JACKSON, Wyo. — A large crowd gathered Thursday afternoon to commemorate the opening of Central Wyoming College’s (CWC) Jackson campus along High School Road.
Buckrail photographer Nick Sulzer was there to capture the festivities.
The afternoon began with a welcome and a prayer by Wyoming House Rep. and CWC Tribal Education Coordinator Ivan Posey. He noted that in an 1868 treaty, this land was offered to the Shoshone Tribe, “but they said it was too much snow. I always tell people, ‘If we’d kept it, I would be skiing right now.'”
Next up was a brief speech by Gov. Mark Gordon to mark the occasion.
“This center is going to provide educational opportunities for a broad spectrum of students,” he said, adding, “At the end of 50 years of presence here, Central Wyoming College finally has a campus that we can watch grow and expand. … Let’s see how it goes. God bless Wyoming.”
State Sen. Mike Gierau’s remarks followed, which included, “Welcome home!” He explained how the $24 million project was funded, which included two rounds of voting in favor of specific purpose excise tax measures.
CWC received $3.82 million in 2017 to purchase a 2-acre parcel on West High School Road and to begin design and engineering plans. Then in 2022, the county voted to send $10 million to be used for construction of the campus. Other funding has come from the state and federal level, as well as private donations.
After Sen. Gierau spoke, CWC President Brad Tyndall took the stage to express his gratitude.
“Think about what this means for the students,” Tyndall said. “They walk through this door, there’s a real place to study, there’s a place to commune with others. They discover their talents, they prepare for careers, they dream of a different future. As we say in our mission statement, we transform lives.”
Tyndall was joined by Gov. Gordon and other state, county and town officials to declare the building open.
The facility includes academic classrooms, a commercial teaching kitchen, nursing simulation and clinical skills laboratories, science laboratories, health care classrooms, a computer lab, student study areas, gathering spaces, faculty offices and more. CWC noted in its event announcement that the facility was designed to double the capacity of its nursing program and triple the capacity for its culinary program.
