Jim Haun, instructor, and student Zach Paine

Under the Hood

There was a time, not so very long ago, when people could do a lot of the work on their own cars. Today, however, the average car is run by dozens of computers that control almost every function of our vehicles.

Prison guard watch tower

Opportunity Behind Bars

Hayden Hamilton is 26 years old. In recent years he has obtained his G.E.D., a two-year degree in Welding Technology from WWCC, and will graduate this year with a certificate in CNC, writing computer numeric code for machining metal parts.

WWCC's Global Reach Image

WWCC’s Global Reach

The first international students arrived at WWCC in 1978. In that year Charles Cottingham was the Director of Admissions and Registrar. As he remembers it, “Our college president, Pete Dietrich, wanted to increase diversity at the school, and told me ‘We need to recruit some international students to give our students, who are mostly Caucasian, an idea of another way of life.’”

50th anniversary logo

Getting Down to Business

There’s serious business and there’s monkey business. Sometimes the two overlap and intertwine. In 1978 Walla Walla Community College got serious about business, opening its Center for Management Development, then launching the Small Business Management Program in 1979.

50th anniversary logo

Growing Higher Education

Walla Walla has many sources of pride, but this year our community college rises to the top of the list. September 19 is the 50th anniversary of the opening of the school that the Aspen Institute named one of the best community colleges in the nation.