TYLER, Texas (KETK) — On Monday, students and staff celebrated Tyler Junior College’s 97th Founders Day on campus with snacks, music and games.

“We get to honor the history of a long legacy of giants whose shoulders we stand on, but also embracing the future,” said Dr. Juan Mejia, TJC President.

TJC has been serving East Texas since 1926. “It’s happening they’re great students. When we look at the student demographics, we have over 53 countries represented from all over the world,” said Mejia.

Dr. Mejia is serving his fifth year as president of TJC and he explained he’s proud of how involved students are.

“A big part of TJC is that they want to give a four-year experience in two years and the big part of them doing that is offering so many different organizations,” said Timon Ovard, TJC sophomore.

They’re honoring Founders Day every year as the school continues to grow. 

“There’s a lot to celebrate if we can start with the athletics 68 national championships by the TJC Apaches, when we look at our speech and debate, ranked as among the very best in the country, our honor society Pi Theta Kappa, our chapter Alpha Omicron is ranked second in the world,” said Mejia.

Now, the school is reaching even more students through important collaborations. “Look at really, win, wins for both organizations, for multiple organizations, creating an unstoppable synergy,” said Mejia.

They’re celebrating the 97th Founders Day and envisioning a golden future ahead. “We want to keep celebrating Founders Day because we want TJC students to have pride in coming here,” said Ovard.

TJC is hoping to continue spreading education opportunities across East Texas.