BOTH PHOTOS: A ribbon-cutting ceremony takes place on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, to celebrate the renaming of Huntington Junior College to Ameritas College Huntington.
Megan Archer, Fred Fransen, and representatives from Ameritas College cut the ribbon at the school Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, as it celebrates its renaming.
BOTH PHOTOS: A ribbon-cutting ceremony takes place on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, to celebrate the renaming of Huntington Junior College to Ameritas College Huntington.
Megan Archer, Fred Fransen, and representatives from Ameritas College cut the ribbon at the school Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, as it celebrates its renaming.
HUNTINGTON Ƶ A new name is just the first step in a series of initiatives Ameritas College Huntington, formerly Huntington Junior College, is doing to make post-secondary education more accessible to people all over the world.
A sign with the new name now stands outside the building at 900 5th Ave., and a new URL for its website is expected to roll out on Monday.
ACH President Fred Fransen said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce on Thursday that he expects the college to bring people from around the world to Huntington while also sending people from Huntington to places around the world.
ƵWe are a college of second chances. We are a college that helps people who are trying to remake themselves. West Virginia itself is a part of Virginia that wanted to remake itself,Ƶ Fransen said. ƵWe want to encourage that notion that Ƶ donƵt let your past get in the way of your future. Think forward, think about how you can discover a new you and how you can use that to reach new heights with your own life while at the same time contributing to your community.Ƶ
ThursdayƵs ceremony celebrated the institutionƵs decades-long history and broad future, Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Megan Archer said.
ƵItƵs a milestone moment today, especially when you think back to 1936, all the way back Ƶ nearly 80 years ago when this institution was first founded as Huntington Junior College of Business. ItƵs really incredible when we think about how when it first opened, just offering shorthand and typing and bookkeeping to now offering six different degree programs,Ƶ Archer said. ƵThe growth and the progress that has been championed right here within these walls is certainly worth commemorating.Ƶ
The rebranding also features a new logo. It was designed to reflect the Liberty, owned by John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence, which played a role in the events leading up to the American Revolution. It was seized by the British, converted to a royal navy warship and then burned by colonists. Fransen said it represents feistiness.
ƵHuntington is a city of water, and West Virginia is a place of water and a place of mountains, and so we were looking for that. But the ship, the reason for the ship is that it symbolizes America as a land of discovery,Ƶ he said about the logo.
With the name change, Ameritas College Huntington is planning interior renovations, too. ItƵs also planning to integrate a stronger digital component into its programs where students will spend each quarter doing 10 weeks of online course work and cap it off with an in-person, discussion-based experience Ƶ what Fransen called a Ƶwisdom adventure weekend.Ƶ
James Bennett, chief academic officer, said this type of learning environment is sometimes used in prestigious grad school courses, but itƵs unheard of at institutions offering certificates and associate degrees.
ƵItƵs creating an environment where you can really focus on thinking and experiencing things that you just normally donƵt have Ƶ itƵs hard to take the time, our lives are so busy. ItƵs kind of creating a meditative immersion experience where youƵre disconnected and youƵre really focused on exploring what youƵve learned, but also learning how to learn in the company of other people,Ƶ Fransen said.
All programs are expected to have some hybrid component by September, Fransen said.
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