For more information, contact Michael Dawes, 620-792-9307, dawesm@bartonccc.edu

Aug. 17, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Story by: Michael Dawes
dawesm@bartonccc.edu

Among the elder statesmen who comprised the Board of Trustees for Barton Community College when the start-up college was being planned more than 40 years ago were two young leaders of the community. Dean Wells and Dr. Jerry Schrader, both in their mid-to-late 30s at the time, weren't original Board members, but they replaced two of the original members and were involved at the ground-breaking level of forming the new college.

Both men were raised in the area, Wells graduating a few years ahead of Schrader from Great Bend High School. Wells, an independent oil driller from Ellinwood, joined the Board in July 1966; Schrader, a Great Bend veterinarian, followed a year later.

Wanting to maintain representation from Ellinwood, then Board Chairman Joe Mermis asked Wells to consider serving as replacement to John Cragun, who had recently left the Board. Wells accepted and was appointed to the position; he won election the following year.

"I was interested in the new college," said Wells who graduated from the University of Kansas where he played football and basketball for the Jayhawks. "I thought it was a tremendous way to economize for our kids to go to school. I was impressed with the professionalism and level of teaching. There were no undergraduates teaching freshmen and sophomores. Barton instructors were required to have master's degrees. I thought for the cost and the quality that our kids would get a better education with the new college."

For Schrader, it was his zest for academia and his connection to the land where Barton was to be built that prompted him to pursue a position on the Board in 1967. He defeated original Board member Jack Goodman in the April election to earn the spot. Schrader graduated from veterinary school a decade earlier. For many years, he, his father and grandfather had leased and farmed most of the 160 acres, then owned by Lee Dodge, that eventually became Barton County Community Junior College.

"Before the College went up there, I could tell you every crook and cranny and every gully and everything else on that piece of land," explained Schrader. "I was familiar with the whole layout; it was tied in to me by virtue of history. I hadn't graduated from Kansas State University too long before that either, so my thoughts were strongly academic at that time. I thought, this was a chance to do some good for the community and I thought I would enjoy doing it, so I ran for the position."

There was much to do for the Trustees before and after ground was broken on Nov. 21, 1967. They worked with architects who designed the plans for buildings. They also worked closely with first Barton President C.O. Robinson to establish curriculum and decide priorities for getting the College up and running in a time-span of a few years.

Wells gives Robinson much of the credit for leading the College in the right direction during those start-up years. The 41-year-old president, who was nicknamed Otis, came to Barton in February 1966 from Missouri Southern College in Joplin where he had served as a dean.

"We started with just a bare ground out there, but we had a good plan and a heck of a president who was very progressive," remembered Wells. "We let Otis Robinson run the thing. He did as much as anybody for the College as far as one individual in those early years."

Even a solid plan, progressive leadership and six Trustees committed to the cause couldn't prevent set-backs, delays and compromises, however. In May 1967, the Board rejected all bids for construction of the first three campus buildings and ordered architects to revise the plans for all seven campus buildings because the bids came in considerably higher than funds were available for the new campus. That move caused a delay of Barton's opening by a year with the original date scheduled for September 1968.

"It's like anything of significance; it was two steps forward and one back," remembered Schrader. "When you make those schedules, you understand that it is something made to be broken at some point. We didn't get excited or upset about things. It's something we knew was going to be time consuming. We took it slow and were deliberate. We didn't want to rush it, we just wanted to get it as right as human beings can."

Only three buildings were operational as the College prepared to enroll its first students, the Library, Technical Building and Science and Math Building. Expecting about 500 students, administrators and trustees were surprised when 853 students enrolled in the new college that first fall semester.

"It like the light bulb came on and we knew we got it right," said Schrader about Barton's higher-than-expected first enrollment.
Today, Barton serves more than 13,000 students annually; the College offers dozens of course options in various formats at its Barton and Fort Riley Campuses, its outreach locations and its leadership training facility at Camp Aldrich.

"I'm surprised at how much enrollment has increased," said Wells, who served on the Board 13 years. "It's just amazing. It makes me feel good about our community. It is saying something with numbers like that."

"I take great satisfaction having a part in the College's beginning," said Schrader, who served on the Board six years.

"We started small, but it didn't take us long to grow. That's the normal progression you hope for if you are going to be successful, and I think the College has been successful, very much so."

Early Leaders - Board of Trustees pictured in 1969 front row, Dean Wells, Dr. Jerry Schrader, Robert Branan. Back row: Richard McGrath and J.H. "Joe" Mermis. Not pictured George Murdy.

PHOTO from Barton Archives

Dean Wells stands in the living room of his home in Great Bend. An independent oil man who specialized in drilling and producing, Wells sold his rig and retired from the industry a few decades ago.

PHOTO: Michael Dawes

PHOTO: Michael Dawes