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IN THE BEGINNING: John Hobart's role in the establishment of what became Johnston Community College Fifty years ago this fall, Johnston Technical Institute welcomed its first students to the reclaimed campus of formerly all-black Forest Hill High School at Four Oaks. Fifty years ago this month, John Hobart began his duties as Johnston Tech's first dean of student affairs. He was just the third hire in the school's "front office," joining President John Tart and Business Manager Vernon Ward.  It was a somewhat modest beginning for
Johnston County's entry into the world of "industrial
education centers" that grew into North Carolina's
Community College System. But by the end of that first
academic year in 1969-70, Johnston Tech was offering a
number of curriculum programs, including automotive
mechanics, practical nursing, basic electronics,
secretarial science, construction drafting, business
administration, and commercial art.Before too long, Johnston Tech took over an adult high-school program being operated here by Wayne Community College at Goldsboro and made arrangements with Campbell University to offer college-transfer courses, Mr. Hobart recalled. Students --- some right out of high school, others much older --- flocked to the educational and training opportunities that hadn't been offered here before. And what about that new dean of student affairs? "I was responsible for recruiting, admissions, financial aid, and all other activities involving students outside the classroom," Mr. Hobart explained. "I talked to high-school students in Johnston County and also Harnett County about what we had to offer," said the one-man recruiting office. And then there was financial aid for students: "Dr. Tart had gotten forms for that and he handed them to me one day," Mr. Hobart recalled. "I had been doing financial aid at Rockingham Community College, so it was a godsend for him. We got financial aid like other full-blown colleges that first year." To begin with, Mr. Hobart emphasized, "my career centered around guidance and counseling." After graduating from Davidson College in 1951 and serving two years stateside in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he earned a master's degree in industrial psychology at N.C. State. That landed him a position with American Enka, a large textile manufacturer, at its rayon plant near Norristown, Tennessee. In 1960 his career path took a different turn when he accepted a position as associate director and counselor at the newly created Durham Industrial Education Center, one of the precursors of North Carolina's Community College System. Two years later he took a job as a counselor and dean of student affairs at Rowan Industrial Education Center in Salisbury. He said he left Rowan for the Rockingham County job because "I wanted to be part of a comprehensive community college," and that was one of the state's earliest. What intrigued him most about those new institutions was that "the student was not necessarily a young person like a typical college student," he said. "Those in their late 20s, 30s, and 40s were taking degree or diploma programs along with those who were much younger." As a result, he added, "students not only learned subjects in class; they learned things about life from each other." Back to that first year at Johnston Tech: One of his "duties" was "pushing cars," Mr. Hobart recalled. "Students would park under the pine trees out front and block other students, so several times we had to push cars out of the way" --- so the students, many of them adults with families, could go home. What caused that parking problem was larger-than-anticipated enrollment. It soared to 1,590 that first winter quarter and to 1,756 in the spring of 1970. By January that year, the school was offering 60 courses. John Hobart was also a key player in the founding of the Johnston County Arts Council --- in 1972. It was an "extracurricular activity" for him --- spurred by a statewide push for local arts councils that he had seen in action at Rockingham Community College. "I pushed the idea here," and Johnston Technical Institute responded by staging an arts and crafts fair that was "a big success," Mr. Hobart recalled. Unaffiliated with the college, the Johnston County Arts Council in the years that followed was instrumental in nurturing the Neuse Little Theatre, the Johnston County Choral Society (today's Chorale), and numerous other "grassroots" arts programs. John Hobart's wife Frankie --- the former Frances Finch, who grew up in Smithfield --- has been his partner in many community endeavors like the Arts Council. They have two sons: Don, an associate vice chancellor for research at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Frank, a cardiologist in Wilmington. John's father, by the way, was Frank Donald (Don) Hobart, a long-time superintendent of buildings and grounds at Davidson College who has a small park named in his honor on the campus. Meanwhile, John continues his close ties with Davidson. Over the past seven decades, he has served as secretary for his fellow graduates, contributing class notes to the college journal. And, each year he gives an award honoring an employee of the college --- a fitting tribute to his father.  Pictured in Johnston
Technical Institute's first yearbook, covering
the academic year 1970-71, are members
of the school's Board of Trustees: (left
to right) M.L. Wilson, N.L. Cannady, Dr. C.C.
Sox, Dr. John C. Denning, President John Tart,
Board Chairman William R. (Billy) Britt, and
Mrs. J. Don (Joan) Johnson.
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