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| The Georgia Board of Regents approved the creation of a new institution, tentatively named Cobb County Junior College, on October 9, 1963. The original stationery was labeled "Marietta College" and the Marietta Journal sometimes used the name "Kennesaw Mountain Junior College." The program for the ground breaking ceremony of November 18, 1964, was simply headed "Cobb County University of Georgia System College."
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| Dr. Horace W. Sturgis took office as president of the college on July 1, 1965, and the institution was officially named Kennesaw Junior College in August of that year.
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| The college opened its doors in September of 1966 with a student body of 1,014, but the campus was not ready for occupancy, so temporary quarters were set up that fall at Southern Technical Institute (where most classes were held), the Marietta Housing Authority at Marietta Place (which provided office space for the administrators) and the Banberry Elementary School. The office of the President was located in the Southern Tech administration building. By the summer of 1966, the administrative staff, along with data processing, was at Banberry. The first registration occured at Marietta Place in the Recreation Building. Developmental Studies was also held at Marietta Place.
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| By January 9, 1967, the campus was ready for occupancy, although most of the buildings were still in the final stages of construction. The science, humanities and student services buildings were the first to open. The administration building opened within a month, but the library was not ready until April. Bookshelves were set up in the physics lab as a temporary library from January through April. (The library held only 4,200 volumes when it opened.)
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| The initial campus also sported a physical education building, social science building and a maintenance building, which opened in 1967, bringing the total to eight buildings.
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| The construction costs of the eight initial buildings totalled $4 million, roughly 87% of which came from Cobb County, the City of Marietta and a federal grant.
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| The matriculation fee in 1966-67 was $70 per quarter for full-time students and $6 per credit hour for part-time students. The day the college opened, there were only 37 faculty members on board. According to the annual Presidential Reports published during those first few years, one-third of the student body attended night classes, and men outnumbered women by a ratio of 2:1.
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| The Kennesaw Junior College Foundation was created during the 1968-69 academic year, with 23 charter members made up of respected, influential businessmen from Cobb and surrounding counties.
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| Before the college even opened in 1966, community leaders and local residents wanted to know when it would become a four-year institution. Thanks to the strong commitment of community leaders, local government officials, students, faculty and staff, Kennesaw Junior College was granted senior college status in 1976 and renamed Kennesaw College in September 1977. The junior year was added in the fall of 1978, and the senior year in 1979. In June of 1980, 70 students received the first baccalaureate degrees to be conferred by the college. Later that year, the college became fully accredited as a four-year institution by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
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