Wabash Valley College (WVC) 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 ...

Mount Carmel, Illinois Mount Carmel is a city in and the county seat of Wabash County, Illinois, United States. At the time of the 2010 census, the population was 7,284, and it is the largest city in the county. The next largest town in Wabash County is Allendale, po ...

. It is part of the Illinois Eastern Community College (IECC) district.

History

Wabash Valley College was founded independently in 1960 by the local community school district. In 1969, it joined with

Olney Central College Olney Central College is a public community college in Olney, Illinois. It confers associate degrees and technical certificates and also offers online bachelor's degrees through its affiliation with Franklin University. Olney Central College is a ...

to create a two college district, a relationship that was expanded in May of that year with the addition of

Lincoln Trail College Lincoln Trail College is a public community college in Robinson, Illinois. The college was founded in 1969 and is a member of the Illinois Eastern Community Colleges organization. Academics The college offers career preparation programs as well ...

. In October 1969, a $5.9 million

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issue was approved to finance the construction of permanent campuses for each of the three colleges. In 1978, IECC became a four college district with the addition of

Frontier Community College Frontier Community College is a community college in Fairfield, Illinois. It confers two-year associate degrees and technical certificates and also offers online four-year degrees through its affiliation with Franklin University. Frontier Communi ...

Academics

Radio/TV & Digital Media Program

Students in the Radio/TV & Digital Media Program operate a

college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

station at 89.1 MHz, '' WVJC The Bash'' that reaches as far east as

Perry County, Indiana Perry County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 19,338. The county seat is Tell City. It is the hilliest county as well as one of the most forested counties in Indiana as it ...

and as far west as

Clinton County, Illinois Clinton County is located in the U.S. state of Illinois. At the 2020 census, the population was 37,762. Its county seat is Carlyle. In 1960, the United States Census Bureau placed the mean center of U.S. population in Clinton County. Clinto ...

that plays

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, manned by student DJs. The station is also streamed online. In addition to alternative rock, the station is also home to Wabash Valley College Warrior sports play by play coverage. WVJC has RDS. The program also operates a local cable TV channel - News Channel 15 which can be seen on the New Wave Communications cable TV system in 8 counties in southeastern Illinois including Edwards, Hamilton, Jasper, Lawrence, Richland, Wabash, Wayne, and White counties. Programming on News Channel 15 includes local high school and college sporting events, local events, and a local

newscast News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televis ...

which airs weeknights at 5:30, 6:00, 6:30, 10, and 10:30 p.m. The station also covers breaking news and severe weather. The channel is also available through the Cablecast Screenweave channel on

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and

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smart devices.

Athletics

Wabash Valley College's athletic teams compete in the top division 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 ...

in the

Great Rivers Athletic Conference Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

Baseball

The Warriors are perennially a national powerhouse, grabbing a reputation as one of the best junior college programs in the country. At "The Bash", the players are greatly encouraged to give back to their community in more ways than winning baseball games. The baseball program has had players "adopt-a-highway", "walk for

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

", read to elementary classrooms, rake leaves for the elderly and all-around help with the Wabash Valley College and its campus whenever labor is needed. Other community services the Wabash Valley College Baseball program has offered and continues to offer its support by volunteer help given to the local Wabash Valley

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

. The baseball players referee children's

flag football Flag football is a variant of American football where, instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier ("deflagging") to end a Down (gridiron football), down. The sport has a ...

games,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

games, and basketball games. The idea behind this type of volunteer work is that the local YMCA will not need to spend a large amount of its funds on referee fees and can use that money for other more important or improvement projects that can help the YMCA be more effective and better equipped to give children the opportunities to be more active and build character. In 2022 the Warriors finished 4th at the JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Co.

Men's Basketball

The men's basketball team at Wabash Valley College has known a number of success throughout the years. The team throughout its history has had a number of prolific coaches, including: Mark Coomes, Jay Harrington, Jay Spoonhour (under which the men won a national championship) and Dan Sparks, who was inducted into the National Junior College Athletic Association basketball hall of fame. They have won 12 Great Rivers Athletic Conference championships and 14 Region XXIV championships, and an NCJAA National Championship.

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial athletics website
{{authority control Community colleges in Illinois Buildings and structures in Wabash County, Illinois Education in Wabash County, Illinois Mount Carmel, Illinois NJCAA athletics 1960 establishments in Illinois