South Suburban 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 ...

South Holland, Illinois South Holland is a village and south suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States, within Thornton Township. The population was 21,465 at the 2020 census. It is named after the Dutch province of South Holland. History The area ...

. It has a second campus in

Oak Forest, Illinois Oak Forest is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The city is out south-southwest of downtown Chicago in Bremen Township. Per the 2020 census, the population was 27,478. History Human habitation in Oak Forest began during the ...

History

South Suburban College was founded in 1927 as Thornton Junior College. At that time, the college was an extension of

Thornton Township High School Thornton Township High School, often simply referred to as Thornton is a State school, public high school founded in 1899, located in Harvey, Illinois, Harvey, one of the Chicago Southland, South Suburbs of the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA. The ...

Harvey, Illinois Harvey is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 20,324 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Harvey is bordered by the villages of Dixmoor, Illinois, Dixmoor and Riverdale, Illinois, Riverdale to the north; ...

. The Illinois Community College Act of 1965 created Community College District 510 and enlarged the area served to include Thornton Township High Schools District 205, Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215, and Bremen High School District 228. In 1969, the name was changed to Thornton Community College to emphasize the comprehensive mission of the college. The college moved into its existing main campus facilities in South Holland in 1972. In June 1988, the college's board of trustees voted to change the name of the institution to South Suburban College to more accurately reflect the geographic location of the college. To serve the western portion of the district and provide opportunities for district residents to complete a four-year degree, the Oak Forest Center was opened in Oak Forest in 1992.

Campus

The main campus is situated in

with a second campus, the Oak Forest Center located in

Athletics

Men's Athletics *

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

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 ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

Women's Athletics *

Softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Notable alumni

* Tom Baldwin - NFL player,

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

Tim Byrdak Timothy Christopher Byrdak (born October 31, 1973) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He has pitched for the Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros and New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). ...

, Major League Baseball player * Herb Coleman, American player of gridiron football *

Ruth Johnson Colvin Ruth Johnson Colvin (December 16, 1916 – August 18, 2024) was an American philanthropist who was the founder of the non-profit organization Literacy Volunteers of America, now called ProLiteracy Worldwide in Syracuse, New York, in 1962. She wa ...

, Founder of the non-profit ''Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc.'', now called '' ProLiteracy Worldwide'' in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

in 1962 *

King Von Dayvon Daquan Bennett (August 9, 1994 – November 6, 2020), known professionally as King Von, was an American rapper and gangster from Chicago, Illinois, who was affiliated with the Black Disciples gang. He was considered a preeminent figure ...

, Rapper *

Cliff Floyd Cornelius Clifford Floyd Jr. (born December 5, 1972) is an American former Major League Baseball left fielder who played for 17 seasons, most notably for the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins and New York Mets. He is currently a baseball analyst wh ...

, Major League Baseball player *

Rob Mackowiak Robert William Mackowiak (; born June 20, 1976) is an American former professional baseball player. During his Major League Baseball career, he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, and Washington Nationals. Pe ...

, Major League Baseball player * Ron Mahay, Major League Baseball player * Julius Matos, Major League Baseball player *

Robert P. Regan Robert P. Regan (January 4, 1936 – May 3, 1995) was an American politician and businessman. Regan was born in Chicago, Illinois. He went to Thornton Community College and to Illinois Wesleyan University. Regan was involved with the insuran ...

, Illinois state representative and businessman * R. Bruce Waddell, Illinois state representative and businessman * Frank Zuccarelli, longtime supervisor of

Thornton Township, Cook County, Illinois Thornton Township is one of 29 Civil township, townships in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 157,865. Incorporated in 1850, it is located immediately south of the ...

as well as longtime chair of the college's board of supervisors

References

External links

* {{authority control Community colleges in Illinois Universities and colleges established in 1927 Oak Forest, Illinois South Holland, Illinois Universities and colleges in Cook County, Illinois NJCAA schools 1927 establishments in Illinois Two-year colleges in the United States