A 30-year tradition remains unbroken
Jo Ann Sharp stands near the entrance of Seward County Community College, beneath the sign naming the Circle Drive in her honor.
The sign is a bit sun-faded, but the name still shows clearly: Jo Ann Sharp Drive. It ensures that when visitors approach Seward County Community College, they are welcomed by the woman who lobbied for the college’s establishment in 1967.
Sharp purchased the “naming rights” to the campus’ distinctive, circular drive at the first SCCC Foundation auction fundraiser.
“It seemed like a fun way to support the college,” she recalled recently. “And then the next year, I thought, ‘Well, if I buy it again, they won’t have to print another sign — it will save money so there will be more for scholarships.’‘’
That was 30 years ago, and Sharp never let go of her favorite scholarship auction item.
“Although one year, someone else did outbid me,” she admitted. Steve Helm, an SCCC Hall of Saints alumni and booster, said he wouldn’t dream of changing the name, so Jo Ann Sharp Drive it remained.
Sharp has long history with SCCC, which was the last of the 19 community colleges established in Kansas in the 1960s. At that time, Sharp served on the USD 480 school board. She agreed with community leaders who were concerned that high school graduates often left Liberal to attend college and “they never came back,” she said. “We looked at that and the future of the community, and we felt very strongly that we needed to provide another option for those students, and for those who wouldn’t otherwise have access to college.”
Sharp and other influential community members lobbied hard for support.
“The Jaycees civic group put a speaker on the back of their pickup truck and drove around making announcements. I went to Topeka several times, as did Al Shank Sr. The people there listened and said, ‘We’ll consider it. You’ve given us reasons.‘”
Sure enough, Seward County won the final, coveted spot for the establishment of a junior college.
Sharp, who turned down her first marriage proposal at 16, telling the suitor, “I promised my parents I would go to college,” knew that not all families prioritized higher education.
“I grew up with the idea that college was expected, but I was very fortunate that my father felt that way,” Sharp said. “I knew many of the students who would enroll would be the first person in their family to go to college.”
Over the years, Sharp continued her close involvement with the fledgling SCCC. She was elected to the board of trustees in 1987, serving through 2010. During that time period, the college expanded its original classroom space in the Hobble Building, enlarged the Student Union, and improved dorm housing. It merged with the Southwest Kansas Area Vocational and Technical School. Most important, it launched thousands of graduates who, just as the college’s founders hoped, remained in the region, contributing to the community’s economy and culture.
The 2024 Foundation Auction was the final year naming rights for the drive will be auctioned, said SCCC President Brad Bennett.
“Everybody thinks of it as Jo Ann Sharp Drive,” he said. “Mrs. Sharp definitely saved us the expense of putting up a new name every year, but we will be replacing the faded signs with a fresh set. They’ve been up for a long time.”
The circle named “Jo Ann Sharp Drive” remains unbroken.
Categories: Campus, Friends of SCCC, SCCC History, Uncategorized
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