Oakland Community College

Planning and development In August 1960, an advisory council, consisting of 85 citizens from Macomb , Monroe , Oakland, St. Clair , Washtenaw , and Wayne counties, published a report calling for the establishment of five community colleges across the six-county region. A similar commission of Oakland County residents echoed this need in a June 1962 report, which recommended the construction of three campuses across the county, funded by a millage . A proposed 1-mill tax appeared on the June 1963 ballot, along with referendums to establish OCC and a board of trustees; the latter two were approved by voters, but the tax to fund the college was not. The three issues appeared on ballots again a year later in June 1964, when all three were approved. [ 6 ] With revenue secured, the newly established Board of Trustees acquired three campus sites, and hired John Tirrell, of the St. Louis Junior College District , as OCC's first president. The first site was a disused Nike missile base in Pontiac Township (now Auburn Hills ), purchased from the National Bank of Detroit for $247,000. Though the surroundings were sparsely populated, the site was chosen for its proximity to I-75 and M-59, as well as its existing barracks, which could easily be converted to house classrooms. With a similar plan, the Board then purchased a second site, the disused Oakland County Tuberculosis Sanitarium in Waterford , and promptly began renovations. Amid public concerns that the former hospital's use for classes could pose a health risk to students, Tirrell commissioned the county's health department to inspect it; once it was cleared, he famously declared that the campus would be "as safe as your living room." [ 7 ] Renovations to both campuses were completed in time for OCC to welcome its first students in September 1965. [ 6 ]

Following two days of orientations, classes commenced at both campuses, dubbed Auburn Hills and Highland Lakes, on September 11, 1965. 3,860 students attended OCC during its first semester, exceeding projections, and setting a record for the largest opening enrollment of any community college in the United States. That December, ground was broken on OCC's third campus, named Orchard Ridge, in Farmington Township . Designed by a consortium of Perkins & Will and Detroit-based Giffels and Rosetti, the Brutalist campus was inspired by similar colleges in California, and reportedly won a 1966 award from the American Association of Architects. [ 8 ] The campus opened in phases from 1967 to 1968.

From OCC's inception, the campuses' locations spurred controversy: their placement in the outer suburbs to the north and west made them inaccessible to the more densely populated areas in the southeast of Oakland County. As early as 1966, plans were made to establish a fourth campus near Royal Oak. In 1980, a new campus opened in Southfield that replaced a temporary location in Oak Park . Later, the Southeast Campus System expanded through the purchase and remodeling of buildings at a site in Royal Oak . The Royal Oak buildings were replaced by a new campus complex which opened in the fall of 1982. [ 3 ]

In November 2022, OCC, citing declining enrollment and a changing job market, announced a three-year plan to fundamentally restructure and consolidate operations. The plan will see the complete closure of the Highland Lakes campus in the fall of 2026, [ citation needed ] as well as the closure and sale of the Bee Administration Center, with administrative offices relocating to the campuses. It will also include the relocation of health sciences programs to Orchard Ridge (from Highland Lakes and Southfield), and culinary programs from Orchard Ridge to a new culinary studies institute at Royal Oak, plus the renovation of the CREST training center and a new skilled trades and industrial technology center at Auburn Hills. [ 9 ]