Occupy tents came to campus in 2011. (Image: CHS) Archival photos from Seattle Central’s history of activism. (Images: Seattle Central College) Kshama Sawant has frequently used SCC’s campus for political events. (Image: Alex Garland)

It says a lot about Seattle Central College that, even on its 50th anniversary, a comprehensive history of the Capitol Hill institution has never been compiled.

While many universities typically tap faculty researchers to document their school’s past, Seattle Central’s faculty is almost entirely teaching-focused. The college is also not particularly steeped in its own traditions. If anything, the Broadway campus is perhaps best known for its history of students actively engaged in the political and social movements of their time.

SCC will kick off its 50th anniversary celebration on Thursday afternoon with a free event to honor “the college’s history of social impact and activism” and will include stations highlighting social movements on the campus from the past decades. More events will follow in the coming months.

Founded in 1966 as the Seattle Community College, the history of the campus stretches back to 1902 when the Broadway Performance Hall was built as Seattle’s first dedicated high school.

The college began its transition to a community college during the Great Depression, when it became a center for teaching technical skills. After World War II, the campus ceased holding high school classes altogether and focused on classes for returning vets using the GI Bill.

So-called junior colleges dramatically expanded in the U.S. during th 1960s. In 1966 Seattle Central College opened on th Broadway campus. In 1970 the Seattle Community College District added its North and South campuses.

Like many college campuses, the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s were highly prevalent on the Broadway campus. One of the most prominent Seattle activists, Alan Sugiyama, was a student at the time and founded the college’s Oriental Student Union.

More recently, the college was hub of activity during the height of the Occupy movement in Seattle. It helped launch the political career of City Council District 3 rep Kshama Sawant, who was an economics professor at the college. While the college’s administration has embraced it’s role as the backdrop for Seattle activism, the May Day protests that have centered around the campus have received a cooler response.

In 2014, SCC dropped ‘community’ from its name to “raise the ceiling” for its system’s students. following a trend in two-year colleges nationwide, SCC officials said the name change more accurately described the college’s mission.

After little change to the physical campus for many years, SCC is entering a period of potentially rapid expansion under the recently solidified leadership of president Dr. Sheila Edwards Lange. The college is negotiating with Sound Transit to develop property at Denny Way and Broadway — known as Site D — that was vacated during the Capitol Hill Station construction and now neighbors the western Broadway entrance to the station.

Growing the Seattle Vocational Institute at 22nd and Jackson is especially important to Edwards Lange, who lives in West Seattle but who previously told CHS that her heart has always been in the Central District. SVI houses many of the college’s technical certification programs, including programs for medical assistants and construction training. Edwards Lange said expanding the number of programs offered at the campus is one of her top priorities.

“Seattle Central is, in so many ways, a reflection of our city,” said Edwards Lange in a statement. “As it has grown, so has this college, always changing and adapting to meet our community’s needs with innovative programs and a supportive environment.”