Ranger College is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

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 ...

Ranger, Texas Ranger is a city in Eastland County, Texas, United States. Its population was 2,468 at the 2010 census. Ranger College, a community college, is the second-largest employer in the community. During the 1920s, Ranger, like nearby Cisco, Eastland, ...

. The college's website asserts that it "is one of the oldest public two-year colleges in continuous operation in the state of Texas." In conjunction with its main campus in Ranger, the college maintains several satellite campuses across Erath County and

Brown County, Texas Brown County is a county in west-central Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,095. Its county seat is Brownwood. The county was founded in 1856 and organized in 1858. It is named for Henry Stevenson Brown, a commander at the Bat ...

. Ranger College provides dual-credit courses to over 40 area school districts. As defined by the

Texas State 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 arm ...

, the official service area of Ranger College is the part of the

Ranger Independent School District Ranger Independent School District is a public school district based in Ranger, Texas (USA). Located in Eastland County, a small portion of the district extends into Stephens County. Schools Ranger ISD has three campuses - Ranger High School ...

located in

Eastland County Eastland County is a county located in central West Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 17,725. The county seat is Eastland. The county was founded in 1858 and later organized in 1873. It is named for William Mosby Eastland, ...

, excluding the area known as the "old Bullock School Land", and all of

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

, Erath, and

Young Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

counties, excluding the portion of the

Graham Independent School District Graham Independent School District is a public school district based in Graham, Texas, United States. Located in Young County, a very small portion of the district lies in Stephens County. In 2009, the school district was rated "academically ...

located in Young County. Ranger College is a Hispanic Serving Institution.

History

The college opened as an extension of the local public school on September 13, 1926, with thirty students. The State Department of Education recognized the college on March 23, 1927. Ranger College was a governed by the public school system until August 18, 1950, when the Board of Education separated

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

s. The college thereafter has been governed independently by a Board of Regents and its own presidents, of which Dr. G. C. Boswell was the first. In 2010, Ranger College opened campuses in Early and Stephenville, Texas. A 2011 proposal to close several rural Texas colleges was not adopted, and Ranger College continued to receive state funding. Since then, student enrollment at Ranger College has increased by 33%: In November 2016, the city of Ranger voted to approve a $10 million bond to provide new buildings and renovations across campus. Construction began in the winter of 2017 and was completed in 2020. Ranger College is accredited as a degree-granting institution by the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...

Athletics

National Championships * Women's Cross Country, 2020 * Rodeo, 2007 * Football, 1979 * Baseball, 1978 and 1973 Ranger College's athletic teams are nicknamed the Rangers. The Rangers compete in men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, cross country running, golf, rodeo, soccer, and volleyball. The basketball teams play at Ron Butler Gymnasium. The baseball team plays at Ellis Burks Field, named after Ranger College alumnus and retired

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), ...

player

Ellis Burks Ellis is a surname of Welsh and English origin. Retrieved 21 January 2014 An independent French origin of the surname is said to derive from the phrase fleur-de-lis. Surname A * Abe Ellis (Stargate), a fictional character in the TV series ''St ...

. In 1978 the Ranger College football team won the NJCAA national championship. In June 2007, Ranger College won the

National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA), based in Walla Walla, Washington, was established in 1949. The NIRA sanctions more than 100 college rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practice ...

men's team title in the

College National Finals Rodeo {{Unreferenced, date=October 2021 The College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR), sanctioned by the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA), is held every June. Since 1999, the CNFR has been held at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyoming. B ...

held in

Casper, Wyoming Casper is a city in, and the county seat of, Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the second-largest city in the state, with the population at 59,038 as of the 2020 census. Only Cheyenne, the state capital, is larger. Casper is nic ...

. Ranger had only been competing again since 2005, after a 25-year hiatus. In August 2007, Ranger replaced its football program with men's and women's soccer and men's golf programs. The football team finished the year with a record of 4 wins and 5 losses; the team was unable to compete its schedule due to ineligibility issues. In 2013 the Ranger College men's soccer team won the NJCAA Region V Championship and participated in the NJCAA Division I national tournament. In 2015-16 the men's basketball team was found to have committed two eligibility violations. The first instance caused them to forfeit four games. The second and more serious violation required them to forfeit all games from the 2015-2016 season and to be placed on probation by the NJCAA for the 2016-17 season, meaning they were barred from any post-season play in 2016-17. In June 2016, Ranger earned a College National Finals Rodeo championship when sophomore heeler Wesley Thorp won the team roping event, with partner Cole Weeler of

Weatherford College Weatherford College (WC; officially Weatherford College of the Parker County Junior College District) is a public community college in Weatherford, Texas, with branch campuses in nearby Wise County, and Granbury. Organization and administrati ...

. In 2020, the Ranger College women's cross-country team won the NJCAA national title, and head cross-country coach Kathy Graham was named NJCAA National Coach of the Year.

Alumni

Kris Clyburn Kristopher "Kris" Joshon Clyburn (born April 20, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for Mitteldeutscher BC of the German Basketball Bundesliga. Standing at , he plays at the shooting guard and small forward positions. Clyburn ...

, professional basketball player *

Billy Gillispie Billy Clyde Gillispie ( ; born November 7, 1959), also known by his initials BCG and Billy Clyde, is an American college basketball and current men's basketball coach at Tarleton State. Gillispie had previously been head coach at UTEP, Texas A ...

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

basketball coach *

Agapius Masong Agapius Masong Amo (born April 12, 1960) is a former long-distance runner from Tanzania, who represented his native country in the men's marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad ...

, distance runner *

Jim Morris James Samuel Morris Jr. (born January 19, 1964) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for two seasons with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Although brief, Morris' career is noted for making hi ...

, professional baseball player and subject of the 2002

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

film '' The Rookie''. *

Johnny Perkins John Eugene Perkins (April 21, 1953 – April 25, 2007) was an American football wide receiver in the National Football League who spent his entire career with the New York Giants. Perkins was born in Franklin, Texas. He played college football ...

, professional football player *

Del Thompson Delbert Ray Thompson (born February 21, 1958) is a former American football running back who played one season with the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifth round of the 1982 NF ...

, professional football player and member of Ranger College's 1978 national championship team

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Education in Eastland County, Texas Educational institutions established in 1926 Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Community colleges in Texas Buildings and structures in Eastland County, Texas NJCAA athletics 1926 establishments in Texas