(Butler, PA) The Association’s “Cherish” — “You don’t know how many times I’ve wished that I had told you; You don’t know how many times I’ve wished that I could hold you” — was the No. 1 song in America that day.
By week’s end, the Camaro, Chevrolet’s newest model, would be rolled off transporters and into showrooms nationwide.
And as the first students arrived for the debut of Butler County Community College, a show called “Star Trek” had just premiered.
BC3’s inaugural students — aptly dubbed Pioneers for attending the first Pennsylvania community college established west of Harrisburg— encountered drizzle and fog the Monday morning of Sept. 26, 1966, as they walked among the lodge-like buildings — some being finalized — on the college’s main campus in Butler Township.
“The first day of classes was unusual, to say the least,” faculty member Wayne Shaulis said in “From Oak Trees to Sheepskins: The First 25 Years of Butler County Community College.”
“My students were busy assembling the drawing tables they were to use, while I was busy helping the construction workers finish installing the windows.”
Many of those first 431 students — some attired in thin ties, white shirts and slacks; others, in miniskirts and sporting flip hairstyles — would join the more than 27,500 who have earned at least 45 credits at the college since it opened.
Saturday will mark the 60th anniversary of the first students attending the first BC3 classes – and what the college recognizes as its Founders Day.
The BC3 Education Foundation will incorporate into its first large-scale fundraising campaign in a decade a 1966 Challenge inspired by the college’s first students and intended to enhance the experience of those of today and of tomorrow.
Contributions of $19.66 to the 1966 Challenge will help the foundation to finance projects such as relocating the college’s Pioneer Pantry to a larger space to accommodate its growing patronage and renovating a lobby used by students between classes and by administrators to stage student activities and events.
Funds will also be used to support the creation of the sculpture of a BC3 logo near the admissions office in the Student Success Center where newly accepted students can take photographs and show their school spirit.
Financial contributions to support the student experience can be made at give.bc3.edu/challenge.
Butler County Community College’s inaugural students stand in a food line on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township in this 1966-1967 photograph. BC3 opened Sept. 26, 1966. The BC3 Education Foundation has launched a 1966 Challenge inspired by the college’s first students and intended to enhance the experience of those of today and of tomorrow.
College's Pioneer Pantry “is outgrowing its space ...”
A portion of BC3's 500-square-foot Pioneer Pantry is shown Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021, in the college’s arts and hospitality building on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township. BC3 opened Sept. 26, 1966. The BC3 Education Foundation has launched a 1966 Challenge inspired by the college’s first students and intended to enhance the experience of those of today and of tomorrow. The challenge includes the relocation of the pantry to a 630-square-foot area inside the Student Success Center.
“It’s a contribution that is affordable for people,” said Mikayla Moretti, executive director of the BC3 Education Foundation and external relations. “And when our community comes together and makes a gift like that, it can make for an amount that is pretty extraordinary.”
The college’s Pioneer Pantry opened in September 2019 in a 500-square-foot area inside the college’s arts and hospitality building, according to Steve Newcaster, BC3’s project planning and development coordinator.
It served 341 BC3 credit and noncredit students and their families, or BC3 employees and their families, in 2019-2020 and 406 in 2025-2026.
A Pioneer Pantry relocated to the Student Success Center could occupy 630 square feet, according to Newcaster.
“The pantry is outgrowing its space, which is a good and a bad problem,” Moretti said. “It means there are more students to support and that we have to find another location.”
The pantry served a high of 644 clients in 2021-2022.
Challenge to support renovation of student lobby
Butler County Community College students are shown Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, in the 900-square-foot lobby on the upper floor of the Student Success Center on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township. BC3 opened Sept. 26, 1966. The BC3 Education Foundation has launched a 1966 Challenge inspired by the college’s first students and intended to enhance the experience of those of today and of tomorrow. The challenge includes the renovation of the lobby on the upper floor of the center.
Jayme Steighner is a member of the college’s food security team, and director of BC3’s Keystone Education Yields Success program that assists low-income students.
“When students receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, they cannot use the benefits to purchase paper products, health and beauty supplies, cleaning and laundry products and others things,” Steighner said. “Among the reasons we would like to expand the pantry is to be able to include those items for them while they are attending BC3.”
The 1966 Challenge will also support the renovation of the 900-square-foot lobby on the upper floor of the 17-year-old Student Success Center.
In addition to the student experience, BC3’s Future Fund prioritizes the community experience and workforce innovation, Moretti said. More information about the campaign can be found at give.bc3.edu.
The BC3 Future Fund has raised about half of its $6 million goal, Moretti said.
“We are here first and foremost to serve our students,” Moretti said. “That’s really the whole point of BC3. I think about what our students mean to the community.
“They are going to be the next generation working in our area and shopping in our stores. So I think an investment in our students is an investment in our entire community.”