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
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5 1
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
displeasure known. We “look with disfavor on the growing em-
phasis” to provide liberal arts courses at the expense of technical
training. Legislators passed a resolution criticizing the system.
The resolution declared that the state’s growth and economic
health depend on the continued industrial development and an
adequate supply of technically-trained people. In a veiled threat,
the legislature noted, too, that it has appropriated millions of dol-
lars for TEC facilities. “It appears there is a growing tendency to
convert tech centers into junior colleges, which offer non-tech-
nical training and college-type degrees, duplicating the curricula
of liberal arts colleges and universities in the state. The General
Assembly advises the State Board for Technical and Comprehen-
sive Education that the principal function of technical centers
was intended to provide technical education.”
In short, the lawmakers were looking out for the big univer-
sities. So what. Tom “Black Cat” Barton said the resolution was
part of an intensifying attack on technical institutions and their
two-year transfer programs. He fired back at one of the legisla-
tors behind the resolution. “Gordon needs to go back and read
the act that gave our local technical education board the right to
implement two-year college transfer programs on the Greenville
TEC campus. We plan to fight to keep what we’ve got.”
Newspapers across South Carolina voiced their opposition
to the centers’ movement toward community colleges. When
the Williamsburg TEC Area Commission announced a name
change was coming, the
Hemingway Weekly Observer
ran an
editorial, “What’s In A Name?” Dr. John Wynn, director of Wil-
liamsburg TEC from 1978 to 1994, said that after becoming
accredited, each TEC center had changed its name to include
“college.” He added there would be no change in the operation of
TEC, prompting Commission Chairman R. Cleo Fennell to say,
“People are generally motivated by anything that might affect
their egos. Human nature being what it is, people want to be as-
sociated with colleges.” The
Weekly Observer
responded, saying,
“So to dress up the center’s image; the name is to be changed.
Vanity, thy name is Manpower, no ... TEC, no ... Williamsburg
Technical College.”
