From left are Rob Budach, Mesa Community College’s vice president of administrative services; and Sen Whittemore, president of the Associated Students of Mesa Community College Red Mountain Campus, on Dec. 3.
Richard H. Dyer
Free and open to the public, the events at the Southern and Dobson Campus, 1833 W. Southern Ave., and the Red Mountain Campus, 7110 E. McKellips Road, included interactive art, an alumni zone and memory wall, free food and celebration treats. The Red Mountain finale included a car show.
Mesa Community College has celebrated its six decades of operation throughout 2025 with various events and recently held anniversary finales at its two campuses.
Free and open to the public, the events at the Southern and Dobson Campus, 1833 W. Southern Ave., and the Red Mountain Campus, 7110 E. McKellips Road, included interactive art, an alumni zone and memory wall, free food and celebration treats. The Red Mountain finale included a car show.
Sen Whittemore, president of the Associated Students of Mesa Community College Red Mountain Campus, and Rob Budach, MCC’s vice president of administrative services, gave brief remarks Dec. 3 from a podium on the Saguaro Building patio at the Red Mountain Campus.
“I absolutely love this campus. It is my home,” Whittemore said. “I am so happy to be a part of this legacy here, especially at Red Mountain, but part of Mesa Community College... Sixty years may sound like a long time in terms of years alone. To me that’s a long time for a college to keep growing and evolving and still feel like a place where students can actually belong. Sixty years and moments we get to be a part of.”
Budach thanked MCC staff and students for marking the culmination of the anniversary.
“Together we’ve looked back on six decades of transformation, innovation and service. We’ve honored individuals and community partners who have helped shape our story. Our story isn’t finished. In fact, each of you here today continues to write it,” Budach said.
MCC is expanding and putting up new buildings during the next five years, he said.
“We are growing and we are moving. In the next five years we are putting up new buildings. We will have new plans, new partnerships and by no means is 60 years a high point from all of this. Our trajectory is still upwards,” Budach said.
Later, after the remarks, he said the planned buildings will be at the main MCC campus and not at Red Mountain.
“On the Southern and Dobson campus, we’ll have a welding facility coming up, we’ll have a STEM center coming up. We’re having conversations of new partnerships, some of which I hope will be coming out here, so the Red Mountain campus is involved too,” Budach said. “Those two buildings are absolutely public knowledge right now and are part of the governing board.”
MCC opened in 1963 as an extension campus of Phoenix College. Construction for the 120-acre campus at Dobson and Southern roads started in 1965 and opened in 1966 with 2,053 students. Red Mountain Campus construction began in the 2000s, with the cienega in the center of campus completed in 2015 as a learning laboratory and home to endangered species.
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
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