With Allen Community College set to celebrate its centennial anniversary, the Register spoke with several former Red Devils on why ACC remains a special place in their hearts.
Today, we speak to Red Devil alums George Catron, David Heard, Gary Hoffmeier, Ken and Kit McGuffin and Gary McIntosh.
All attended Allen when it was still Iola Junior College, and located on the third floor of Iola High School.
Ken McGuffin compared the third-floor environment to a New York City cocktail party, with hundreds of students, often shoulder to shoulder, moving from class to class.
“It was like the big time,” Kit McGuffin agreed. “I grew up in Moran, and I only had 22 in my senior class.”
The McGuffins actually met while students at IJC.
“It was a history class on the first day,” she recalled. “People were standing in the aisles because there weren’t enough seats.”
The instructor asked for any volunteers willing to attend a different class to alleviate the overcrowding.
“Ken just volunteered, and I just kind of noticed him,” she said with a smile. “Right after that, I kept my eye on him.”
THE STUDENTS came to college for one reason or another.
For Heard, it was the economic benefit.
“I’d gotten a great scholarship, and classes were just a jump upstairs,” noted Heard, an Iola native. His scholarship was so extensive, he had to pay a whopping $4 out of his pocket to attend IJC his first year.
McIntosh, a Blue Mound native, said former IJC college president TC Brown played a large role in getting him to Iola.
“I was set to go to auctioneer school, but TC got me a scholarship from Milne and Mann,” he said.
It was part of Brown’s charm and savvy, all agreed, to find ways to lure prospective students.
