Triton College
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Triton 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
River Grove, Illinois River Grove is a village in Leyden Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,612 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. History Just as nearby Elmwood Park and Oak Park are named after thei ...
.


History

Junior College District 300 was voted into existence in a
referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
in March 1964. In March 1965, a second referendum was passed approving the purchase of an campus site at Fifth Avenue and Palmer Street in River Grove. The school was named Triton College in recognition of the three high school districts that it encompassed – Elmwood Park,
Leyden Leiden ( ; ; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 127,046 (31 January 2023), but the city forms one densely connecte ...
, and Proviso Township. Triton College opened in September 1965 and held classes at several of the high schools in its district. About 1,200 students were enrolled, and full-time in-district tuition was US$5 per semester hour. Construction on the permanent campus began in June 1967 with the Technology building and proceeded in phases. With the opening of the Learning Resource Center in 1974, the original campus plan was essentially complete, except for some athletic facilities and the Performing Arts Center, a large auditorium planned for the area now occupied by the soccer field, but never built. The original Cernan Space Center building, located north of the Learning Resource Center, was plagued by latent construction defects, and, after being used for several years, was demolished and replaced by the present building located nearby. In 1972, another referendum was passed adding Oak Park and River Forest, Riverside Brookfield, and Ridgewood high school districts to the original three, forming Community College District 504. This district was expanded to its current size in 1974 by the addition of Rosemont and Pennoyer school districts. By 1975, enrollment had grown to nearly 20,000, in-district tuition had increased to US$11 per semester hour, and Triton had become the largest single-campus community college in Illinois. The campus was expanded by the acquisition of the North Avenue Drive-In theater, which closed in 1973. This area, designated the "East Campus" and located across Fifth Avenue from the original ("West") campus, was cleared and used mainly for the construction of athletic facilities, as well as a small auditorium as part of the Collins Center.


Campus

Triton College sits on a campus that features electronic classrooms, labs, sports facilities, a library and bookstore, an art gallery and performing arts center, botanical gardens and greenhouses, culinary arts program restaurant and bistro, and the Cernan Earth and Space Center, which is a public
planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...
. Recent renovations include the Health Sciences Building, The Student Center Building, and Symonds-Puckett field. The campus is also the home of Triton Troupers Circus.


Academics

Triton College facilitates accredited Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, Associate of Fine Arts, and Associate of Applied Science for transfer and career. The institution also offers English as a second language (ESL) and GED classes. Triton College is a member of the Illinois Articulation Initiative and has transfer agreements with universities across the state, such as the
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...
. In addition, students can earn bachelor's degrees on Triton's campus from
Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of T ...
, Dominican University,
Benedictine University Benedictine University is a Private university, private Catholic Colleges in the United States, Catholic university with campuses in Lisle, Illinois, and Mesa, Arizona, United States. It was founded in 1887 by the Benedictine monks of St. Proco ...
, and others through the University Center. The college also offers the academically rigorous Scholars Program for high achieving incoming freshman.


Rankings

In 2016, Payscale.com ranked Triton College the top two-year college in Illinois and among the top in the United States according to salaries of its graduates.


Student life

Triton College boasts a diverse majority-minority student body with sizable populations of Hispanic/Latino, white, African American, and Asian students. The college is also a Hispanic-serving institution. About 75% of students are from the inner ring Chicago suburbs, while residents of Chicago and other cities, states, and countries make up the remaining 25%. Triton students participate in Model UN, Triton Student Association, and many clubs on a variety of interests. Students also participate in the ''Tritonysia'' play festival, write and edit the ''Fifth Avenue Journal'', and other artistic endeavors.


Athletics

Triton competes in NJCAA and is a member of the North Central Community College Conference (N4C). The school mascot is the Trojans. The Men's Basketball team won the N4C conference in 1979–80, 1980–81, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1990-91 1996–97, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, and 2016–17. In addition, they competed in the 1985–86, 1996–97, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2010–11, and 2015–16, and 2016-2017 NJCAA tournaments. The Trojans Men's Baseball Team competed in the NJCAA World Series in 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 2000. Former Triton baseball players include MLB Hall of Famer
Kirby Puckett Kirby Puckett (March 14, 1960 – March 6, 2006) was an American professional baseball player. He played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the Minnesota Twins (1984–1995). Puckett was instrumental in helping the Twins t ...
.


Radio station

WRRG 88.9 FM is the student radio station of Triton College. It began broadcasting on March 10, 1975.
Broadcasting Yearbook 1979
',
Broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...
, 1979. p. C-69. Retrieved November 2, 2020.


Notable people


Faculty

* Paul Martinez Pompa, poet * Arnie Bernstein, writer and historian


Alumni and former students

*
Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...
r
Kirby Puckett Kirby Puckett (March 14, 1960 – March 6, 2006) was an American professional baseball player. He played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the Minnesota Twins (1984–1995). Puckett was instrumental in helping the Twins t ...
*
Fred Hampton Fredrick Allen Hampton Sr. (August 30, 1948 – December 4, 1969) was an American activist and revolutionary socialist. He came to prominence in his late teens and early 20s in Chicago as deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party and c ...
, African-American activist and chairman of the Illinois chapter of the
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...
*
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...
and
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...
Lance Johnson Kenneth Lance Johnson (born July 6, 1963) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. Career Johnson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. After graduating from Princeton High School, he completed his education at the University of ...
*
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
pitcher
Tom Gorzelanny Thomas Stephen Gorzelanny (born July 12, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who is currently the pitching coach for the minor league Amarillo Sod Poodles. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, ...
. * Comedian
Kathy Griffin Kathleen Mary Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American comedian and actress who has starred in television series, comedy specials and has released multiple comedy albums. In 2007 and 2008, Griffin won Primetime Emmy Awards for her rea ...
* Jarvis Brown, former
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 ...
outfielder who played for the
Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...
,
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
,
Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...
, and
Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
, won the
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
with the Twins. * GAWNE, rapper, singer, and songwriter * Olympic wrestler Michael Foy * Olympic wrestler Derrick Waldroup. * NFL player Steve Parker. * Derek Mitchell, shortstop for Baseball Team USA in 1995. * Illinois state legislator Linda Williamson * Illinois state legislator
Greg Zito Gregory Alan Zito (March 7, 1953 – April 2, 2025) was an American businessman, lobbyist, and politician who served as a member of the Illinois General Assembly. Early life and education Born in Oak Park, Illinois, Zito attended Triton Coll ...
. * Musician and Grammy Award winner
Randy Waldman Randy Waldman (born September 8, 1955, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor. He has frequently collaborated with Barbra Streisand, serving as her pianist and conductor since 1984. Waldman has ...
*
Colorado Music Hall of Fame Colorado Music Hall of Fame (The Hall) is a nonprofit in Colorado, United States founded in 2011 with a mission to promote and support Colorado’s music community. Inductees ;2011 *John Denver *Red Rocks Amphitheatre ;2012 *Barry Fey * Flash Ca ...
inductee Lannie Garrett * Comedian and actor
Corey Holcomb Corey Lamont Holcomb (June 23, 1969) is an American comedian, radio host and actor. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Holcomb got his start in comedy with the help of another Chicago-area comedian, Godfrey. He currently hosts his own inter ...
Archived a
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and th
Wayback Machine


References


External links


Official website
{{authority control Community colleges in Illinois Universities and colleges established in 1964 Universities and colleges in Cook County, Illinois 1964 establishments in Illinois NJCAA schools Two-year colleges in the United States