Dalton State College history

The Board of Regents appointed Doctor Arthur M. Gignilliat, from Valdosta State College, as the new College’s first president in 1966.

Construction of the campus began that October, and the 24th institution of the University System of Georgia opened in September 1967 to 524 students.

President Gignilliat retired in 1970.

The Roberts era began with completion of a new classroom building (later named Gignilliat Memorial Hall in recognition of the College’s first president and his wife, Elizabeth), and a new library building opened in 1972.

The addition of a technical division in 1976 also enabled the school to serve students wishing to develop work skills at the certificate or associate degree level.

Soon thereafter, the vocational/technical programs had grown to such a scale that a new building was required to house them, and a technical building was completed on the north end of campus in 1979.

An addition to the south end of Sequoya Hall in 1989 brought much-needed new laboratories, faculty offices, and lecture rooms to the College’s original classroom building.

College authorized to begin developing first bachelor’s degrees, with implementations scheduled for 1999 and name changed to Dalton State College to reflect new baccalaureate mission.

Most significantly, the Foundation acquired the 11-acre, 120-unit Wood Valley Apartments adjacent to the north end of campus in September 2005.

Another parcel, a five-acre site just north of campus, became home to the 28,000-square-foot James E. Brown Center, partially funded with $1 million in private gifts, which was completed in 2006 to house the College’s continuing education programs and other campus offices.

Doctor John O. Schwenn was appointed the College’s fourth president in March 2008.

The College’s first endowed academic research unit, the Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia History & Culture, launched in 2009, was another notable outcome of the campaign.

The bell tower was named in honor of President Emeritus Burran in 2010.

In November 2012, the College broke ground for its first new academic building in nearly 15 years, a $21-million, 60,000-square-foot facility for its rapidly growing biology and chemistry programs.

Peeples Hall opened to great fanfare in May 2014, and quickly brought recognition to Dalton State as a state-of-the-art center for research, both by faculty and students.

Men’s soccer is approved by Board of Regents, with first season scheduled for fall 2015.

The newly renovated Pope Student Center reopened just in time for the fall semester in August of 2016.

When Dalton State celebrated its 50th anniversary during the 2017-18 academic year, the constant themes of growth and widespread community support were just as strong as they were a half-century before.

In the spring of 2018, the College also celebrated the milestone of achieving the Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) designation.