MARK WAITE / PVT Mary Swadell holds a plaque awarded to her husband Bob Swadell, at right, while Great Basin College Interim Administrator Carl Diekhans, from Elko, joins them. Advertisement

Local lobbyist Bob Swadell, who has worked tirelessly for a Pahrump community college campus, was awarded a plaque Monday as the recipient of the 2008 Great Basin College Community Service Award.

Great Basin officials came from Elko for the presentation made during the Nye County Commission meeting Monday morning.

Members of the Great Basin College Advisory Committee and interim Pahrump campus Administrator Bill Verbeck, also were on hand.

Many of those in attendance were wearing pins that read "It's our turn," meaning it's our turn for a community college campus.

Great Basin College Interim Administrator Carl Diekhans said that motto was Swadell's idea.

"We need a facility here. We need some land. We're not giving up. We're still pushing for that," Diekhans said.

Then, speaking of Swadell, he added, "Bob is the type of person I enjoy working with. He's truly dedicated. I've never seen anyone who's so selfless in his desire to get the college supported here and started. We've had a few rough times, but I think we can move forward in the future and make Great Basin College here a thing we can all be proud of."

John Patrick Rice, Great Basin College director of institutional development, said Swadell's work resulted in an increase in spending for the Pahrump campus, which now has three full-time teachers. He said Swadell has attracted the attention of college administrators, state legislators and the congressional delegation in his efforts.

The award announcement by Great Basin College mentioned previous projects with which Swadell has been involved as part of a long history of leadership in Southern Nevada.

He chaired building committees in Henderson and oversaw the construction of the Henderson Convention Center, Henderson City Hall, the emergency services facility, justice facility and animal shelter.

Swadell was previously a member of the Community College Advisory Board of Clark County and has a building named for him on the Henderson campus.

Swadell is a retired Army lieutenant colonel who served in Korea and Vietnam. He served on a North American Free Trade Agreement congressional committee.

Swadell was busy talking business with Great Basin College administrators even after the award ceremony.

He told Nye County commissioners a major thrust is to give students in outlying areas like Gabbs and Tonopah the same opportunities for higher education as students in Pahrump enjoy.

"The county commission -- this commission and previous ones -- has supported education in every way they could, and I think that's the soul of the community, how much you're willing to put into education," Swadell said.

Nye County School District has the highest enrollment of students taking dual credit high school and college courses anywhere in the state by far, he said.

"We happen to think that program is extremely important, and there's a lot of people who don't understand we have an operating college in town right now," Swadell said.

Swadell also thanked Nye County School Superintendent Rob Roberts and Assistant Superintendent of Student Achievement Jerry Hill for their support.

Former Nye County Commissioner Patricia Cox and the Pahrump Valley Community Action Team were also mentioned, along with local businessman J.P. Martin, whom Swadell said never refused any request for donations to any effort ranging from senior citizens to education.

While Swadell is trying to arrange with the Nevada congressional delegation the acquisition of 120 acres for a community college campus, Diekhans confided after the ceremony that in the short term Great Basin College may not be able to lease additional space in Pahrump for general education courses as planned, due to the dire budget shortfall facing the state.