Orange Coast College - Log Yearbook (Costa Mesa, CA)

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Big oaks from little acorns grow goes the old saying. No better illustration could be found than our own Orange Coast College, now winding up its tenth year of highly successful operation. Probably the first thing you new stu- dents noticed as you entered the Coun- seling Center to register was the differ- ence between this building and the one to the south. You soon learned that mod- ern structure was the student center, called The Cove. If you had chanced to come in from Harbor Blvd. and to drive in an easternly direction for a stretch before turning right, you would have passed a rectangular structure. In your mind you might have labeled it a gathering place. The church-type build- ing a short ways beyond would prob- ably have clued you in to OCC ' s structural origin — an old service base. As you went to your classes and used the facilities of the library, auditorium, etc., you soon learned that, to a great extent, the new had replaced the old. The dedication of the Agricultural Build- ing in January showed you the develop- ment and transition was still going on. Orange Coast College had its beginning Jan. 27, 1947 when the voters in the coastal area between Seal Beach and Corona del Mar approved the formation of a new junior college district. That fall a limited number of evening classes began at Newport Harbor High. In Feb- ruary, 1948, work was started on the A nmmum

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remodeling of some of the 63 barracks on the 243 acres acquired from the Fed- eral Government on the former Santa Ana Army Air Base. Regular daytime classes opened on campus in September, 1948 with an enrollment of 515 students. An additional 724 took adult education courses at night. The rebuilding of the campus got under way in May, 1949, when voters of the district approved a 29 cent per $100 valuation special tax increase for seven years for building purposes with the funds to be used both for new structures and for the remodel- ing of some of the existing buildings. A total of $4,360,000 has been spent for the new and remodeled buildings on a pay as you go plan — no debt. Thirteen of the present campus structures are new and include a technology building, art center, science building, agriculture building, library, student center, and auditorium. Seven of the old structures including the administration building have been remodeled. Buildings alone, of course, do not make a college. There are the students, curriculum, etc. Where did you come from? Well, you ' re not all graduates of Huntington Beach and Harbor high schools. You came from La- guna Beach, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Anaheim, Tustin, Garden Grove, and Westminster as well as districts outside Orange County. What did you study? The college ' s program is broken down into five fields. They