As part of its 50th anniversary celebrations in 2017, Beaufort County Community College excavated a time capsule buried in 1992. Now, as a gift to the next generation of college students, staff and faculty, BCCC will bury a new time capsule at noon Oct. 31 in front of Building 1.

The 1992 time capsule contained pennies, a plastic cup, program brochures, course schedules and notes from the BCCC Board of Trustees. Unfortunately, over its lifespan the capsule took on water so some of the documents could not be salvaged; the college is using a more durable capsule this time. Its contents have been curated by Learning Enhancement Center director James Casey and English professor Suzanne Stotesbury, who assemble and edit the publication “Life on the Pamlico.”

“Life on the Pamlico” is produced as a part of HUM 120 – Cultural Studies, which is offered on BCCC’s campus each spring semester. As part of the course, students are taught in-depth research skills that aid them in producing the articles and videos for the publication. The purpose of “Life on the Pamlico” is to celebrate and preserve oral histories and folkways of the region, and the publication was the perfect fit for curating the contents of the new time capsule. Just as “Life on the Pamlico” has shifted to an online publication that uses digital images, articles and videos, the new time capsule contents will be both digital and tangible.

Among the contents are items fabricated by mechanical engineering technology and welding students, a yearbook from the Beaufort County Early College High School, photos of campus and campus events, local magazines, a full copy of the website, graduation programs, course schedules, digital archives of “Life on the Pamlico” and a letter from the president of the college.

In 1992, Dr. Ronald Champion was the third president of the college. On Oct. 31, 2019, the sixth and current president, Dr. Dave Loope, and vice-president of institutional advancement Serena Sullivan will help bury the new capsule. 1992 to 2017, spans the period the college started offering online classes and added five buildings, including ones for cosmetology and early childhood education, law enforcement training, and nursing, along with a fire training facility. It was during this period the Beaufort County Early College High School was established. As the capsule is buried, a brand-new Public Services Driving Pad is completing construction.

“We live in an era of rapid and significant transformation,” wrote Dr. Loope in his letter, “whether social, political, economic, or technological, and I assume that the last 23 years will have wrought immense change in the society in which BCCC operates and our students learn. In fact, I am quite certain that some of our practices from 2019 will seem downright archaic! I do hope, though, that the College will have made great strides towards meeting the aspirations for the future of our service region­ — Beaufort, Hyde, Tyrrell, and Washington Counties — since 2019, namely, breaking the cycle of poverty in eastern North Carolina, growing our middle class, and improving the quality of life for all of our citizens.”