[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 42 (Tuesday, April 12, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E613]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          OAKLAND COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE'S 40TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. THADDEUS G. McCOTTER

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 12, 2005

  Mr. McCOTTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join the administrators, 
faculty, staff and students of Oakland Community College as they 
celebrate OCC's 40th anniversary this month.
  The Oakland Community College District was established by the 
electorate of Oakland County, Michigan, on June 8, 1964. The college 
opened in September 1965, with a record community college initial 
enrollment of 3,860 students on two campuses--Highland Lakes, a 
renovated hospital in Union Lake, and Auburn Hills, a former Army Nike 
missile site in Auburn Heights. In September 1967, the award-winning 
Orchard Ridge Campus opened.
  Mr. Speaker, during its 40 years, OCC has grown in stature and 
importance, and has earned its pre-eminent position in the vanguard of 
training and educating Americans. For example, Oakland Community 
College's fire academy has opened the only facility in the Midwest 
which provides emergency services personnel with training in a unique 
simulated city, complete with roads and buildings. The Combined 
Regional Emergency Services Training Center (CREST) is comparable to 
the FBI's ``Hogan's Alley'' in Quantico, VA. Police and fire 
departments throughout the region send personnel to the center for 
extensive training. OCC is also proud to have among its many successful 
graduates, Drew Feustel, a NASA astronaut who began his college studies 
at the Auburn Hills Campus, and eventually received his Ph.D. in 
geologic sciences before being chosen by NASA as a mission specialist.
  I ask my colleagues to join with me today in congratulating Oakland 
Community College on 40 years of success in educating students and 
helping them become an important part of our society and our country, 
and in wishing OCC 40 more years of outstanding achievement.

                          ____________________