Trinity Valley Community College (TVCC) is a public community college based in Athens, Texas. It has six campuses serving five counties across the southeast and eastern parts of the state.
History
TVCC was founded in 1946 as Henderson County Junior College in Athens, the county seat. The current name, adopted in September 1986, was taken from the Trinity River, which bisects the region. By that time it had expanded to serve residents of more than one county.
TVCC began its expansion to a multi-site campus in 1969 when it began to offer courses at a nearby Texas Department of Criminal Justice unit.
In 1972, courses in Palestine were held for the first time and in 1975 TVCC opened a separate campus facility three miles north of Palestine (the Anderson County seat). In 1973 TVCC started offering courses in Terrell (its first expansion into neighboring Kaufman County) and opened a separate campus facility there in 1986. In 1983 TVCC opened its first specialized campus, the TVCC Health Science Center in Kaufman (the Kaufman County seat). As of 2022, the site now holds Adult & Continuing Education classes for the area. Starting in 2020, TVCC moved the Health Science Center to the former Renaissance Hospital site in Terrell. One of the buildings at the campus holds High School dual credit courses for Health Science in partnership with Terrell ISD.
Campus locations and service area
TVCC operates six public campuses serving the Texas counties of Anderson, Henderson, Van Zandt, Rains, and Kaufman, southeast of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex: Athens The Henderson County Campus, which also serves as TVCC's headquarters, is in Athens west of TX-19 on Prarieville Road. Palestine The Anderson County Campus is in Palestine on North TX-19. The Palestine Workforce Education Center, located at Palestine Mall on Loop 256. Kaufman The Kaufman County Campus is in Kaufman at the site of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital off of US-175. This was the former site of the Health Science Center from 1986 to 2019. Terrell The Terrell Campus is in Terrell on the eastbound offramp to Wilson Road on Interstate 20. The TVCC Health Science Center is also located in Terrell on TX-34 north of I-20. It also operates a distance learning program for the University of Texas at Arlington's RN to BSN program. TDCJ In addition, TVCC serves TDCJ Region II Students at prison units in Anderson County outside of Tennessee Colony.
Service Area
As defined by the Texas Legislature, the official service area of TVCC is the following: all of Anderson, Henderson, Kaufman and Rains counties, the territory of the Terrell Independent School District located within Hunt County, and Van Zandt County, excluding those portions within the Grand Saline, Lindale, and Van independent school districts.
Notable alumni and persons affiliated with TVCC
Margene Adkins, professional football player in the NFL
Darren Benson, professional football player in the NFL
Matt Bryant, placekicker for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League
Rock Cartwright, professional football player in the NFL
Albert Connell, professional football player in the NFL
Paul Dawson, college football All-American
Anthony Dickerson, professional football player in the NFL
Todd Fowler, professional football player in the USFL and NFL
Al Harris, professional football player in the NFL
Robert Jackson, professional football player in the NFL
Tramain Jones, American football defensive back who played in the Arena Football League Shawn Kemp, professional basketball player in the NBA 1989-2003 Roger Muñoz, member of the Nicaragua men's national basketball team John Randle, professional football player in the NFL and Hall of Famer James Scott, professional football player in the NFL James Surls, sculptor. Nick Van Exel, professional basketball player in the NBA 1993-2006 Betty Lennox, of the Minnesota Lynx, Miami Sol, Cleveland Rockers, Seattle Storm, Atlanta Dream, Los Angeles Sparks and Tulsa Shock in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), played for the Trinity Valley Community College Lady Cards basketball team during her sophomore year in 1997. Derrick Willies, professional football player in the NFL Todd Staples, former Texas Commissioner of Agriculture, is a former faculty member at the Palestine campus.