In celebration of 60 years of opening doors to opportunities in southeastern North Carolina, Southeastern Community College has a new 60th anniversary logo. The college has seen an evolution in its logo designs with the use of triangles in the 1980s, circles in the 1990s, a globe in the 2000s, and most recently, the Chadbourn Bell.   

“The college has had a significant impact on the community in the last 60 years with building a workforce, providing college transfer opportunities and having an athletics program,” said Dr. Chris English, SCC President. “We’ve been embedded in this community for a long time and celebrating 60 years is a celebration of greatness and importance to this community.” 

With the prominence of the Chadbourn Bell on the new 60th anniversary logo, English said the bell represents the significance the college’s origin in Chadbourn. English said that being able to ring the bell when the college first started all the way to the day of every student’s graduation ceremony every year is a constant reminder of the college’s legacy.  

“Having that 60th reminder on the new logo tells the story of how the college has impacted this community,” English said. “For us to be able to celebrate that all year long is important to not only the faculty, staff and students, but to this community as well. It’s part of who we are and what makes us great as Columbus County citizens.” 

Terrie Priest, executive director of the SCC Foundation, explained that the Foundation has planned events throughout 2024 to celebrate the college’s 60th anniversary. Promotional material for each event will have the new 60th anniversary logo.  

“We wanted to make sure they all had that 60th anniversary feel to them,” Priest said. “In order to do that, we needed a great logo to go along with it to tie it all together. So, this year, when anyone thinks about Southeastern Community College, they’ll think about the 60 years of service to Columbus County.” 

The first event of the year is the Henry Wyche Art Show on Feb. 4. The show will feature art from SCC’s first Board of Trustees chairman.  

“He was an amazing artist, and we have several of his original artwork around campus,” Priest said.  

Priest said the biggest event of the year is the groundbreaking ceremony for the Raise the Bell campaign on Feb. 6. The Chadbourn Bell structure, a centerpiece of SCC’s campus, will receive a facelift with construction of a gazebo-like structure that raises the Chadbourn Bell in the air.  

“Folks will be able to purchase a brick in two sizes: an 8×8 and a 4×8,” Priest explained. “The smaller one is $100, and everyone can go on our website and buy one.”  

Priest said the brick can be customized with engraved messages, names or dates that may celebrate a graduate, athlete, child in the SCC Child Development Center, retiree or current employee. Read more about Raise the Bell and donating a brick here 

“We thought that would be a great way to commemorate the 60th anniversary and sell those bricks to raise the bell,” Priest said. “The bell is such an important part of the college and has a long history, and we’re excited about beefing it up a little bit.” 

In April, the President’s Ball and Earth Day events will be themed around the 60th anniversary. Priest said that adding that “60th twist” to everything the college does this year will add to the college’s history, and she hopes that having the new logo on everything will help make the community proud of the college. 

“We’re going to celebrate our 60th anniversary all year long,” Priest said. “We thought the new logo would be a great way to tie it all up in everything that we do for the year.”