Chemeketa Community College is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
community college
A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...
in
Salem, Oregon
Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...
, with a campus in
McMinnville, and education centers in
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
,
Brooks, and
Woodburn.
In addition, the college has a Center for Business and Industry in downtown Salem that houses the Small Business Development Center. It operates classes and programs benefiting area businesses.
Chemeketa serves nearly 30,000 students each year in a district that covers in
Marion,
Polk, most of
Yamhill, and part of
Linn counties.
History
Chemeketa's history can be traced to 1952, when the Salem School District started the Salem Technical-Vocational School to provide training for the unemployed. It offered two programs, Nursing and Electronics, which took place in the school at the corner of 3rd and Gerth St. NW. In 1957, student records were lost in a fire at the district office.
In 1969 the college district was formed, and a competition was held to name the new college. The winning entry came from student Susan Blum, whose submission said that the term ''"Chemeketa"'' means "a peaceful gathering place" in the language of the regional
Kalapuya tribe. In December 1969, the Board of Education approved the name Chemeketa Community College. Property was purchased near Lancaster Street, and current Building 22 was constructed as the first official building.
Academics

In the early 21st century, Chemeketa offers Associate of Applied Science degrees and certificates in more than 90 professional-technical programs, as well as Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer Degrees, Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Science, Associate of Science - Oregon Transfer Business, Associate of Science - Oregon Transfer Computer Science, and an Associate of General Studies degrees.
The Northwest Wine Studies Center in
Eola, west of Salem,
includes a working
vineyard
A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...
. This is the site of the college's winemaking and vineyard management programs. This program was the first of its kind in Oregon and was developed because of the growth of the Willamette Valley as the center of wine industry.
Notable alumni
*
Rick Adelman
Richard Leonard Adelman (born June 16, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He coached 23 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Adelman served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden S ...
, coached basketball (1977–1983) at Chemeketa Community College
*
Ryan Bailey, American track and field sprinter
*
Austin M. Bibens-Dirkx, pitcher for Major League Baseball team, Texas Rangers
*
Grayson Boucher
Grayson Scott "The Professor" Boucher (born June 10, 1984) is an American professional streetball player. He is most known for playing on the highly stylized, international AND1 Mixtape Tour; he has also appeared in several movies including, ' ...
, nicknamed "The Professor", professional streetball basketball player
*
Shane McCrae
Shane McCrae (born September 22, 1975, Portland, Oregon) is an American poet, and is currently Poetry Editor of ''Image''.
McCrae was the recipient of a 2011 Whiting Award, and in 2012 his collection ''Mule'' was a finalist for the Kate Tufts Di ...
, American poet
*
Russell Johnston
David Russell Russell-Johnston, Baron Russell-Johnston (born David Russell Johnston; 28 July 1932 – 27 July 2008), usually known as Russell Johnston, was a leading Scottish Liberal Democrat politician and was the Leader of the Scottish Libera ...
, Timber Management Specialist
*
Andy Olson
Andy Olson (born November 6, 1952) is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. He served in the Oregon House of Representatives for District 15, representing parts of Linn and Benton counties, including the city of Albany. Ols ...
, politician, former member of Oregon House of Representatives
*
Rashaad Powell
Rashaad Dominic Powell (born June 14, 1981 in Renton, Washington) is an American basketball coach and former player. He played college basketball for Idaho, where he was named the Big West Conference Defense Player of the Year in 2004, and later p ...
, professional basketball player and coach
*
Zac Rosscup, Major League Baseball player
*
Ryan Thompson, American professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
for the
Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...
of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
*
Doc Haskell, Head Coach of
Esports
Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...
,
Boise State University
Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has b ...
See also
*
Chemeketa Cooperative Regional Library Service -- offices are located at the Salem/Hayesville campus
*
List of colleges and universities in Oregon
References
External links
Chemeketa Community College(official website)
{{authority control
Education in Salem, Oregon
Community colleges in Oregon
Universities and colleges established in 1969
Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
Education in Polk County, Oregon
Education in Yamhill County, Oregon
1969 establishments in Oregon
Two-year colleges in the United States