Seward County Community College
SCCC alumni who studied Criminal Justice in the late 1990s and early ‘90s surprised retired instructor Larry Wade, now residing in Booker, Texas, with a mini-reunion the first weekend in November.
The gathering, organized by SCCC alum Dennis McDowell of Fowler, met on campus for a 90-minute tour guided by Director of Outreach Laura Rosales.
McDowell recalls his time at SCCC (1988–1990) fondly.
“I remember most of the professors were close friends whose lives were intertwined outside the college,” McDowell said. “Larry Wade, the Criminal Justice Director, made our criminal justice group feel like a family. To this day, many of us remain friends and stay in constant contact with one another.”
While 14 alumni planned to attend, the actual turnout was half that number – due in part, McDowell noted, to the fact that “all of them but me went on to careers in law enforcement and it’s hard to get away.”
McDowell himself, aiming for a career as game warden, found there were few job options for him. He opted to return to the family farm and, eventually, a job as the pastor of Fowler Friends Church.
His career shift was prompted by a concern for the youth in his small town. His training in criminal justice “has carried over perfectly into my work as pastor.
“The main message Larry conveyed to us was the importance of integrity — he always told us never to lie,” he said. “|If you do, it will come back and you will never get past it. That was a very biblical message — to be honest, honorable, loyal. You get all kinds of people who are in trouble. I can tell if they’re being honest and those techniques (as a pastor) come into play. I have a big heart and I can easily be trampled on.”
McDowell also noted two science teachers played an important role in his life – Jack McConnell and O.D. Brown.
For the reunion, the group recreated royal blue T-shirts modeled on the Criminal Justice Club shirts they wore to state and national competitions as students. But their nostalgia was replaced by amazement as they viewed the many changes to campus.
“It’s not like we didn’t think the college would advance, but we were shocked,” he said. “If I was a baseball player, I’d be fighting to attend school here.”
One alum found irony in the fact that his former dorm room — where he survived a near-fatal bout of food poisoning — is now part of the Student Health Center.
