Lone Star College executives and state officials gathered Dec. 6 to dedicate University Park as the sixth campus in the Lone Star College System.

"It was in 2008 that we came to the you, the voters," said Randy Bates, chairman of the LSCS board of trustees. "One of the things that you said was, 'We want a university park with partnerships with the community college and a four year school.' Well, the promise was made, and the promise was kept."

Two years after opening its doors, University Park now houses an expanding early-college high school, a corporate college, four college partners and three in-house corporations on site, all of which serve about 5,500 students and nearly 200 faculty members.

"Community partnerships and support led to empowering Lone Star College–University Park to become a learning and training eco-system for the 21st century," said Ed Gonzalez, mayor pro–tem for the City of Houston. "We understand that Lone Star College is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston region, the fastest growing community college in the United States and a contributor to the local and regional economy, providing visionary and innovative academic and workforce devoted programs."

The campus—originally the HP and Compaq Computer Corp.'s global headquarters—was purchased by the college system in 2009 after community leaders requested a university presence in the northwest Harris County area, said Shah Ardalan, LSC–University Park president. That year, the purchase was noted as the second largest real estate purchase in the country.

"This is a community that has wanted this [dedication] for a long time," said Darcy Mingoia, newly elected Cy-Fair ISD board member.