By Devin Simkins/reporter
Many important people made TCC what it is today. C.A. Roberson was one of them.
Director of finance, vice president for administration, executive vice chancellor and, lastly, the college’s second chancellor — these are all accomplishments and titles Roberson earned in his 30 years at TCC from 1966 to 1996.
“It was an exciting time,” said Roberson, now 85 and living in Schertz, Texas. “Everyone pulled together and worked hard.”
He said the faculty was wrapped up in getting the campuses up and going. They all got along and had a common goal.
Some of the hardest decisions concerning TCC were made with the help of Roberson.
“We hired people that knew what had to be done,” he said. “We had good, loyal people that knew how to work.”
The key to having this successful journey at TCC was hiring people who had great experience in their areas, Roberson said. The college hired people who came from respectable places.
Even little decisions that seem easy to make now were hard then, like when to call off school because of bad weather.
“I had a policy that anyone could call me,” he said.
And on one bad weather day, someone took advantage of that.
“‘I just want to know who the idiot was that said there was school today,’ and I told him, ‘That would be me,’” Roberson said, snickering.
Roberson cared deeply for the students. He wanted to be a phone call away and talk to them whenever they needed it.
“I made it a point to walk each campus each week and visit with the students,” he said.
His favorite moment looking back was the opening of South Campus in 1967. Roberson said getting that campus opened and watching all the students flood in was the best feeling. They expected about 2,500 students for the opening and instead saw around 4,500.
“We bridged a gap there, gave students a chance to get work done,” he said.
Running into parents of students and hearing about their successes or getting visits from past students is what he enjoys most.
He really enjoyed working with his faculty and thought they were the best. The community had trust in the people of TCC and backed them throughout the building process of each campus.
“It’s not something that happened as magic,” Roberson said. “It took a lot of people.”
