San Diego Mesa College

San Diego Mesa College
Motto	A key force in our community to educate our students to shape the future.
Established	1964
Type	Public community college
Endowment	$116.29 million
President	Elizabeth Armstrong, Interim President
Academic staff	795
Admin. staff	526
Undergraduates	39,710
Location	San Diego, California, United States
Campus	Suburban, 104 acres (42 ha)
Colors	Navy Blue, White and Gold
Mascot	Olympians
Website	www.SanDiegoMesaCollege.edu

San Diego Mesa College is a public, two-year community college perched on a mesa in the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego, California in the United States. It is the largest community college in the city of San Diego^[1] and part of the San Diego Community College District along with San Diego City College, San Diego Miramar College and San Diego Continuing Education. The college is known informally as Mesa College or Mesa.

Mesa College is one of the 112 California Community Colleges and the 16th largest community college in the state.

History

South facade of the Learning Resource Center.

Community college education in San Diego began in 1914 when the Board of Education of the San Diego City Schools authorized postsecondary classes for San Diego high school students. Classes opened with four faculty members serving 35 students.

San Diego Mesa College first opened in 1964. Initially offering education to 1,800 students, it has grown to become one of the largest community colleges in California.

Between 1965 and 1968 the college newspaper, The Olympian, was produced by the journalism students under the supervision of Richard H. Tarquinio, the journalism instructor. During the academic year, 1967–68, the newspaper became The Daily Olympian, producing four 4-page issues each week and noted at that time as the only junior college daily newspaper in the nation. The journalism students in the same period produced four issues of a monthly magazine, The Dyonisian, drawing the name from the Greek heritage of the college. At the beginning of the 1968 academic year, the paper returned to weekly publication under the supervision of Andrew Makarushka, the new faculty advisor. John Nunes and John Baldwin served as Co-Editors during the Fall 1968 semester. Gerry Gazlay served as Editor-in-Chief during both the Spring 1969 and Spring 1970 semesters. Craig Whetstine was the Editor-in-Chief during the Fall 1969 semester. The Olympian won a First Class Honor Rating award from the Associated Collegiate Press for the issues published during the Spring 1970 semester. Those issues included three special editions, one concerning a student strike at Mesa in protest of the U.S. invasion of Cambodia ("The Strike Issue"), one regarding the first Earth Day in 1970, and another focusing on minority students at the college ("The Minority Student at Mesa"). In the Spring of 1971, the paper changed its name to "The School Paper." The publication's current name is "The Mesa Press."

In the mid-1990s, Mesa College began to construct on its campus the Learning Resource Center (LRC). It opened its doors to students on April 20, 1998. It serves as the campus library (employing the Library of Congress Classification system) and offers study areas and computer labs. It was constructed at a cost of $20 million and has four stories occupying 107,000 square feet (9,900 m²). A bond measure passed in 2002 and another in 2007 will allow construction of additional facilities on campus.

American film star Annette Bening, former St. Louis Rams head coach Mike Martz and Detroit Lions Assistant Director of College Scouting Lance Newmark attended San Diego Mesa College.

Administration

It is administered by the San Diego Community College District. Mesa is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Academics

Mesa College is coeducational. It has a semester-based academic calendar and resides on a campus of 104 acres (42 ha). Enrollment as of August 2004 was 22,573 students. Courses are provided in general education, lower-division transfer programs, occupational and developmental education. It is particularly known for its strong music program. Mesa has transfer agreements in place with most University of California and California State University schools.

It has been consistently rated within the top 100 community colleges in the United States.^{[citation needed]}

The college newspaper, The Mesa Press, is run by journalism students and covers Mesa-related news.

The Mesa College Foundation offers scholarships to Mesa students. It awarded over $120,000 in scholarships to Mesa students in 2004.^[2]

Sports

Mesa College has baseball, racquetball, swimming, tennis, soccer and football sport facilities on campus. The Olympians, the football team, has competed in the second Pacific Coast Conference since 1982.^[3]

Campus

The campus is generally divided into an upper and lower level with the Learning Resource Center (LRC) overlooking the lower level. It sits adjacent to the Tecolote Canyon Natural Park.^[4]

Parking

Student parking is available in both upper and lower parking lots and along campus streets. Small amounts of public parking are available surrounding the campus but most is designated as local resident parking by the city of San Diego.

On March 11, 2009, Mesa College opened a newly constructed parking structure on campus.

References

1. ^ Profile on communitycollege.net
2. ^ Mesa Foundation
3. ^ Pacific Coast Conference Nick Gerety and Josh White will be leading the basketball team this season for the Olympians, it should be fun to watch
4. ^ Tecolote Canyon Natural Park and Nature Center

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 32°48′16″N 117°10′13″W / 32.80444°N 117.17028°W / 32.80444; -117.17028