In 1962, after taking his new job as manager of the Glenwood Springs Chamber of Commerce, David Delaplane found an empty Education Committee file folder containing only some names and resolved that there ought to be a college there. He contacted the people listed and revived the committee, which worked to create a junior college taxing district meeting Colorado’s required property valuation of $60 million by joining Garfield, Pitkin, Eagle, Lake, and Summit counties. For a year, the committee traveled night after night to meet with service groups in every community and build support for the plan. In November 1965, voters in the five counties approved formation of the junior college district by a margin of more than 2 to 1, creating the district that would become home to Colorado Mountain College. Delaplane was elected to the college’s first Governing Committee in January 1966, and the college opened in 1967 with two original campuses at Spring Valley south of Glenwood and in Leadville. Today, Colorado Mountain College serves over 20,000 students each year in 11 locations and offers bachelor’s degrees.