Delta College Turns 65 with $6.7M Tech Wing

What started as a muddy hole surrounded by cornfields in 1961 has grown into one of America's leading community colleges, now serving over 1,800 students in its brand-new tech center.

Delta College in Bay County, Michigan, just dedicated its renovated computer science wing on December 5, 2025. The $6.7 million project received $2.4 million from the State of Michigan, marking another milestone in the college's 65-year journey of making education accessible to everyone.

The college's transformation began in the 1960s under President Don Carlyon, who saw potential where others saw nothing. When he first viewed the excavation site, he told his wife Betty it was "beautiful" while standing in front of a muddy mess in a cornfield. She thought he'd lost his mind.

Carlyon's vision proved prophetic. He became one of education's quiet innovators, taking faculty on cross-country tours to study other community colleges when one was opening every week across America. He wanted his team exposed to "wild and crazy ideas" they could bring back home.

In the mid-1970s, Delta became possibly the first community college to advertise on radio. Some administrators worried it would "devalue education," but Carlyon understood that reaching people where they were mattered more than tradition.

The Ripple Effect

Delta's innovations rippled far beyond marketing. In 1979, the college partnered with General Motors on one of the nation's first automotive service educational programs. It became one of only a handful of community colleges to own and operate PBS and NPR stations.

In the 1990s, English professor Larry Levy introduced Writing Across the Curriculum after noticing students struggled with literacy across all subjects. He worked with automotive professor Ion Keefer to help technical students improve their reading skills for shop manuals. The program transformed how students learned in every discipline.

President Peter Boyse, who led from 1993 onward, maintained Delta's reputation while successfully passing tax levies to keep education affordable. The college opened a Downtown Midland Center in 2021, bringing educational opportunities even closer to the community.

Through six decades, Delta has remained a founding member of the League for Innovation in the Community College. Thousands of students who might never have attended college found their path forward because one man saw beauty in a muddy field and dared to build something transformational.