Earlier this week, the long-awaited Greehey Family Student Success Center opened. The building, for which ground was broken in 2018, houses veterans services, enrollment services, student advising, financial aid, registrar, counseling, housing, career services, distance learning, early intervention support and the campus mail room, all in one facility.

Previously, those services were housed in various buildings around campus.

“Everything that deals with the students from when they first get here through when they graduate, we’ve been able to consolidate all of those services into one facility,” said college President Dan Kinney.

The Greehey Center provides students who are struggling in their classes an additional resource to look to for help.

-Photo courtesy of Paul DeCoursey
Iowa Central’s new $8.5 million Greehey Family Student Success Center was recently completed and open. The facility’s namesake, Bill Greehey, donated $3 million to the project.

“Students can come in and sit down, they can study, they can learn, they can get that academic assistance when they need it,” Kinney said.

Kinney hopes that by having all of these student services under one roof, the college can better serve its students for all their needs.

“Definitely our first-generation students, they tend to lean on our staff a lot more because sometimes they don’t have those resources and the ability to ask their family members or parents at home,” he said.

The college president also said he hopes the Greehey Center will give students the support and resources they need to continue their education through to graduation.

“I think we’re going to see a stronger completion rate for our students because of the ability to be in one facility to provide all those services,” he said.

-Photo courtesy of Paul DeCoursey
Iowa Central’s new Greehey Family Student Success Center puts all student services like advising, financial aid, the registrar and more, all in one building to better serve the college’s students.

A large portion of the $8.5 million project was donated by its namesake, Fort Dodge native Bill Greehey. Greehey, who graduated from Fort Dodge Senior High in 1954 and immediately enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and eventually became the chief executive officer for Valero Energy Corp. for 26 years, donated $3 million to the project.

Kinney said he was inspired by the Haven for Hope, a 23-acre campus that provides full services for San Antonio’s homeless population that Greehey created in Texas. He said he saw how having all the essential services the clients needed all in one place really helped their success.

While Greehey was born and raised in Fort Dodge, Iowa Central Community College didn’t even exist when he graduated from FDSH and enlisted in the Air Force. His four years of service were stationed in San Antonio at Lackland Air Force Base, and he chose to stay in San Antonio after his enlistment was up.

He used his G.I. Bill benefits to attend college in San Antonio and remained in south central Texas, but never forgot about where he came from.

Kinney shared his gratitude to Greehey for giving back to Fort Dodge and the Central Iowa region.

“Honestly, this dream of mine would not have happened without the support we received from him, his wife and his family foundation,” he said.

The rest of the cost came from the $25.5 million general obligation bond issue approved in February 2018 by the voters of Buena Vista, Calhoun, Greene, Hamilton, Humboldt, Pocahontas, Sac, Webster and Wright counties.