Gulf Coast State 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 ...

Panama City, Florida Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee and Pensacola. It is the more populated city of the Panama City–Lynn Ha ...

. 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 ...

and offers the Associate of Arts degree, Associate of Science degree, certificates, and as of 2011, bachelor's degrees.

History

The institution was founded in 1957 by the

Florida Legislature The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Cons ...

. On January 13, 2011, the college was renamed Gulf Coast State College. The school had previously been named Gulf Coast Community College as well as Gulf Coast Junior College.About the name change
/ref> In 1966,

Rosenwald Junior College Rosenwald Junior College, located in Panama City, Florida, opened its doors in 1958. It was one of eleven black junior colleges founded in the late 1950s at the initiative of the Florida Legislature. Since racial integration in schools was prohibi ...

was merged with Gulf Coast Junior College.

Campus

The main college campus is in

, with other campuses in Southport, Port St. Joe, and at Tyndall Air Force Base.

Organization and administration

The college is a member institution of the

. Its president is John Holdnak, Ed.D. President Holdnak is its sixth, having assumed that position in June, 2014. A District Board of Trustees oversees the administration of the college.

Academics

Gulf Coast State College offers associate and bachelor's degrees.

Student life

Athletics

Gulf Coast State College Athletic teams are nicknamed the

Commodores Commodores are an American funk and soul band, which were at their peak in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in ...

and participate in men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, men's baseball, women's

, women's

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, and women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. The school's athletic teams compete 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.

Notable people

* Daniel Davidson - Former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher *

Tony Dawson Antonio Ray Dawson (born August 25, 1967) is a retired American professional basketball player. At a height of 6'7" (2.01 m) tall, and a weight of 220 lb. (100 kg), he played at the small forward position. High school Dawson was born ...

- Former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player *

Vontrell Jamison Vontrell Jamison (born July 26, 1982 in Holly Hill, South Carolina) is a former American football defensive end who played in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the New York Dragons in the Arena Football ...

- Former NFL player *

Smoke Laval Raymond Peter "Smoke" Laval (born December 20, 1955) is an American college baseball coach who was the head coach of the University of North Florida Ospreys. He is a former head coach of the Louisiana State University Tigers and the University o ...

- College baseball coach of Louisiana–Monroe,

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, and

North Florida North Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regions. It includes Jacksonville and near ...

* Frank Menechino - Former

infielder for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

and the

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 ...

Michael Papajohn Michael Papajohn (born November 7, 1964) is an American character actor, stuntman and former college baseball player for the LSU Tigers baseball team. He played Dennis Carradine in Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man'' trilogy. Early life Papajohn wa ...

- American actor, stuntman, and college baseball player *

Jimmy Patronis Jimmy Theo Patronis Jr. (born April 13, 1972) is an American politician serving as the chief financial officer of the state of Florida. He was previously a member of the Florida House of Representatives representing the 6th district, which includ ...

Chief Financial Officer of Florida The chief financial officer of Florida is an elected statewide constitutional officer of Florida. The office was created in 2002 following the 1998 reforms of the Florida Cabinet. The CFO is a combination of the former offices of comptroller and ...

, State Fire Marshal, and member of the Florida Cabinet. *

Don Sutton Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 23 seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakla ...

- Former

player and television sportscaster. Holds the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

all time wins record (233), and held the Dodgers strikeout record (2696) for 42 years. *

Terrance Gore Terrance Jamar Gore (born June 8, 1991) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He played college baseball at Gulf Coast Community College. He made his MLB debut in 2014 with the Kansas City Royals and has also played ...

- MLB player who won three World Series rings: the

2015 World Series The 2015 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2015 season. The 111th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion New York Mets and the American Leag ...

with the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, the 2020 World Series with the

, and the 2021 World Series with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

. *

Matt Foster Matthew James Foster (born January 27, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2020. Amateur career Foster attended Valley High School in Valley, Alaba ...

- Current MLB player for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

References

External links

* Education in Bay County, Florida Educational institutions established in 1957 Florida College System Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools 1957 establishments in Florida Buildings and structures in Panama City, Florida {{Florida-university-stub