On Sept. 24, 1964, the Rhode Island Junior College held its inaugural classes for 325 students at a temporary campus in Providence. In the 60 years since, the school has expanded to enroll more than 18,000 students across its four campuses and renamed itself as the Community College of Rhode Island.

The 1970s was a decade of expansion for CCRI. CCRI’s primary location moved from Providence to Warwick in September of 1972 when the Knight Campus opened for classes. By that point, seeds were being planted for other campuses in other parts of the state as well. Voters approved plans for a new campus in Newport in 1970, and construction on what would become Lincoln’s Flanagan campus began in 1974. The close of the decade brought yet another transformation for the college when the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Education officially changed the school’s name to Community College of Rhode Island. Since then, CCRI opened the Liston Campus in Providence as well as satellites in Westerly and Woonsocket.

On Tuesday, students, faculty, and staff celebrated 60 years since the first day of classes by cutting a cake, taking group photos, playing cornhole and enjoying cupcakes in the Great Hall of Warwick’s Knight Campus. The atrium was full of students and faculty wearing green shirts to mark the occasion.

CCRI this year began on Sept. 3, three weeks earlier than they did during the institution’s first academic year. Still, the festivities took place during a period of adjustment at the beginning of the semester as students get acclimated to new classes and schedules — and for much of the student body, an entirely new kind of learning experience. While CCRI has six decades of higher education under its belt, every year brings a new class of first-year students who are just beginning their own college experiences.

Two first-year business students at the celebration said they were still getting used to college life and remarked on the increased responsibility that college brings — as incoming college students, they have discovered new considerations like financial aid paperwork and figuring out their course requirements. The sense of transition expressed by these students can extend throughout one’s time at CCRI. They graduated from different public schools in Providence and enrolled in the business program in hopes of finishing their degrees at four-year universities once they complete their time at CCRI.

For others, CCRI is a constant throughout different seasons of life. One attendee said she is both a student and an employee of CCRI, studying nursing while also working in one of the labs at the school. Two administrative assistants shared that they are alumni of the college and had returned to work in the performing arts and communication departments, respectively. Notably, the event’s cake-cutter — Interim President Rosemary Costigan — is herself a graduate, having completed the nursing program in the 1970s. She is the first acting president of CCRI to have graduated from the institution.

Michael Parente, assistant director of communications, explained that CCRI’s 60th anniversary celebration is a year-long event, with different events planned across the school’s campuses in Warwick, Providence, Newport and Lincoln throughout the year. Nonetheless, Tuesday’s gathering at the Warwick campus stood out; one student said that her professor had encouraged her class to attend, and the excitement in the room was palpable as groups of people stood in front of a camera in matching green shirts and sang “Happy Birthday” to their alma mater.