The Volunteer State Community College Foundation held an event at Beretta Vineyards in Mt. Juliet recently to launch the effort to locate a Vol State campus in Wilson County. The McFarland family donated 2.5 acres of land and the college is purchasing an additional 7.5 acres for the campus. It will be located on East Division Street in Mt. Juliet, a half mile east of the Mt. Juliet Chamber of Commerce building. It was the site of the long-time McFarland family farm. Sandra McFarland saw a newspaper article stating that Vol State was looking for land in Wilson County for a new campus. She called the college with an idea.
“I said: I want Vol State for my town, because I want to give back something of what people in the town have given me,” McFarland recollected. That call quickly led to conversations with the administration. McFarland said that her family has a long history with education and the opportunity to provide increased higher education opportunities in Mt. Juliet and Wilson County would be a wonderful legacy.
The college is raising funds for the development and design of the building and working through a multi-part State of Tennessee process for the new campus. The finished facility will have multiple classrooms and other educational facilities that will allow Vol State to offer a variety of classes. The size of the building and a timeline for the project are still being determined.
People who would like more information about the fundraising effort can contact Vol State president Jerry Faulkner at 615-230-3500 or call the Foundation executive director, Karen Mitchell at 615-230- 3505.The college will have updates on the project posted to the website at www.volstate.edu. Vol State currently has campuses in Gallatin, Springfield, Livingston, and Cookeville. More than 9,000 students were enrolled in the fall of 2018.
Pictured left to right, seated: Sandra McFarland and Vol State president, Jerry Faulkner. Standing: Susan Redmond-Vaught, daughter; and College Foundation executive director, Karen Mitchell.
