Editor’s note: More than one hundred of Dana Hamel’s friends, colleagues and admirers attended a public memorial observance his honor on Saturday, August 5, 2023 at the Virginia War Memorial. You can view photos of the memorial event, see the memorial program, and read Dr. Hamel’s obituary.
By: Jim Babb
Dana Hamel posed with his official portrait during a visit to the VCCS System Office in Feb. 2016
A man of great accomplishment, VCCS Founding Chancellor Dana Hamel was unwaveringly modest, deflecting credit to others who participated when Virginia’s Community Colleges were created in the 1960s. “You can only do in life what other people allow you to do,” said Dr. Hamel, looking back over his long career during an interview in October 2019. “And it makes all the difference to have the right people around you.” We reached out to some of those “right people,” and they were eager to offer their thoughts and gratitude for Dr. Hamel’s life.
Richard Hodges seen during a visit with Dana Hamel in Oct. 2019.
Dana Hamel died June 23, a few weeks shy of his 100th birthday.
Educator Richard Hodges brought scholarly focus to the period when Virginia’s Community Colleges were taking shape. Dr. Hodges, former director for learning resources at Thomas Nelson Community College (now Virginia Peninsula Community College), interviewed Hamel 17 times as he prepared his 2016 doctoral dissertation on the creation of what is known today as the Virginia Community College System.
Hodges documented Hamel’s dogged determination to set up a system that would offer higher education opportunities to everyone, not just the privileged few. For the time, it was a remarkable accomplishment in a state that had long embraced “Massive Resistance” to school desegregation.
Dana Hamel, April 2006. Times-Dispatch photo
“I like to think that for those of us working in the VCCS he was the father of us all, because the VCCS could not have been fully realized without his vision, enthusiasm, and determination,” wrote Dr. Hodges recently. “But for all his accomplishments and achievements, as many of us know, Dana was the humblest man I have ever met. The story of the VCCS was never about Dana. He insisted that no one does anything without the help of others. And he was right!”
Karen Petersen with Dr. Hamel at VCCS 50TH Anniversary Gala, May 2016
“Dr. Hamel was immensely pleased that when the doors of the community colleges were first opened, they were opened to everyone without regard to color, race, sex or religion. Because of the timing in Virginia’s history in which our doors were opened, during Massive Resistance, to have that occur without any opposition or problem, was especially notable. It took commitment and leadership on Dr. Hamel’s part to make that happen,” remembers Karen Petersen, former executive vice-chancellor of the VCCS.
“I am honored to serve in Dr. Hamel’s footsteps,” said Dr. David Doré, Chancellor of Virginia’s 
Community Colleges. “Not only have our colleges been a major on-ramp for all Virginians to gain access to higher education, these institutions have become economic engines and cultural centers in their communities. The colleges that Dr. Hamel planned and established have changed lives in fundamental ways. When you talk about Dr. Hamel’s legacy, consider the fact that in the past 50 years, our community colleges have awarded more than 850,000 degrees, certificates and credentials. Those achievements not only enriched lives, they often led to better, more-rewarding careers for Virginians.”
Glenn DuBois with Dana Hamel at VCCS Town Hall gathering, 2016
“Dana was my friend and the best chancellor in the history of our community college system. He built it at a time when few knew what a community college was. In seven short years he established 23 community colleges. No one in the community college world has ever done that,” said Dr. Glenn DuBois, VCCS Chancellor from 2001-2022.
Dr. Arnold Oliver, VCCS Chancellor 1992-2001
“Dr. Dana Hamel was a true visionary, a man of extraordinary energy and persuasion, ebullient and caring,” said Dr. Arnold Oliver, VCCS Chancellor from 1992-2001. “I met him early in my career, and then several times over the next decade. After my appointment as chancellor, we had frequent and lively lunches, as he measured the pulse of the system he created. He never failed to remind me, with his trademark smile, ‘it’s a great day to be alive in the Commonwealth,’ and I would reply, ‘And a true honor, sir, to walk in the shoes of the fisherman.’”
Dr. Thomas Hatfield, JTCC Pres. 1966-70
“Dana was the right person at the right time in the right place to establish the footprint of the Virginia Community College System,” said Dr. Thomas Hatfield, who served as first president of John Tyler (now Brightpoint) Community College 1966-1970. “Anyone who has ever benefitted from the Virginia Community College System –– and I am one who has –– owes a debt to Dana Hamel.
Charles King (l.) and Dana Hamel in 1967, surveying the future home of Southwest Virginia Community College.
“Dana was so very inspirational that my hair would stand up and chills throughout my body,” says Dr. Charles King, the founding president at Southwest Virginia Community College. King, who presided at SWCC for its first forty years, recalled, “We chased the cows off the hills and started from scratch. 1967 was a new beginning in Southwest Virginia. It was a time when only about 30 percent of Virginia’s high school graduates had any chance at a higher education. To go to college, you had to be wealthy and/or well connected. Community colleges changed all that, and Dana Hamel brought a missionary zeal into promoting the system.”
Editor’s note:
In August 2000, the Community College Connection published a special edition, devoted to Dana Hamel’s contributions. The links below will carry you to the stories in that edition.
Read about Dr. Hamel’s view of Virginia’s Community Colleges as he approached his 97th birthday.
Read more about Richard Hodge’s scholarly research into the founding of Virginia’s Community Colleges.
Read tributes from former VCCS college presidents for Dr. Hamel’s leadership.
