Glendale Community College (California)

Not to be confused with Glendale University College of Law.

Glendale Community College
Motto	N/A
Established	1927
Type	Public (two-year)
Endowment	$8 Million
President	Dr. Jim Riggs
Academic staff	Unknown
Undergraduates	21,112 [2012]
Postgraduates	N/A
Location	Glendale, California, United States
Campus	Suburban, 100 acres (40 ha)
Sports Team	Vaqueros "VAQS"
Colors	Cardinal and gold
Website	http://www.glendale.edu

Four boys for every girl at Glendale College, 1948

The John A. Davitt Administration building

Glendale Community College (aka GCC) is a community college in Glendale, California, USA.

History

The college was founded as Glendale Junior College in 1927, to serve the Glendale Union High School District which at the time included La Crescenta, Glendale, and Tujunga. From 1927 to 1929 classes were held in the buildings of Glendale Union High School at Broadway and Verdugo in the City of Glendale. In 1929 the junior college moved to the Harvard School plant of the Glendale Union High School District where it remained until 1937. In this year a new plant, part of the present one, was completed and occupied. The year before, in 1936, the Glendale Junior College District was dissolved as such and became a part of the new Glendale Unified School District. The name of the school was changed to Glendale College in 1944. On July 1, 1970 Glendale College became a part of the Glendale Junior College District. On April 20, 1971 the Board of Education adopted a resolution changing the District name to Glendale Community College District.

On November 3, 1980, Glendale voters approved a measure to establish separate Boards, with the new board taking office in April 1981. The separation resulted in the creation of a Board of Trustees solely responsible for the governance of the Glendale Community College District. In 1936, 25 acres (10 ha) were acquired for the present site of the college.

Glendale Community College inspired the NBC show Community which premiered in the fall season of 2009. The show uses the fictional setting of Greendale Community College. However, the show creator has stated that the show was actually based on his experience attending Glendale Community College. Dan Harmon expressed that the show would be a positive reflection on the college since "the flawed characters are coming into it and becoming unflawed by being in this place because it's been underestimated by the system around it."

Campus

The campus now consists of 100 acres (40 ha) and 15 permanent buildings. It is located on the slopes of the San Rafael Hills overlooking the valleys in the Glendale area.

Organization and administration

The college president is Dr. Jim Riggs.

Academic profile

Representative of the City of Glendale, GCC is a diverse college of more than 15,000 students enrolled in credit courses, and over 7,000 more enrolled in non-credit courses. A full account of the college's population can be found at its research and planning office.

Student life

Sport

The college athletic teams are nicknamed the Vaqueros (men) or Vaqueras (women).

Staff

The list of GCC employees includes Dr. Sid Kolpas, who teaches mathematics. Kolpas is part of the Glendale College Scholars Program, the Master Scholars Program (formerly the Alliance for Minority Participation Program), and operates as the Senate Representative of GCC. He was granted the "Distinguished Faculty Award" in 2004, and gave a speech about "The Number 2". He was also awarded a "Peer-Led Team Learning Grant" from the National Science Foundation for his guidance of the student led "Supplemental Instruction". Dr. Kolpas will be quoted and referenced (along with fellow teacher Steve Marsden), in a statistics book published by Princeton University Press for their infinite multiple integration theory. Kolpas also had his 42nd article published in an April issue of Mathematics Teacher.

Dr. John Davitt served as president of Glendale College beginning in the 1980s until the 2000s. He served for 21 years and has been widely recognized in the city of Glendale as well as the entire state of California for all the work he did to promote not only Glendale College, but also community colleges statewide. He retired as the longest serving President of a junior college in the state of California.

Alumni

For a more comprehensive list, see Category:Glendale Community College (California) alumni.

Listed in alphabetical order

• Mark Caguioa, Professional Basketball Player
• Glenn Corbett, actor
• Angie Dickinson, actress
• Cathy Ferguson, two-time Olympic gold medalist
• Bob Gagliano, athlete
• Beverly Garland, actress
• Dan Harmon, television producer, creator of "Community"
• Hue Jackson, NFL Coach
• Donald D. Lorenzen (1920–80), Los Angeles City Council member, 1969–77
• Masiela Lusha, actress
• Eva Mendes, actress
• Dick Moje, National Football League player.
• Ricky Ortiz, professional wrestler
• Danielle Panabaker, actress
• Kay Panabaker, actress
• Andy Reid, NFL Coach
• Freddy Sanchez, athlete
• Seann William Scott, actor
• Schoolboy Q, Rapper
• Lon Simmons, broadcaster
• Juno Stover, two-time Olympic diving medalist; two-time USA-AAU champion; two-time Pan-American Games medalist
• Vic Tayback, actor
• Jordi Vilasuso, actor
• Kyle Vincent, musician
• Frank Wykoff, three-time Olympic gold medalist

External links

• Glendale Community College Foundation Website
• Official Glendale Community College web site
• The Chaparral Newsletter Article
• The Blue List
• GCC's History
• GCC Robotics Team
• Glendale College Cheerleading Team
• California College Directory Listing—administration and general information
• Research and Planning Division at GCC