San Jose City College
(
SJCC
) is a public
community college
in
San Jose, California
. Founded in 1921, SJCC is located in the
West San Jose
neighborhood of
Fruitdale
.
History
[
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]
The college was founded in 1921, opening its doors to students in September of that year. SJCC is one of the oldest colleges in the
California Community College System
.
In 1953,
San Jose Unified School District
took over the college's operation in 1953 from
San Jose State University
. The college moved to its present location in the
Fruitdale
neighborhood of
West San Jose
in the same year.
The college's name changed to "San Jose City College" in 1958.
In 1999, 2004 and 2010, voters within the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District passed bond measures to re-build the campus and provide modern technology and facilities for the students, which resulted in the construction of buildings like Cesar E. Chavez Library, the Science Complex, Carmen Castellano Fine Arts Center, and the SJCC Student Center.
Campus
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]
SJCC's campus is located in
West San Jose
, in the neighborhood of
Fruitdale
. It is bound by Bascom Ave to the west, Leigh Ave to the east, and Moorpark Ave to the north.
Notable buildings on campus include Cesar E. Chavez Library, the Science Complex, the Student Center, Carmen Castellano Fine Arts Center, and the Technology Center, among others.
Cesar E. Chavez Library
[
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]
The new library opened in June 2003. It was named after Californian civil rights activist
Cesar E. Chavez
. The library is state-of-the-art with wireless Internet access and data ports throughout the building.
The library also has an electronic research laboratory consisting of 30 personal computers, an
electronic whiteboard
and a variety of learning software.
The library collection consists of approximately 63,000 books and 200 periodical subscriptions. In addition, the library’s databases make thousands of periodical articles available to students both on and off-campus.
Carmen Castellano Fine Arts Center
[
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]
The Carmen Castellano Fine Arts Center was opened in 2012. It is named after longtime local arts booster and community organizer Carmen Castellano.
[3]
[4]
The center includes a fine arts gallery and a theatre/performance space, alongside classrooms for relevant departments.
KJCC
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]
KJCC 104.1 FM is an online and very low power FM radio station run by San Jose City College students.
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
KJCC began in 1978, then in fall 1994, radio classes were cancelled due to budget cuts, and has since been operated by campus clubs.
[6]
Athletics
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]
San Jose City College is home to Jagsports.
A $1.7 million capital improvements plan includes a new weight and fitness training complex which is open now to all students, and contains weight and cardiovascular equipment.
During the 1970s, SJCC was a major training hub for Olympic track and field athletes. Under the supervision of coach
Bert Bonanno
,
Caitlyn Jenner
(known as Bruce Jenner prior to her transition) trained eight hours per day at the track before he won the 1976 Olympic decathlon. Alumni
Millard Hampton
and
Andre Phillips
both won Olympic gold medals, with coaching assistance from
Bobby Poynter
who was a part of
San Jose State University
's "Speed City" track team, and was also their coach and teacher at
Silver Creek High School (California)
. The throwing facilities, in particular, were home to gold medalist
Mac Wilkins
,
Al Feuerbach
and
John Powell
. All three became world record holders, Wilkins and Feuerbach setting their records at San Jose City College. Following Jenner's victory in Montreal, Bonanno created the Bruce Jenner Invitational, one of the top domestic meets for top-level athletes. It was an annual televised stop, equivalent with today's
Prefontaine Classic
. He also used Hampton and Phillips' names to create a local high school invitational.
In 1984 and 1987, the San Jose City College track was host to the
USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
.
In February 2018, men's basketball head coach Percy Carr became the all-time winningest black head coach in college basketball history.
[12]
Notable people
[
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]
Alumni
[
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]
- Amy Tan
,
National Book Award
-winning author of
The Joy Luck Club
- Ato Boldon
, Olympics gold-medalist
- Bob Mead
, member of the
New Hampshire House of Representatives
- Bob Toledo
, head coach for the
UCLA Bruins football
- Chris Cain
,
Blues Music Award
-winning musician
- Dave Laut
, two time
NCAA
-champion athlete
- Dave Righetti
,
All-Star
player for the
New York Yankees
- Dave Stieb
All-Star
player for the
Toronto Blue Jays
- Diamara Planell
, Olympic athlete
- Erik Bakich
, coach of the
Michigan Wolverines
- Johnpaul Jones
, award-winning architect of the
National Museum of the American Indian
- Scott Erickson
,
1991 World Series
-champion baseball player
- Sonia Sheridan
, founder of
Generative Systems
- Marcos Pinedo
, notable art dealer and collector
- Millard Hampton
, Olympic silver-medalist
Faculty
[
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]
- Marie E. Johnson-Calloway
, mixed-media artist
[13]
- John Shrader
, Professor of Journalism, has an extensive background in television and radio sports anchoring and sports reporting. For more than 15 years, John was a sports anchor/sports reporter/talk show host for
KNBR
Radio in
San Francisco
. He was a television sports anchor in San Jose for ten years, first at KNTV-TV and then KICU-TV. He also was the
San Jose Sharks
intermission host and rink-side reporter for the 2006-07 season on FSN Bay Area.
References
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]
External links
[
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]
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