College of duPage

On Sept. 25, 1967, College of DuPage opened under the leadership of President Rodney K. Berg and Board of Trustees Chairman George L. Seaton. Classes were held in office trailers and at leased suburban sites throughout the newly formed Community College District 502. Driving from class to class, the students, faculty and staff of this “campus-less” community college became affectionately known as road runners, hence the school’s nickname, “Chaparrals.” College of DuPage’s origins can be traced to two signature events. First was the Illinois General Assembly adoption of the Public Community College Act of 1965. Second was the approval by DuPage high school district voters of a 1965 referendum. Their foresight created a new community college to serve the dynamically growing and prospering DuPage area. In 1968, a 273-acre Glen Ellyn campus site was acquired, and a year later, three interim buildings were constructed west of Lambert Road. The first permanent building, today’s Berg Instructional Center, opened in 1973. Four years later, the top floor of the BIC was completed. The year 1979 marked the appointment of Harold D. McAninch as College of DuPage’s second president, and in 1983 the Student Resource Center (SRC) and Physical Education and Community Recreation Center opened.