On Wednesday, January 9, the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) Board of Trustees honored retired Trenholm State Community College President Sam Munnerlyn with the title of President Emeritus, the highest recognition bestowed upon a president in the Alabama Community College System.

Munnerlyn retired in December after serving 40 years at Trenholm State. He began his career at Trenholm State in 1979 as an Educational Talent Search Coordinator. Other roles in which he served at the college include Coordinator of Technical and Industrial Internship and Co-op Programs, Veterans Affairs Director and Assistant Financial Aid Director. He began serving as president in 2007.

Enrollment increased under Munnerlyn’s tenure as president by 53 percent, from 1,338 students in 2014 to 2,050 in Fall 2019. The retention rate increased from 37 percent to 61 percent. He also oversaw the creation of several new program offerings and multiple federal state grants. Twenty-seven million dollars of renovations have occurred at the college’s main campus and Patterson site.

The college also obtained accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges under Munnerlyn’s tenure.

Munnerlyn thanked the Board and Alabama Community College System Chancellor Jimmy H. Baker for the recognition.

“Of all of the work that was done, it was done with people who dedicated their lives, their spirits, and emotions in helping Trenholm become a success for our students,” he said.

“…Because of the work we do in this System, we change lives, not only for our students. We change lives for their families, their friends, their communities. And we change lives for the state of Alabama.”

Munnerlyn said he required Trenholm’s workers to keep students first and to treat everyone with dignity and respect.

“We live and we die by what we do for students,” he said.

Munnerlyn holds a Bachelor’s degree from Stillman College, a Master’s degree from Alabama State University, and a Certificate in Vocational Education from Alabama A&M University.

Ms. Anita Archie serves as current interim president of Trenholm State.