Fullerton College
Fullerton College is a public community college in Fullerton, California. The college is one of 112 in the California Community Colleges System and belongs to the North Orange County Community College District. Established in 1913, it is the oldest community college in continuous operation in California.
History
In April 1913, the governing board of Fullerton Union High School approved a motion to establish a two-year postgraduate course of study at the high school. At this time, Fullerton was primarily an agricultural community, which specialized in the production of citrus produce. Delbert Brunton, who was the Fullerton High principal, established the new Fullerton Junior College to provide such postgraduate study.Twenty-six freshman students enrolled in the first year, and the school had a curriculum of 10 courses. "In 1922 the college was reorganized as an independent junior college district. After holding classes on the Fullerton Union High School campus for its first 23 years, the college began moving to its own fourteen-acre campus next door in 1936."
In 2002, North Orange County voters passed a $239 million facilities bond measure, of which nearly $135 million was allotted to Fullerton College. It was used for renovation of current campus facilities and also to construct new facilities. On June 13, 2005, the new library inside of the LLRC was opened, and a formal dedication occurred on October 28, 2005. A bond measure that passed in 2014 will award the North Orange County Community College District $574 million to fund construction and renovation projects for the next 25 years.
Campus
The college is located in the city of Fullerton, California, in northern Orange County. The campus is within walking distance of the downtown section.Library
The Fullerton College library first opened in 1913, in a small section of the Fullerton High School Library. It moved into the high school gymnasium in 1929 and to a small space in the new science building in 1938. A specialized facility was constructed in 1957 and named the William T. Boyce Library in 1962 in honor of William T. Boyce, who served as dean and president from 1918-1951. A new library was constructed and opened on June 13, 2005, and formally dedicated on October 28, 2005.Art Gallery
The Fullerton College Gallery Program is an educational institution that encourages interdisciplinary exploration of art ideas and experience. The mission of the Gallery Program is to create an environment where the largest possible share of its diverse constituencies can study and learn from a direct experience with works of art.Artist in Residence Program
The Fullerton College Art Department hosts a yearly artist in residence program, which was started in 1972 with a visit from painter Wayne Thiebaud. August 2013 marked the 100th fall semester of the AIR program. It was celebrated with the first exhibit of the entire AIR art collection at the Fullerton College Art Gallery.- 1972: Wayne Thiebaud
- 1973: Florence Arnold and Nathan Oliviera
- 1974: Dimitri Hadzi
- 1975: José Luis Cuevas
- 1976: Peter Alexander and Ruth Bernhard
- 1977: Jack Beal
- 1978: Carol Summers
- 1982: Ynez Johnston
- 1990: Michael Schlicting
- 1991: Jack Zajac
- 1992: Leslie Gabrielse and John Nava and Miriam Shapiro
- 1993: Jim Morphesis
- 1994: John Frame
- 1996: John Alexander
- 1998: Ruth Weisberg and Milford Zornes
- 2000: Roland Reiss
- 2001: Frank Romero
- 2002: Terry Allen
- 2003: Raúl Anguiano; Mitchell Confer and Jerome Ranft and Mike Sheehan and Marshall Vandruff
- 2005: Justin Sweet
- 2006: Alyssa Monks
- 2007: Todd Frahm
- 2008: Phil Cornelius
- 2009: Sandow Birk
- 2010: Hung Liu
- 2011: Gronk
- 2012: Marlo Bartels
- 2013: Mia Tavonatti
- 2014: Ben Jackel
- 2015: Thomas Campbell
- 2016: Lesley Dill
- 2017: Abel Alejandre
- 2018: Lisa Congdon
- 2019: Stephen Silver
Organization and administration
Student government
The students of Fullerton College have established a student body association named Associated Students of Fullerton College. The association is required by law to "encourage students to participate in the governance of the college".Associated Students of Fullerton College is a voting member of a statewide community college student organization named Student Senate for California Community Colleges. The statewide Student Senate is authorized by law "to advocate before the Legislature and other state and local governmental entities".
Academic profile
2016 school enrollment is nearly 25,000.Fullerton College is one of the state's highest ranked transfer institutions in terms of total numbers of students who transfer to University of California and California State University campuses combined. Of the 109 California Community Colleges, it currently ranks 7th in terms of total numbers of students who transferred to either a UC or CSU, 1st in the state in terms of numbers of students who transfer to the CSU system and is in the top ten California community colleges in terms of overall transfers to the University of Southern California.
Undergraduate | |
African-American | 2.50% |
American Indian | 0.22% |
Asian | 12.25% |
Filipino | 2.78% |
Hispanic | 55.27% |
Multi-Ethnic | 3.12% |
Pacific Islander | 0.28% |
Unknown | 5.06% |
White Non-Hispanic | 18.53% |
Sports
The college athletics teams are nicknamed the Hornets.Notable alumni
Actors and artists
- James Cameron — Academy Award Winning movie director and screenwriter, and an explorer of the seas. Attended Fullerton College from 1973–1974.
- William Conrad — Actor, producer and director whose career spanned five decades in radio, film and television.
- Tamara Mello — Television and movie actress.
- Jerome Ranft — Sculptor
- Cress Williams — Actor, appeared in numerous TV shows including Beverly Hills, 90210, , NYPD Blue, ER, Becker, Nash Bridges, Providence, The West Wing, Grey's Anatomy, and Veronica Mars.
- Eden Espinosa actress and singer
- Harry Anderson actor, comedian, and magician
Music
- Gwen Stefani — lead singer of band No Doubt and fashion designer
- Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender— founder of the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company
- Tim Buckley singer-songwriter
Politics
- Pat Nixon — wife of former President Richard M. Nixon and First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974
Sports
- Justin Carter -- basketball player for Maccabi Kiryat Gat of the Israeli Premier League
- Bobby Cramer — MLB pitcher
- Jim Fassel — NFL and UFL coach, started as a quarterback at Fullerton and later returned to coach the Fullerton football team in 1973.
- Kevin McLain, former American football linebacker in the NFL, played for the Los Angeles Rams
- Monte Nitzkowski — swimmer and water polo player.
- Steve DeBerg former NFL quarterback
- Dave Wilson former NFL quarterback
- Brian Noble former NFL linebacker
- John Pease former NFL and college coach
- Mike Horan former NFL kicker
- J.C. Pearson former NFL player
- Floyd Rhea former NFL player
- Brig Owens former NFL player
- Howie Livingston former NFL player
- Larry Mac Duff former NFL and college coach
- John Young former MLB player
- Steve Kiefer former MLB player
- Al Hrabosky former MLB pitcher
- Steve Trachsel former MLB pitcher
- Ron Johnson former MLB player and minor league manager
- Robert Frojen water polo player, 1956 Olympic team
- Marvin Burns water polo player, 1952 and 1960 Olympic teams
- Bill Johnson Olympic swimmer on the 1968 800m freestyle relay team
- Bob Horn water polo goalie, 1956 and 1960 Olympic teams
- Jerry Pimm college basketball player and head coach
- Bobby Dye college basketball player and head coach
- Sharron Backus college softball player and head coach
- Rick Sloan track & field Decathlete 1968 Olympics
- Doug Nordquist track & field high jumper 1984 Olympics