Cloud County Community College
The Cloud County Community College Foundation has received a generous gift from the family of the late Brad Lowell to support the development of a new Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame room on the Concordia campus. The planned Hall of Fame room will showcase great moments and players in T-Bird sports history.
Lowell, longtime editor and publisher of The Concordia Blade-Empire and president of Blade-Empire Publishing Co., was inducted into the Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009. Lowell was actively involved in the promotion and success of Cloud County Community College and its athletic and educational programs. He was on the steering committee responsible for the founding of the college, and also was a founding member of the school’s first athletic booster organization. Lowell taught a journalism class at Cloud County for several semesters, and he served many years on the Cloud County Community College Foundation Board of Directors.
Brad and his wife, Lee, also shared the rewarding experience of serving as host parents to dozens of Cloud County students for more than 30 years. Many of those students kept in contact through the years and were considered the children that the couple never had together.
Brad’s sons, Jim and Jay Lowell, joined their father in the Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame in 2024. Jim, a sports journalist, covered T-Birds athletics for more than 41 years. Jay, a photojournalist, covered Cloud County athletics for nearly three decades.
“The Lowell family has been an integral part of the college since its very inception,” said Athletic Director Matt Bechard. “Their tremendous impact has been instrumental in shaping Cloud’s success.”
Outstanding alumni athletes, coaches and contributors are inducted into the Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame during the spring semester of each school year. The induction ceremony for the 18th Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame class will be held at halftime of the men’s basketball game against Fort Hays Tech Northwest on Saturday, February 1. The women’s game will tip at 2 pm, with the men’s game to follow at 4 pm. Prior to the start of the men’s game, Cloud County Community College will also crown its 2025 homecoming king and queen, part of All Alumni Weekend at the college.
