Published: January 22, 2021
Early construction of Western Nevada College’s Carson City campus in the 1970s.
What did former Nevada Governor Paul Laxalt and millionaire business magnate and philanthropist Howard Hughes have in common?
For Nevadans, the two powerful men were directly responsible for the creation of community colleges in the state.
When Laxalt became Nevada’s governor in 1967, he followed through on his campaign and formed a council to study the feasibility of creating a community college system. However, despite the governor’s vision and support from key political leaders, a proposed state community college system was rejected because the legislature was concerned that it would dilute funding for public schools, as well as its universities located in Reno and Las Vegas.