Chipola College is a

public college A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

Marianna, Florida Marianna is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Florida, United States, and it is home to Chipola College. The population was 6,102 at the 2010 census. In 2018 the estimated population was 7,091. The official nickname of Marianna is ...

. It is part of the

Florida College System The Florida College System, previously the Florida Community College System, is a system of 28 public community colleges and state colleges in the U.S. state of Florida. In 2013-14, enrollment consisted of more than 813,000 students. Together w ...

History

The school was founded in 1947 as Chipola Junior College; its name was changed in 2003 after the college developed several

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

programs.

Campus

The college was named for the

Chipola River The Chipola River is a tributary of the Apalachicola River in western Florida. It is part of the ACF River Basin watershed. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1 ...

, which is located less than a mile from the campus. In 2012, the school opened a $16 million, 56,000 square foot center for the arts, including two theaters.

Academics

The college offers degree programs leading to the award of Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees, as well as Bachelor of Science degrees in Business, Education, and Nursing.

Student life

The

Brain Bowl Brain Bowl is an academic competition in which Florida Community College teams are pitted against one another. Teams consist of up to six players, only four of whom play at any given time. A moderator reads questions from four subject areas incl ...

team has won nine state championships and three national championships under coach Stan Young and assistant coach Robert Dunkle.

Sports

The school is noted for its athletic program, which competes in the

Panhandle Conference The Panhandle Conference is a conference within the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 8. The conference consists of four state colleges and one community college located in Florida. Members Member institutions are Chipo ...

of the

Florida State College Activities Association Florida College System Activities Association Incorporated (FCSAA) is the governing body for all extracurricular activities of the member schools of the Florida College System. Activities include athletics, Brain Bowl, forensics, music, publicati ...

, a body of the

National Junior College Athletic Association The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

Region 8.

Baseball

The baseball program counts among its alumni former Texas Rangers manager

Buck Showalter William Nathaniel "Buck" Showalter III (born May 23, 1956) is an American professional baseball manager for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he served as manager of the New York Yankees (1992–1995), Arizona Diamondb ...

and

World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Leagu ...

standout

Adam Loewen Adam Alexander Loewen (born April 9, 1984) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher and outfielder. He pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles from 2006 to 2008, before converting to a position player and playin ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

third baseman

Mat Gamel Mathew Lawrence Gamel (born July 26, 1985) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball for the Milwaukee Brewers across the 2008 through 2012 seasons. Once considered among the best prospects in ...

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

outfielder

José Bautista José Antonio Bautista Santos (born October 19, 1980), nicknamed "Joey Bats", is a Dominican special advisor for the general manager of the Leones del Escogido and former professional baseball right fielder and third baseman. He played in Majo ...

, and Los Angeles Dodgers

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

Russell Martin.

Basketball

The men's basketball program was once home to

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

standout Chris Porter,

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

player Mario Boggan,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

' Jesse Pate, Missouri's Stefhon Hannah, and Indiana's JaMarcus Ellis and DeAndre Thomas. The men's basketball program has won more state basketball championships under one coach (seven for Milton H. Johnson) and in total (nine) than any other junior-college basketball program in Florida. In the 2003–2004 and 2004–05 seasons, it finished fifth and third in the nation respectively and, in 2005, received its first-ever No. 1 national ranking. In 2004–2005, the basketball program won state championships in both men's and women's basketball. The women's basketball team repeated its state championship in 2005–2006, finishing fourth in the nation. In 2006–2007, the men's and women's teams both won the state championship. To finish the 2007 season, the men's program finished 33–3 with a runner-up finish in the NJCAA National Championship game. During that season, the Indians were ranked #1 in the national poll for 10 straight weeks.

Notable alumni

References

External links

* {{Authority control Education in Jackson County, Florida Educational institutions established in 1947 Florida College System Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools 1947 establishments in Florida NJCAA athletics