From this day forward, Grande Prairie Regional College will be known as Northwestern Polytechnic. In front of the auditorium at Douglas J. Cardinal Performing Arts Centre, President and CEO Justin Kohlman made the name change official.
Kohlman says that it’s a very exciting day for past and present students of the school and he is amazed at the support shown at the ceremony Wednesday.
“It’s been a little overwhelming, to be honest. We were just talking about the fact that in total between our two campuses we had more than 1,000 people either live or watching the live stream. Knowing that many people took an interest and participated is really rewarding,” he says.
While the history of Grande Prairie Regional College can’t be forgotten, Kohlman and other officials are excited to help create a new legacy of education in the region.
“We get to take the best parts of the last 50 years of Grande Prairie Regional College with us on the trek. Now we are a new school and today is really day one for us,” he says.
Kohlman says that the change means advancing education in the region and offering new opportunities to students of all ages.
“It is honestly a whole new ballgame. We know that we are going to be offering full degrees and we know that we plan to bring in students from across the region, the province, and even international who value the entrepreneurial skills that are hardwired into this region,” he explains.
“We believe we are going to build off that and be the most entrepreneurial college in Canada. Today is just the beginning of that and there will be a lot of exciting announcements on the way in the coming months.”