Elva LeBlanc’s journey into education began with classes at Tarrant County College.
Now, she serves as the college’s chancellor during a growing time for higher education in Fort Worth.
LeBlanc looked across a room of Tarrant County leaders, noting how many shared a connection to the community college.
“They may have finished somewhere else, but they all started here,” she said. “It’s because we see their talent, and that’s what we’re getting.”
On July 30, officials gathered to celebrate the college’s 60th anniversary at the TCC Trinity River Campus in downtown Fort Worth.
Tarrant County Junior College was established on July 31, 1965, with one campus in south Fort Worth. Since then, the school has seen rapid growth, expanding to five physical campuses with over 40,000 students enrolled in fall 2023. The name also changed to TCC.
Among those gathered for the festivities was Arlington Mayor Jim Ross, who described taking classes at TCC when he first moved to that city because it offered him flexibility.
“TCC gives everybody the opportunity to come together in a unifying cause, to select their own path and to touch people’s lives in a way they’ve never been touched before,” Ross told the crowd.
While the college’s influence and effect are spread throughout Tarrant County, it has been transformative for Fort Worth, Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Flores said.
“Fort Worth is stronger because of your progress,” Flores said.
Mansfield Mayor Michael Evans served as a TCC trustee before stepping down from the board when he was elected the leader of the southeast Tarrant County city in 2020.
“We know and we recognize that our partnership (with TCC) not only fuels the growth of the city in Mansfield, but it has made us a better place,” Evans said. “You have taken the most precious parts of us, our young people, and you’ve stretched them and grown them.”
Lubna Abu Raideh will graduate soon from TCC with her associate of arts degree. Attending the college was a special experience, she said.
“I got to meet a lot of precious people, a lot of people who supported me, loved me and made me who I am,” Abu Raideh said.
While the morning was spent reminiscing about TCC’s past, the chancellor expects the future will be just as bright.
“We stand at the edge of the next era with the same courage that lit our path in 1965,” LeBlanc said. “The trailblazing never stops.”
Chris Moss is a reporting fellow for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@fortworthreport.org.
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