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The Robert E. Ferris Center, more widely known as the Hospitality Center, was the center of student activities on campus.

Robert E. Ferris, a Broward County attorney and judge, served on the Board of Public Instruction and was named to the JCBC Advisory Committee in 1959. He also served as a member of the BCC District Board of Trustees from 1968 to 1971.

Trustee Margaret Roach joins George Mayer to unveil the plaque for the George E. Mayer Gymnasium.

George E. Mayer, owner of a Broward real estate company, served as a trustee from 1969 to 1981.

On August 24, 1977, South Campus opened its doors to about 700 students. Classes were held at the First United Methodist Church in Hollywood. On June 3, 1979, ground was broken for the first permanent facility on the North Perry Airport property. The building, later named Sheldon J. Schlesinger Hall, contained classrooms, student services facilities, and faculty and administration offices, and was ready for the start of fall classes in 1980.

Nursing students chat as they stroll to class on Central Campus. Behind them is the library building and to their left is the distinctive round science lecture theater.

Dr. Elzie Lauderdale, a Mississippian, was BCC's first dean of instruction and helped establish the emphasis on academic excellence. When he called Mildred Bailey Mullikin in May 1960 to recruit her to head the drama department at the college, Mullikin's mother took the call. "Who is Dr. Lauderdale in Fort Lauderdale?" she asked her daughter. Dr. Lauderdale encouraged Mullikin and her mother to visit Fort Lauderdale. "Needless to say," Mullikin wrote years later, "I fell head over heels in love with Fort Lauderdale."

Classes filled quickly at the Davie campus. Even before exterior work was complete and the landscaping was installed, classrooms were filled with students. By the start of the second year, enrollment had doubled to 1,400. More than 2,500 students were enrolled by September 1963.

The horticulture students also got practical, hands-on experience working with tropical plants and planning outdoor displays.

In addition to college-transfer curriculum, the college offered courses of particular value to South Floridians, such as ornamental horticulture. Prof. Albert Will (left) discusses the fishtail palm with his students in 1964. Will served as the ornamental horticulture program's director.