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| S C T E CHN I CA L CO L L E G E S Y S T EM ’ S
F I R S T 5 0 Y EAR S
The 1970s
A M O D E L F O R T H E N A T I O N E M E R G E S
DISFAVOR, DISCORD AND DREAMS
Nothing succeeds like success. In the 1970s, the land of aban-
doned textile mills and dormant fields was turning governors’
heads. Businesses came to the state where a midnight blue flag
flaunts a white palmetto. Hollings’ dream of mobilizing South
Carolinians and bringing new industries to the state was now a
reality. Technical colleges were transferring credit for students
wishing to attend large universities. By the end of the 1970s, the
tech centers were student magnets, but their magnetism came
with a price.
House members felt the centers were drifting from their high-
ly successful technical training courses. Lawmakers made their
Getting through to young people was always on his mind.
Prior to the days of sophisticated video programs, his best au-
dio-visual aid was a slide program. “Then this new thing, a dis-
solve unit, came out, and you could have two projectors going.
We dreamed up an idea about a slide show that would really
bring students in.”
Russell based his presentation on a popular movie of the day,
Easy Rider. Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda rode motorcycles
to the soundtrack of Steppenwolf ’s “Born to be Wild.”
“We got a couple of motorcyclists to go to Greenwood State
Park and photographed them riding motorcycles down the state
park road, finally driving up on the Piedmont Tech campus.”
Slides dissolved in and out to “Born to be Wild.” The program
ran 15 minutes long. Ten minutes were devoted to “Born to be
Wild’s” men on motorcycles. Piedmont Tech got just five min-
utes. “Dr. Walters wasn’t happy,” said Russell, “but it worked. We
had some pretty good years enrollment-wise.”
Piedmont Tech didn’t offer motorcycle safety courses or
training for Harley-Davidson employees back then, but Rus-
sell’s “Easy Rider” undoubtedly changed lives. People
remember Russell to this day. “Occasionally, I bump
into somebody who will say, ‘I remember when
you were an admissions counselor at Piedmont
Technical College in Greenwood. You helped
me get into the right program, and it made
all the difference in my life.’ For me, that was
really it. Helping people get into programs
and find careers.”
Russell worked with Dr. Lex Walters, one
of the “boy presidents.” “Lex was probably 28
or 29 when he became president at Piedmont Tech,
and I worked with him and Dr. Jim Hudgins, so I
got to know some of the real leadership in the state.
They greatly influenced me. I’m the most fortunate
person in the world to have discovered a career that
let me fulfill my dreams.”
