As students return to Hocking College this fall, they join a long and proud tradition. But for Randy Huntsman, that tradition began at the very start; he was a member of Hocking’s first-ever graduating class in 1970.
Randy, who grew up in Zanesville, Ohio, first learned about Hocking, then called Tri-County Technical Institute, through his high school. The timing couldn’t have been better. Zanesville’s own technical college hadn’t opened yet, and Randy wasn’t sold on the idea of going straight to a four-year university.
“I was a car guy. I didn’t know if traditional college was right for me at the time,” he said. “My mom, who was a single mother, helped me find a different path. She was really involved and wanted me to find something that would keep me interested and learning.”
That “different path” turned out to be a brand-new school in Nelsonville. So new, in fact, that when Randy went down for his admissions interview, the school itself wasn’t finished. He and his mother met with the college president, John J. Light, in a repurposed farmhouse that served as the college’s first office building.
In addition to Mr. Light, Randy remembers Mr. Porter, who he believes was the superintendent at the time. The main building in the original tech school is named after him. “He really looked out for us,” Randy said. “You could tell he cared about the students.”
The origins of Hocking College date back to the fall of 1968, when the Tri-County Technical Institute (TCTI) officially opened its doors on the campus of the Tri-County Joint Vocational School, which is now the Tri-County Career Center. Created to provide technical training for high school graduates and local residents, TCTI employed 28 instructors and welcomed 234 students in its first year. In 1969, the Ohio Board of Regents granted the institute a charter to confer degrees in 13 technical programs.
When Randy arrived at Hocking in 1968, there were no dormitories or formal student housing options. But thanks to his determined mother, that didn’t stop him from enrolling. “She found a small, used 25-foot camper trailer for sale up near Logan,” Randy said. “Then she arranged to have it hauled down and parked in a little trailer lot.”
That trailer became his home base during the week. He stayed there Monday through Friday, then returned home to Zanesville on weekends. Other students found similar arrangements, renting rooms in town or sharing houses with classmates.
“It wasn’t a traditional college setup,” he said, “but it worked. It gave me a place to focus and stay close to campus. And honestly, it made the whole experience feel personal and kind of special.”
Today, that former trailer park site is long gone and replaced by a Family Dollar store, but Randy still remembers it as the humble beginning of a journey that would shape his life and career.
Since the college had no permanent campus yet, students took many of their classes in shared facilities next door at the vocational school. Randy enrolled in the Industrial Engineering program, where he developed a passion for drafting, hydraulics, and applied mechanics. The instructors left a lasting impression, especially one named Ingram Smith, who was known by his colleagues as “Ink.”
“Mr. Smith was great. He really cared about the students. He let us help design the layout of the new drafting lab when the college started expanding,” Randy said. “We weren’t just students, we were contributors.”
Although the college was still in its infancy, it had a strong focus on community. The administration even opened evening courses for local residents and invited tech students to take part. Randy, naturally, jumped at the opportunity.
“I took an auto body class and a welding course in the evenings just because I wanted to,” he said. “Anything to do with cars, I was in.”
Randy graduated in June of 1970, part of a history-making class of 117 students, the largest graduating class for a technical institute in Ohio at the time. That same decade, the school continued to grow and evolve. In 1971, TCTI adopted its first formal mission statement focused on providing para-professional technical education to high school graduates of all ages. Just one year later, in 1972, the school officially changed its name to Hocking Technical College, a name that would eventually become Hocking College. After earning his associate degree, Randy served six months of active duty with the Air National Guard. When he returned home, he hit a common roadblock for technical graduates of that era: explaining the value of an associate degree.
“Back then, not everyone understood what a two-year technical degree meant,” he said. “There was a lot of confusion and a little resistance from employers who only saw four-year college grads as engineers.”
Despite the challenge, Randy landed a job at a local power company, where he worked for five years. But he always knew he wanted more. “I never gave up on the idea of going back to school,” he said.
Eventually, Randy enrolled at Ohio University through its 2+2 transfer program, allowing him to build on his associate degree and earn a bachelor’s in Industrial Technology. After graduating, he landed a role with Carrier Air Conditioning as a junior manufacturing engineer, finally putting his technical skills to work in his dream field.
He spent more than 12 years with Carrier, then accepted a leadership role with one of their equipment suppliers in Georgia. He later became plant manager and spent the final decade of his career helping open and oversee a manufacturing facility in Saltillo, Mexico.
In 2017, after decades in engineering and manufacturing, Randy retired—but never forgot where it all began.
Recently, Randy returned to Hocking’s campus. What began as a quick stop to update his alumni contact information turned into something more meaningful. He ended up reconnecting with the college’s communications team and shared his story, reflecting on how much the school and the world has changed.
“The new campus is incredible. It’s not even in the same location where I studied,” Randy said. “But the heart of the college, the mission to help people build a future, is still there.”
For today’s students starting their own journey at Hocking, Randy offers encouragement grounded in experience. “Stick with your goals,” he said. “Even if it feels like the path takes a detour, stay the course. Hocking gave me the foundation I needed. It took time, but I got where I wanted to be.”
Randy also emphasized the importance of starting small and building up, something he now encourages his own grandson to consider as he approaches high school graduation.
“You don’t have to jump into a four-year school right away. Community colleges like Hocking are a smart, affordable way to find your path,” he said. “And the education is real. It sticks with you.”
Being part of Hocking’s first graduating class holds special meaning for Randy. It marked the beginning of his professional journey, but also connected him to the college’s earliest efforts to provide technical education and opportunity to students across southeast Ohio.
“It wasn’t a large campus, but it gave us the tools we needed,” he said. “We were part of the foundation and that experience shaped the direction of my life.”