Brainerd State Junior college has a lot of things going for it, President J. E. Chalberg thinks.

Its central location in the northern half of Minnesota is an asset, Chalberg says. So is the proximity of the hundreds of lakes and the thousands of acres of wilderness area, which affect both the kind and number of students the college enrolls and the quality and tenure of the faculty. It's a good place to live.

There are 640 full and part-time students and 35 acuity members at the college at present.

There were less than 12 students when the Brainerd State Junior college was established on the third floor of Washington High school in 1938. The Brainerd school board established the Junior college at that time, and it remained a part of the local school system until 1964 when the Minnesota State Junior College System was formed. The local college, with 10 similar schools, became part of the new statewide organization.

From 1938 to 1957, the college continued to operate on the third floor of Washington High school. In 1957, the basement and first floor of Lincoln elementary school were utilized with laboratory facilities of the high school.

The first building on the present campus was started in 1963 and classes began at the new site in the fall of 1964. A new physical education complex was added in 1969 and a new art center is expected to be ready for occupancy in the fall. A new student center is expected to be the fourth and final building in the college complex. The buildings are on the north bank of the Mississippi river in southwest Brainerd in a heavily pine-wooded area.

Chalberg, who became dean of the school in 1944, reports increased enrollments each semester with the exception of the war years. There were 27 students when Chalberg came in 1944; enrollment rose to 170, then went down to 92 during the 1953-54 Korean conflict. Earlier, in World War II years, enrollment dropped to 12 students and only three teachers.

Most important factor in the college's 17 percent increase in enrollment this year, Chalberg feels, has been the appropriateness and vitality of some of the new educational and cultural programs.

Some 60 to 70 persons are enrolled in evening classes which the college started three years ago to enable housewives and employed persons to gain associate of arts degrees in four years or less by taking two or more night courses each quarter. Some 30 to 40 more house-wives and employed adults attend day classes, too.

One of the most successful of the college's special programs is its Child Development Teacher Assistant program, now in its fourth year. Mrs. Virginia Amquist heads the program and trains technicians to assist professional instructors of the mentally retarded. The program works with the Brainerd State hospital as a laboratory, and each year graduates about 16 persons to work here or throughout the state and nation.

A similar program, started in 1969, offers a public service emphasis in welfare. The eight students graduating this spring become semi-professional assistants in welfare.

The college has a five-year-old program for training mass communications technicians and a pre-engineering program which places most of its graduates in the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology.

In cooperation with Fergus Falls State Junior college, the local school operates an Extension center at Wadena where about 70 students are enrolled. The students may choose from among seven courses taught by faculty members who commute to class from the two sponsoring colleges.

Royce Van Sickle is coordinator-instructor at Wadena and Don Hammerlinck, Wadena Area Technical school, is supervisor under the presidents of the Brainerd and Fergus Falls Junior colleges.

Brainerd also offers courses at the Brainerd State hospital, and is starting an art class at the Vineland Learning center where it will give Head Start instructors a course in art materials.

A new community service director has been employed to arrange college programs for community organizations where there is a need the college can supply. John Langerud performs this service.

The Junior college became involved in community theatre last winter when Bob Dryden, drama director, took his "College Players" off campus, enrolled other community residents in the program and produced, 'Bye, Bye Birdie.' The Brainerd chapter of the American Association of University Women co-sponsored the musical.

The experience was an outstanding success and led the production of "Music Man" under the same arrangement. The College Community Theatre also produced a series of three plays which were shown to almost 5,000 patrons in 28 showings. On campus, other productions were given -- all equally successful.

Dryden envisages much easier theatre when his dramatic productions can be presented in the new 300-seat theatre of the arts center now under construction.

The college is moving in other fields, as well, re-entering inter-collegiate football competition under Coach Don Thompson, and moving out in music under Mike Smith with a college choir, a smaller singing group, "The Reality," a band and a chorale, mainly composed of off-campus people.

The college also has basketball, wrestling, baseball, golf and tennis teams and a women's volleyball team for inter-collegiate competition in its array of intramural sports.

The 19 percent enrollment increase to 640 students the past year was the third largest gain in the state junior college system. Enrollment at Brainerd is expected to increase to some-where around 700-750 students before leveling off.

Reproduced from the Centennial Edition of the Brainerd Daily Dispatch (1871-1971).