Triton College is a public two-year community college located in River Grove, Illinois, a suburb 12 miles (19Â km) northwest of the Chicago Loop. It serves students across many of the inner-ring western suburbs of Chicago in center-west Cook County, Illinois.
History
Junior College District 300 was voted into existence in a referendum in March 1964. In March 1965, a second referendum was passed approving the purchase of an 86 acres (34.8 ha) campus site at Fifth Avenue and Palmer Street in River Grove. The school was named Triton College in recognition of the three high school districts that it encompassed â€" Elmwood Park, Leyden, and Proviso Township. Triton College opened in September 1965 and held classes at several of the high schools in its district. About 1,200 students were enrolled, and full-time in-district tuition was US$5 per semester hour.
Construction on the permanent campus began in June 1967 with the Technology building and proceeded in phases. With the opening of the Learning Resource Center in 1974, the original campus plan was essentially complete, except for some athletic facilities and the Performing Arts Center, a large auditorium planned for the area now occupied by the soccer field, but never built. The original Cernan Space Center building, located north of the Learning Resource Center, was plagued by latent construction defects, and, after being used for several years, was demolished and replaced by the present building located nearby.
In 1972, another referendum was passed adding Oak Park and River Forest, Riverside Brookfield, and Ridgewood high school districts to the original three, forming Community College District 504. This district was expanded to its current size in 1974 by the addition of Rosemont and Pennoyer school districts. By 1975, enrollment had grown to nearly 20,000, in-district tuition had increased to US$11 per semester hour, and Triton had become the largest single-campus community college in Illinois. The campus was expanded by the acquisition of the North Avenue Drive-In theater, which closed in 1973. This area, designated the "East Campus" and located across Fifth Avenue from the original ("West") campus, was cleared and used mainly for the construction of athletic facilities, as well as a small auditorium as part of the Collins Center.
Campus
Triton College’s campus covers 100 acres (40.5 ha) and features electronic classrooms, labs, sports facilities, a library and bookstore, an art gallery and performing arts center, and the Cernan Earth and Space Center, which is a public planetarium. Recent renovations include the Health Sciences Building, The Student Services Building, and Symonds-Puckett field.
The campus is also the home of Triton Troupers Circus.
Organization and administration
The president of Triton College is Mary Rita Moore
Academic profile
Triton College facilitates accredited associate degrees for transfer, career-oriented learning opportunities, and English as a second language (ESL) and GED classes. Over 12,000 students enroll at Triton College each semester.
Rankings
In 2016, Triton College was ranked the top two-year college in Illinois and among the top in the United States according to salaries of its graduates.
Notable people
Alumni include baseball Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett, former Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs outfielder Lance Johnson, and former Chicago Cubs pitcher Tom Gorzelanny. Comedian Kathy Griffin attended the college in the late 1970s, although she did not finish. Jarvis Brown, former Major League Baseball outfielder who played for the Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, and Baltimore Orioles, won the World Series with the Twins, is an alumnus. Olympic wrestlers Michael Foy (1980â€"82) and Derrick Waldroup 1983-84 attended and wrestled for Triton college. NFL player Steve Parker also attended Triton. Derek Mitchell (1994-1995) played shortstop for Baseball Team USA in 1995. Illinois state legislators Linda Williamson and Greg Zito also went to Triton College.
References
External links
- Triton College website
