Education Center (EWCHEC), a multi-institutional teaching center. EWCHEC was established in 2007 to bring higher education and workforce opportunities to rural residents in Williamson County. In 2011, EWCHEC expanded to include a center in Hutto. After initially being housed at the Veteran’s Hills Elementary School, a permanent EWCHEC-Hutto facility opened in fall 2013. See EWCHEC for more information.

EWCHEC Building in Hutto
EWCHEC-Hutto

 

Texas Bioscience Institute

TBI Building in Temple

The Texas Bioscience Institute (TBI), located on the Scott and White West Campus, opened in the fall of 2006. Temple College took a leadership role in developing the TBI’s innovative educational model, which offers STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) based programs to promote a skilled and knowledgeable medical and biotechnology workforce in Central Texas. Texas Bioscience Institute programs serve high school students, transitioning military personnel, military dependents, displaced workers, and other certificate, associate or bachelor’s degree-seeking students. In January 2006, the TBI received a Middle College designation which allows dual credit learners to be enrolled in more than two dual credit classes per semester. In 2013, the TBI received the Star Award which recognizes exceptional contributions toward meeting one or more of the goals of Closing the Gaps by 2015, the Texas higher education plan adopted in 2000.

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