Indian River State College

Public college in Fort Pierce, Florida, US

Indian River State College

Former name

| Indian River Junior College
(1959–1970)
Indian River Community College
(1970–2007)
Indian River College
(2007–2008)
Motto| Eruditio, Ductus, Societas (Latin)

Motto in English

| Learning, Leadership, Fellowship
Type| Public college
Established| 1959; 65 years ago (1959)

Parent institution

| Florida College System
President| Timothy Moore[1]
Location|

Fort Pierce

Florida

United States

Nickname| Pioneers

Sporting affiliations

| NJCAA Region 8
Mascot| The Pioneer
Website| www.irsc.edu

Indian River State College (IRSC) is a public college with a main campus in Fort Pierce, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and serves the counties of Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie on the Treasure Coast region of Florida.

## History

[edit]

The college was established in 1959 as Indian River Junior College and located in a former public school building in Fort Pierce. IRJC moved to its current main campus on Virginia Avenue in 1963 after the city of Fort Pierce donated the site to the institution. In 1970, the board of trustees decided a name more fitting of the college's service to the community was needed, and it was renamed Indian River Community College. This was in keeping with the national trend for public junior colleges to drop the word "junior" in favor of 'Community." Within the confines of the college, the school is called The River or 'the ersk', pronouncing the school's acronym, IRSC. The school's mascot is the Pioneer.

On 10 September 2007, IRCC's board of trustees voted unanimously to change the college's name to Indian River College, as it began its transition into a four-year institution. The name change needed to be enacted into law by the Florida Legislature.[2] Ultimately, the school's name was changed to Indian River State College by the college's board of trustees effective 1 July 2008.[3]

## Campus

[edit]

Administration Building at the Massey campus in Fort Pierce Crews Hall McAlpin Fine Arts Center Brackett Library at the IRSC Mueller campus in Vero Beach

The main campus occupies a 87-acre (35 ha) site that was formerly the Fort Pierce landfill site. It has branch campuses in Okeechobee (Dixon Hendry campus), Port St. Lucie (Pruitt campus), Stuart (Chastain campus) and Vero Beach (Mueller campus) plus additional learning centers facilities in the area.[4]

In August 2020, the main campus in Fort Pierce was named the Massey campus after retiring president Edwin R. Massey.[5]

## Academics

[edit]

Nine bachelor's degree programs have been added in middle- and secondary-school teacher education in math and science, exceptional student education, nursing, organizational management, public-safety administration, and healthcare management. Indian River State College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate and baccalaureate degrees. The institution offers additional educational programs such as technical certificates and applied technology diplomas. The institution also offers an adult high-school program that allows adults who have not graduated from high school to continue earning credits that may be counted towards their completion of the GED. IRSC also participates in the dual enrollment state program to allow students to take college classes at a discount while in a public high school. They host the Clark Advanced Learning Center, a technology-based high school, as a joint venture between the Martin County School District and IRSC.

In September 2014, the college was named as one of the 10 best community colleges in the United States by the Aspen Institute.[6] In 2018, the college was regarded runner-up for the best state college in the United States by the Aspen Institute. Then again in 2019, it won another from the Aspen Institute, for the best state college in the United States, tied with Miami Dade College in Miami.[7]

In 2022, the college began the "Promise Program", which offered tuition-free associate degrees to Treasure Coast and Okeechobee County-area public high-school graduates.[8] The program resulted in a larger freshman class at IRSC campus.[9]

## Athletics

[edit]

The college athletic teams, which are nicknamed the Pioneers, compete in the Southern Conference of the Florida State College Activities Association, a body of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 8. The college has a very successful swimming and diving team. Indian River men's swimming and diving team has won 48 straight NJCAA swimming and diving championships, and the women's team has won 41 straight national championships.[10] With 48 consecutive wins, IRSC currently holds the title to the longest unbroken U.S. championship winning streak in any sport at the collegiate level. The women's team brought home their 44th overall title and extended their consecutive titles to 41.[11]

## Notable people

[edit]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

For a more comprehensive list, see Category:Indian River State College alumni.

Angel Pagán

* Mike Bianco, head coach of the University of Mississippi baseball team
* Sion Brinn, Olympic swimmer
* Rob Cordemans, Olympic baseball player for the Netherlands
* Lacey Evans, professional wrestler
* Michael Marrone, heavyweight boxer
* Omar Mateen, Islamic terrorist and mass murderer who perpetrated the Pulse Orlando nightclub shooting[12]
* John McCormack, college baseball coach at Florida Atlantic
* Rusty Meacham, professional baseball player
* Breanna Myles, Miss Teen USA 2021
* Angel Pagán, professional baseball player
* Steve Pearce, professional baseball player
* Ralph Poppell, member of the Florida House of Representatives
* Fabrizio Scaccia, professional football player
* Luke Scott, professional baseball player
* Cory Spangenberg, professional baseball player
* Gordon Touw Ngie Tjouw, Olympic swimmer
* Jonny Venters, professional baseball player

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Brugal, Sommer (July 22, 2020). "Indian River State College chooses Timothy Moore to succeed President Ed Massey". TC-Palm. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
2. ^ "IRCC likely to change its name, drop 'community' : Treasure Coast : TCPalm".
3. ^ "IRCC trustees approve name change to Indian River State College" (PDF). Indian River Community College. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 27, 2009. Retrieved July 1, 2008.
4. ^ "Indian River State College". Indian River State College. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
5. ^ Hasert, Eric (25 August 2020). "IRSC retiring president Dr. Edwin Massey honored during renaming of the Fort Pierce campus". TC-Palm. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
6. ^ "Two Florida community colleges named 'Top 10' in the nation". Florida Trend. September 4, 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
7. ^ "Aspen Institute Recognizes Broward College in Fort Lauderdale, FL, as One of Top Ten Finalists in National Prize Competition". The Aspen Institute.
8. ^ McKelvey, Olivia (March 1, 2022). "IRSC 'promise' program to offer tuition-free associate degrees to Treasure Coast graduates". TC Palm. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
9. ^ Wixon, Colleen (18 October 2022). "Indian River State College has its largest freshman class, thanks to Promise Program". TC Palm. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
10. ^ Lane, Robert (7 March 2022). "IRSC Swim Teams Sweep 2022 NJCAA Championship Meet". Indian River State College. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
11. ^ Lane, Robert (7 March 2022). "IRSC Swim Teams Sweep 2022 NJCAA Championship Meet". Indian River State College. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
12. ^ Mazzetti, Mark; Lichtblau, Eric; Blinder, Blinder (14 June 2016). "Americanized Guy' in Orlando Shooting Shows Threat of Lone Terrorists". New York Times. Retrieved 14 June 2016.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Indian River State College.

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