College News

Collin College opens new campus with Barnes & Noble and Starbucks

The campus also has a glass-walled rotunda.

Courtesy photo

The citizens of Wylie have a new, more convenient way to get educated, via a new campus of Collin College.

The highly anticipated Collin College Wylie Campus opened in August, across from the Wylie Municipal Complex, at 391 Country Club Rd.

It will provide specialized facilities for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), fine arts, education and health care, giving students the opportunity to gain relevant, real-world experience.

Additional educational programs include business management, insurance management, education and child development, hospitality management, real estate, and health professions such as certified nurse aid, phlebotomy technician, electrocardiograph technician, medical assisting advanced practice, and veterinary technology.

It's located on a greenfield site just under 100 acres, 44 of which were donated by the City of Wylie.

Construction on the campus was managed by Skanska, with three multi-story instructional buildings:

Campus Library with a glass-enclosed rotunda, open seating areas, private study rooms and collaborative spaces. The library is home to the Honors Institute and the Anthony Peterson Center for Academic Assistance, which houses a math lab, writing center and a science den.
Campus Commons that features a student Welcome Center, state-of-the-art science labs and the CougarFit fitness center. The Campus Commons also includes admissions, advising, career services, financial aid and veteran’s assistance offices, which includes a veteran’s resource center.
Student Center with art studios, music practice rooms, a conference center offering high-tech amenities, Mama Lucido's café with a Starbucks bar, and Barnes & Noble bookstore.

Ooohh it has a Starbucks. Ba-zing.

Collin College District President Dr. Neil Matkin says in a release that it's been a long time coming, and thanks taxpayers and the college's many valued partners.

"Education has the power to change people's lives, and we believe that it should be readily accessible," Matkin says. "This striking campus offers a wide variety of programs and provides us the opportunity to offer a warm Collin College welcome to southeastern Collin County."

Collin College was founded in 1985, and currently has eight campuses in Allen, McKinney Plano, Frisco, and Rockwall.

The college has seen a growing number of students from Wylie. In 2019, the number of high school graduates who enrolled at Collin College came from:

Frisco ISD - 920 students
Plano ISD - 914 students
McKinney ISD - 507 students
Allen ISD - 437 students
Wylie ISD - 349 students

In addition to Wylie, three other new campuses are in the works including a Technical Campus set to open in Allen this fall, and two campuses opening in fall 2021 in Celina and Farmersville.

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Crime & punishment

SMU and KC Chiefs star Rashee Rice sentenced for Dallas high-speed crash

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DALLAS (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice was sentenced to 30 days in jail on Thursday, July 17 after authorities said he and another speeding driver caused a chain-reaction crash that left multiple people injured on a Dallas highway last year.

The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office said Rice pleaded guilty to two third-degree felony charges of collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury in the March 30, 2024, crash. As part of a plea agreement, Rice was sentenced to five years of deferred probation and 30 days in jail as a condition of his probation, prosecutors said.

The judge will allow Rice, 25, to find a time or times to serve the jail sentence, a spokesperson for the district attorney's office said.

Prosecutors said he was also required to pay the victims for their out-of-pocket medical expenses, which totaled about $115,000.

Rice was driving a Lamborghini Urus SUV at 119 mph (191 kph) when he made “multiple aggressive maneuvers around traffic” and struck other vehicles, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said that after the crash on North Central Expressway, Rice failed to check on the welfare of those in the other vehicles and fled on foot.

The accident was caught on a dashcam video by motorist Bill Nabors.

The news release from prosecutors included a statement from Rice that was released by his attorney. Rice said in the statement that he's had “a lot of sleepless nights thinking about the damages that my actions caused, and I will continue working within my means to make sure that everyone impacted will be made whole.”

“I am profoundly sorry for the physical damages to person and property,” Rice said in the statement. “I fully apologize for the harm I caused to innocent drivers and their families.”

Brian McCarthy, the NFL’s vice president of communication, said in a statement, “We have been closely monitoring all developments in the matter which remains under review."

The Chiefs said Thursday that they did not have a comment.

Rice was leasing the Lamborghini that police said was speeding along with a Corvette when the crash occurred. Rice's attorney has said that the Corvette belonged to Rice. The driver of the Corvette, who police said also left the scene, was also charged in the crash. The status of that case was not immediately clear on Thursday.

Rice, a member of the Super Bowl-winning Chiefs team, is from the Dallas area. He played for SMU in Dallas and grew up in the Fort Worth suburb of North Richland Hills. Rice was selected by the Chiefs in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft and has caught nine touchdowns in his two seasons with Kansas City.

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AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta contributed to this report from Kansas City, Missouri. It includes archived material from CultureMap.

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