Fresno City College 1910-2010

Before the year gets any longer I must wish Fresno City College a happy birthday! Opening on September 12, 1910 and it will celebrate its 100th birthday all of this year. I must admit that I am a little biased about this school since I was awarded a lifetime student body card for my service to the school. No, I was not there when it opened, but I think that some of my teachers must have been. The school was the first junior college in the state of California and the second one to be established in the USA. The school started out as a part of Fresno High School and as such it gained the reputation as a high school with ashtrays. So things have changed. Now you can’t smoke at any school. The time I spent there are very memorable. I was honored to be elected to the student council and that is how I was awarded the lifetime student card. I know that the responsibilities of elected government do go to all levels and in fact we actually did some things that affected the campus and we tried to make the college experience better for all the students. The school is more than part of the history of higher education in California. Fresno City College is now part of a multi campus system. In my day we had busses that carried students from the far parts of the district. I do remember how hard it was for some to reach the campus during the winter Toole fog season. I remember that once we had finals during a snow storm. Yes snow. The only schools that were open were FCC and Fresno State. I was doing some final in the old bungalows and it was cold. I walked to school that day just to avoid driving because I knew that no one actually had any experience driving in the snow and that parking would be worse than usual. I can now tell my son that I actually had to walk to school in the snow and it was uphill both ways.

When FCC students attend statewide events they are considered a top school. Just try to imagine what it was like to attend a college in 1910 when the school was founded. How long would it have taken to reach San Francisco or Los Angeles? I suspect that train travel was the best choice and that it was easier and faster to go to San Francisco then to Los Angeles. Car production was still at a minimum in 1910 with the Ford model T only starting in 1907. It is also important to note that in 1910 the population of the city of Fresno was 24,892. If you look up the population trends you will notice that in that era the population of the city tended to double every 10 years. The history of the school and the people who have attended have made an impression on me and many other people. The community college system now supports and supplements the college and university systems of many states. With the cost of education continuing to escalate they have become even more important than they were in the past. Join me and many others who appreciate FCC on September 10, 2010 for the Centennial Convocation at the college and many other events that will be held throughout the year.