A Brief History of Bay Mills Community College

Bay Mills Community College began as a vocational program in response to the economic development needs of seven Native American communities that were initially served by a program that centered on a business-oriented program. In 1981 the Department of Education began to fund the program. In 1984 the college was chartered by the Bay Mills Indian Community under the Tribally Controlled Colleges Act and has been declared a 501c(3) tax-exempt entity by the Internal Revenue Service. Since its establishment in 1981 with an enrollment of eleven students, the college has grown to currently serve over seven hundred students annually.

Development of College Infrastructure

1984 Five acres of land (current main campus) were leased from the Bay Mills Indian Community to establish a land base for Bay Mills Community College. This land included the “old fish plant,” which currently serves as the college’s administration building.

1993 The college dorms were constructed on the site where they currently sit; however, the dorms have since been turned over to the Bay Mills Indian Community, as they did not turn out to be a successful college venture.

2000 BMCC took advantage of a funding opportunity and constructed the Library/Heritage Center (log building); in 2006 the building was retrofitted with an elevator to make it fully accessible.

2003 Mikanuk Hall, the college’s primary academic/instructional facility was constructed on the main campus with funding from the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Title III Construction Program.

2004 The Bay Mills Indian Community realized an opportunity to expand the college’s physical capacity by purchasing the “Iroquois Lodge” property west of the BMCC main campus. This 78 acre property has been secured in a long term lease to BMCC and is known as BMCC’s West Campus.

2004 BMCC took advantage of its new West Campus property by constructing a facility to house its new construction technology program; major funding for this project came from the USDA-Rural Development Grant program.

2007 Further development of the West Campus was completed with construction of Migizi Hall, an instructional, conference lodging facility that will house language and cultural education programs, the community’s culture program, and various special events. This project was funded by the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Title III Construction program.

2007 Two projects are scheduled for completion during the summer and fall They include miscellaneous improvements to the main campus and the construction of a facility to house the Great Lakes Composites Institute on Tribal trust land located southwest of Brimley in Dafter, Michigan.

BMCC was designated as a land grant institution by the Equity in Educational Land Grant Status Act of 1994. This designation allows BMCC to apply for funding from the USDA-CSREES (Cooperative State Research, Education, Extension Service), to bring college resources to communities in need of such services. To date, BMCC has provided services in the areas of youth development, health promotion, community gardening, and renewable energy systems. Land Grant status has provided a bridge of opportunity for BMCC to work closely with Michigan State University and the entire Land grant system nationwide.

Text extracted from 2008 BMCC self-study document, prepared for the College's successful reaccreditation effort and authored by BMCC staff. The image offers a handy timeline of the history of the College.