Grayson College is a public

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

Grayson County, Texas Grayson County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 135,543. The county seat is Sherman. The county was founded in 1846 and is named after Peter Wagener Grayson, an attorney general of the Republ ...

. The main campus is in Denison and it has branch campuses in Denison (west extension, at the site of the old

Perrin Air Force Base Perrin Air Force Station (ADC ID: RP-78, NORAD ID: Z-78) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located southeast of North Texas Regional Airport, Texas. It was closed in 1969. History Perrin Air Force ...

) and Van Alstyne (south campus).

History

In February 2007, Grayson's board of trustees called for a $44,790,000 bond election to expand and improve the existing campus, which was held in May and the referendum passed. This was Grayson's first bond election since the one called to create the campus in the 1960s. Among other things, $25.7 million was devoted to a new career and technical center on the east campus, moving these facilities from their current west campus location.

Campus

The main campus is located in Denison, with a branch campus in Van Alstyne. The main campus (consisting of the east campus and the west extension) is in a rural setting near North Texas Regional Airport. The east campus is all new construction and houses the administration; the west extension is composed mainly of buildings left over by the former

, including and vineyards which carry on the work of famed horticulturalist and Denison resident

Thomas Volney Munson Thomas Volney Munson (September 26, 1843 – January 21, 1913), often referred to simply as T.V. Munson, was a horticulturist and breeder of grapes in Texas. In 1888, Munson was the second American, after Thomas Edison, to be named a Chevalier ...

(previously, an 18-hole golf course existed on the campus, but was closed ).

Organization and administration

The college president is J.P. McMillen. As defined by the

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful a ...

, the official service area of Grayson includes all of Grayson County and territory within the following school districts in Fannin County: Bonham, Dodd City,

Ector Ector can refer to: * A variation of the name Hector * Ector, a city in Fannin County, Texas * Ector County, Texas * Sir Ector, King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of ...

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin '' L ...

Sam Rayburn Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Sa ...

, Trenton, Whitewright and Wolfe City.

Academics

Grayson offers

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

s in over 25 areas of study, and operates in partnership with

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on S ...

to offer selected bachelor's degrees online, with student counseling provided by GC. One of Grayson's unique offerings is in

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ra ...

and enology, housed on the west campus which also houses the work of Denison resident T.V. Munson, whose work in viticulture saved France's wine industry during the

Great French Wine Blight The Great French Wine Blight was a severe blight of the mid-19th century that destroyed many of the vineyards in France and laid waste to the wine industry. It was caused by an aphid that originated in North America and was carried across the A ...

Athletics

The college athletics teams are nicknamed the Vikings. Grayson competes in the

North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference The North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference (NTJCAC) is a junior college athletic conference for many technical and community colleges in the state of Texas, sponsored by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Conference ...

of the

NJCAA 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 ...

, and offers athletic scholarships in baseball and softball.

Notable people

Andy LaRoche Andrew Christian LaRoche (born September 13, 1983) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland Athletics, and Toronto Blue Jays. L ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

with the

Sugar Land Skeeters The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston metr ...

. *

John Lackey John Derran Lackey (born October 23, 1978) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 2002 through 2017 for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and ...

, former

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

. * Steven Okert, baseball pitcher

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Grayson County, Texas Community colleges in Texas Education in Fannin County, Texas Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools NJCAA athletics Education in Grayson County, Texas Educational institutions established in 1965 1965 establishments in Texas Bibliographic Association of the Red River