Chesapeake College

Chesapeake College is a public community college with its main campus in Wye Mills, Maryland, and a satellite campus in Cambridge. It was the first regional community college in the state and serves the five Mid-Shore counties: Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's, and Talbot.

Nestled between corn fields and Route 50 in the Eastern Shore's tiny town of Wye Mills on December 22, 1965, the State Board of Education in Maryland adopted the Resolution 1965-66 and created Maryland's first regional community college, Chesapeake College. This college served four mid-shore counties of Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne's, and Talbot county. The college's mission was to help those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to earn a college degree.

On January 13, 1966, Chesapeake College had its first meeting of the board of trustees to elect officers and to discuss the name of the college. The Board voted William Sylvester for chair, Robert F. Irwin for vice chair of the board and chair of the college site committee, John T. Harrison for secretary, and A. Orrell Saulsbury Jr. for treasurer. After electing officers, the board of trustees voted to name the college "Chesapeake College" after considering "Eastern Shore Community College," "Mid-Shore Community College," and "Chesapeake Community College." On March 30, 1966, the Board of Trustees offered Dr. George Silver the presidency of Chesapeake College. Silver took the offer and told the Wilmington (DE) Morning News, "It'll be my job to take the dream of the four counties and put it into brick and mortar."

Finally, in January 1966 Chesapeake College's first four students, each from a different county, were officially admitted to the college. All were graduating high school seniors. On September 1, 1967, Chesapeake College opened its doors to a class of 258 evening students. These classes were operated out of Queen Anne's County High School after the high school students had finished their school day. September 10, 1967 marked the ground breaking ceremonies for the new campus. By May 11, 1969, Chesapeake College had its first graduating class.

Chesapeake College's main campus sits on 170-acres. The main campus has 12 buildings. The Cambridge Campus is housed in one building in downtown Cambridge, Maryland. The main buildings on the main campus are named after the five upper Eastern Shore counties.

The Caroline College Center houses the Bookstore, the Skipjack Cafe, the Student Government office, Student Life offices, Career Services offices, and faculty offices. The center was completely renovated in 2006 to better serve the growing needs of the college.

The Dorchester Administration Building houses the offices of Academic Advising, Admissions, the Alumni Association, the Business Office, Financial Aid, Human Resources, Institutional Advancement, IT, For All Seasons office, Registration, and Student Retention Services, including the Dean of Students. The building also houses the offices of the President and Vice Presidents of the college. Original construction of the Dorchester Building began in 1966, and the building was completely renovated in 2003.

This building was the Chesapeake College Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC), a licensed childcare center with the purpose of serving those parents of children 3 through 7 years of age who were students, staff, faculty at the college as well as parents throughout the community. In addition to functioning as a licensed childcare facility, the center also served as a learning site for students enrolled in the Early Childhood Development program.