1. In 1887, three evening classes in arithmetic, freehand and mechanical drawing were offered to working men. Classes were held in a one-room evening school. 55 men enrolled. -Dawayne Kirkman, Assistant Vice President, Regional Centers
2. Sinclair’s athletic teams were originally known as the Sinclair Satans. -Dave Collins Ph.D., Senior Vice President
3. A snapshot of Sinclair’s first semester after dropping their affliction with the YMCA: Governor James A. Rhodes presented official charter, March 17, 1966. -Dawayne Kirkman, Assistant Vice President, Regional Centers
4. It opened its doors on Sept. 1, 1966, with 2,231 students enrolled and the cost of classes being $10 per credit hour. -Dawayne Kirkman, Assistant Vice President, Regional Centers.
5. Sinclair’s baseball team has been nationally ranked every year since 2009. -Steve Dintaman, Head Baseball Coach
6. Chris Spurling, a Sinclair Hall of Famer, is a former Major League Baseball player. -Steve Dintaman, Head Baseball Coach
7. The Adjunct Faculty Office, and Marketing Office (Building 16) used to stand at the location of the parking lot close to Building 14. -Kathy and Jenny Sooy, PLS faculty
8. Building 8 used to have a snack bar that served Seattle’s Best coffee, milkshakes, ice cream cones, Skyline Chili and pizza. This was when the building was known as the Student Union, before the Starbucks Cafe was added to the library. -Kathy and Jenny Sooy, PLS faculty.
9. Building 8 also used to contain racquetball courts. -David Bodary, Communication Department Chairperson.
10. Additionally, Building 8 also included a bowling alley until 1999.
11. Sinclair’s campus sits on a gallows that was used a long, long time ago. -David Bodary, Communication Department Chairperson.
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12. This gallows was in Blair Hall. Students have stated they have often heard what sounds like laughter and voices in different places around the Hall. -Terry Stump, Blair Hall Theatre Manager.
13. Other students claim that they hear music, when none is scheduled to be played while other students have dealt with the sensation of someone tugging on them. Some attribute these hauntings to a ghost by the name of Hamlet. -Terry Stump, Blair Hall Theatre Manager.
14. Other parts of Sinclair are haunted as well. “When I came to Sinclair 15 years ago, I was told that the small room housing the 35 mm slide projector in the art history room, 13-404, was haunted. The ghost was called Mr. Joshua and he supposedly had been a night watchman when Bldg. 13 was a printing factory. The story got even more complicated by the “fact” that Mr. Joshua had died in the Flood of 1913…The room does have a slightly creepy feel to it, and lights will go on and off in that classroom for no reason. Boo!” -Kay Koeninger, Professor, Department of Art.
15. Registration for classes used to be held in the Fieldhouse building on the lower level of the PAC. Folding tables were set up and computer punch cards were used to record student registrations. Hand tabulated tallies were kept to determine when classes reached full capacity. -John Tomoser, Veterans Services.
16. There once was a COM faculty member who wore only white everyday. -David Bodary, Communication Department Chairperson.
17. The Clarion was started in 1977, and went through many different names before then. Some include: “The Y’s Owl,” “Sinclair College Clipper” and “The Sinclair Campus Communicator.”
18. Sinclair is the only Community College in the state of Ohio has a music program that is accredited by The National Association for Schools of Music (NASM). -Daniel Greene, Professor.
19. Between Jan. 9 and 14, 1983, more than nine million gallons of water spewed onto Sinclair’s campus. -Dawayne Kirkman, Assistant Vice President, Regional Centers.
20. The second floor of Building 7 had a parquet floor and was referred to as the Ballroom. The College held parties/dances in the Ballroom the last Friday night of the quarter in the 1970s. -Dave Collins, Senior Vice President.
21. The college was featured in a New York Times article in 2009, detailing how community colleges create jobs in a then-unstable job market.
22. Sinclair hosts scuba diving classes. This class requires multiple certifications and skills tests beforehand.
(Photo by Sinclair Community College/Instagram)
23. The library used to be decorated in avocado green and orange, complete with yellow carpets and furnishings. Lots of hard copy books and reference books displayed on tops of tables and bookshelves and no computers were present on library desks. -Kathy and Jenny Sooy, PLS faculty.
24. The library also had a card catalog used to locate library resources. The Library’s name was changed to the LRC, (Library Resource Center) but was changed back when no one could seem to find the Library. -Kathy and Jenny Sooy, PLS faculty.
25. In 1980, Sinclair began broadcasting recorded classes on Public Access Television. Students could register for these classes and receive college credit. Exams were held on campus. This program came to be known as TV Sinclair, and remained active, transitioning into take-home video cassette courses, until the early 2000’s. TV Sinclair was the forerunner of Sinclair’s online classes which now account for roughly 25% of enrollment. -John Tomoser, Veterans Services.
Henry Wolski
Associate Editor