June 18, 2026

Decluttering to Enhance Campus Life

We have passed the halfway mark of June, which is the halfway mark of the year. It’s a great time to check in with ourselves and our community. That’s what I’ll be doing today with the relaunch of my weekly news and notes.

On the surface, Seward County Community College has traditionally been a little quieter during the summer months. Depending on rainfall, we mow a lot of grass and we deep-clean parts of campus the public doesn’t often see, like the student housing center, and closets in every office.

One thing we didn’t worry about this summer was our primary campus storm shelter in the basement of the Hobble Academic Building. We knew it was ready in case of emergencies thanks to a major effort by our facilities team. The deep-clean — or maybe we should just call it a Junk Purge — took place through the spring, and unearthed treasures and trash. All the important things, like student records and transcripts, are safely tucked away once more, but the mess is gone.

It’s interesting to think about how easily we accumulate belongings and hold on to them even when they no longer serve a purpose. It’s never easy to let go of what we have gathered. Even so, it’s worth the effort let go of the clutter and hold on to what is really important.

It’s interesting to think about how easily we accumulate belongings and hold on to them even when they no longer serve a purpose. My family and I recently embarked on a similar process as we tackled storage units filled with items collected by my parents and my siblings and even me. It’s never easy to let go of what we have gathered. Things as simple as an old baseball mitt or a handwritten Father’s Day card carry a lot of meaning. Even so, it’s worth the effort to declutter and keep the memories close. Now that the Bennett Family storage units are streamlined, I feel a weight lifted from my mind.

I feel a similar sense of relief when I look at all the empty space in our campus storm shelter. There’s plenty of room for what is always the most important thing of all: protecting the lives of people we care about. At SCCC, those people are the students and all our dedicated employees.  

With that tremendous task behind us, our Facilities Director Josh Tucker and his hardy crew have taken on a big list of projects. Along with the annual dorm deep-clean, they’re installing fresh carpet in the front business offices in the Hobble Building and several classrooms. In the Student Union, we will be installing new, ADA-friendly sliding glass doors. I’m excited to see the new, streamlined entry, and thankful for the way it will help our community members.

Over at the West Campus, we’ve been busy. New trucks and trailers for the expanded CDL program are currently parked on site, but they are just the big items that are easy to see. SCCC staff have put in many hours of work to upgrade and clean the exterior and landscaping around the building.

Inside, we are hard at work on Phase 2 of the project, which will eventually move our Adult Learning classes to more efficient and effective spaces. The program has long “made do” with the repurposed Epworth Hospital Building near downtown Liberal, which previously served as the Allied Health Division, and before that, a dorm, and before that the original offices and classrooms of SCCC as a whole.  

If time and weather allow, we’re also planning to restripe our parking lots on the main campus. With a steady increase in enrollment and more on-campus community events than ever, the parking lot sees heavy use and high demand. You could look at this as a problem, but I see it as evidence that we are doing our job serving our community!

Other summer activities on campus include:

• Kids College July 13-16, with three sessions for students to choose from running from 8 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. daily. For children entering first to eighth grades, Kids College is often their first exposure to our campus as a space for learning. It also breaks up the summer days and has the power to fuel new hobbies and interests.
• Bee Jays games continue through the summer at Brent Gould Field. Come on out to support our local semi-pro team, which includes more than one hometown recruit. Home games are set for June 20-26, July 4, 11, 13-15, and 18-20.
• Saints Athletics teams have scheduled camps for basketball, volleyball, soccer, baseball and softball, starting now and continuing through July 9. Check out sewardsaints.com as well as our college website sccc.edu and the official college Facebook page to nail down exact dates, options, price — some are completely free of charge, while others help fund athletic programs — and registration information.
• Once more, SCCC will host the community theater group Rainbow Players for the summer production of the comedy “The Drowsy Chaperone.” Performance dates are July 9-12, and tickets are on sale now.   

Whether you, too, are tackling big projects, cleaning closets, or simply savoring your summer, we hope to see you on campus. Go Saints!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR — Brad Bennett is the president of Seward County Community College, chief lawn mower at the Bennett house, and father of two enthusiastic middle-school softball players. Reach out if you have questions, comments, or just want to share a cup of coffee! You can contact him at brad.bennett@sccc.edu.