Santa Monica College (SMC) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. Founded as a

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. Although initially serving primarily pre-college

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

students, the college quickly expanded its enrollment to educate college-age students and non-traditional students with the primary intention to transfer to a four-year university. It is one of the few schools which has high transfer rates to four-year universities such as the Universities of California or California State Universities. Today, two-thirds of students at Santa Monica College are enrolled part-time. With over 2,000 employees, SMC is a major employer in the

Greater Los Angeles Area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

and has a significant impact in the region's economy. Occupying the entire Santa Monica Community College District, SMC is the only public institution of

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

in Santa Monica. The main campus, located on

Pico Boulevard Pico may refer to: Places The Moon * Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin Portugal * Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde * Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribei ...

, is the college's largest location. The college operates five satellite campuses across Santa Monica. SMC is the leader in California's system of 113 community colleges in transfers to the University of California system. Since 1929, SMC has provided job training, educational opportunities and cultural enrichment through its radio station

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programm ...

(89.9 FM), the Broad Stage at the SMC Performing Arts Center, and lifelong learning through distinctive programs such as its Emeritus College for older adults.

History

20th century

Santa Monica Junior College was established in September 1929 with 7 faculty members and 153 students in classes held on the second floor of Santa Monica High School. Attended primarily by high school students, it was originally part of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. Despite the ensuing

Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

and

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the school's enrollment increased to 355 in 1930 and 600 in 1931. In 1932, the college moved to the vacant brick Garfield Elementary School building on Michigan Avenue. The building was declared unsafe following the

1933 Long Beach earthquake The 1933 Long Beach earthquake took place on March 10 at south of downtown Los Angeles. The epicenter was offshore, southeast of Long Beach, California, on the Newport–Inglewood Fault. The earthquake had a magnitude estimated at 6.4 , and a m ...

and classes moved to tents and bungalows on the Garfield site, which students nicknamed Splinterville. In 1940, following a number of failed attempts to relocate to a larger property, the school purchased 6.18 acres on

for $10,197. In 1945, the junior college changed its name to Santa Monica City College. The Pico Boulevard and 17th Street campus opened on January 18, 1952, to 1,200 students. The college's first bond measure was passed in 1946 for the construction of Corsair Stadium, which began in 1946 and was completed in 1948. In 1969, the college secured its own governing board under the creation of the Santa Monica Junior College District. In 1970, the school changed its name from Santa Monica City College to Santa Monica College.

Financial crisis

Santa Monica College experienced a financial crisis in 1972 when the state of California changed the age of majority from 21 to 18. Since the state paid $40 more per unit of attendance of minors than adults, the change cut SMC's budget in half. Additionally, state funding for community college students in California went to the student's home district and not the college's district. SMC had a contract with the City of Los Angeles to finance students from Los Angeles but since one-third of SMC students were from districts outside of Los Angeles the city would lose even more funding. As a result, Los Angeles planned to cancel its financial compensation contract with SMC. The college consequently sent termination letters to all faculty and staff, effective September 1972. The crisis was halted on March 8, 1972, when the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...

passed a bill temporarily exempting community colleges from the financial effects of the change in the age of adulthood. On March 21, 1972, the college renegotiated its contract with the City of Los Angeles and rehired its faculty and staff. In 1980, the college built a new library and transformed the previous library building into the Letters and Science Building.

21st century

In 2012 Santa Monica College received national attention due to a controversial plan to create a two-tier system of education in which more "popular" courses would be offered at higher costs. Protests at a board meeting immediately following the plan's proposal led to several students being pepper sprayed. A report on the event resulted in an officer's dismissal. The report also faulted several members of the protest for provoking officers. Some people exclaimed "We got pepper sprayed! We won" after the incident.

2013 shooting

On June 7, 2013, a killing spree occurred in Santa Monica that left a total of five people dead, including the gunman and injured five others. The incident started several miles off-campus before the gunman traveled to SMC and entered the college's library, where he was later fatally shot by police. School officials put the campus on lockdown as Los Angeles Police Department officers, including

SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

, cleared the campus. Local law enforcement stated that they did not view the incident as a " school shooting" because the incident started off-campus.

Organization and governance

Santa Monica College is the only college of the Santa Monica Community College District, a constituent community college district of the

California Community Colleges System The California Community Colleges is a postsecondary education system in the U.S. state of California.California Education CodSection 70900(added to the Education Code by Chapter 973 of the California Statutes of 1988Assembly Bill No. 1725 sectio ...

(CCCS). The district is governed by its seven-member board of trustees and its officers including the Superintendent/President. The district territory includes Santa Monica and Malibu. The trustees are elected at-large from registered voters within the district for four years. A student trustee also participates in board meetings as a non-voting member and is elected by the students for one year. The board appoints and supervises the superintendent/president and sets district policy. The Superintendent of the Santa Monica Community College District/President of Santa Monica College has delegated authority to set rules and regulations for the district and Santa Monica College. The superintendent/president is accountable to the board, and all other officers are accountable to the superintendent/president. The board of trustees includes a student trustee in accordance with board policy BP 2015. The student trustee is elected and removed in accordance with the constitution and by-laws of the Associated Students of Santa Monica College.

Campus

SMC's main campus is located at 1900

and is the college's largest location. The college operates five satellite campuses across Santa Monica: * Bundy Campus, 3171 S. Bundy Dr. * SMC Performing Arts Center & Music Academy, Santa Monica Boulevard at 11th Street * Center for Media and Design, 1660 Stewart St. * Emeritus College, 1227 Second St. * Airport Campus, 2800 Airport Ave

Academics

The Santa Monica College Arts Mentor Program provides certain students in the fine and applied arts with graduate-level training by professionals in their specialized fields. Santa Monica College offers a variety of occupational certificate programs, including accounting, fashion design, office information systems, and the Academy of Entertainment Technology (which offers certificates in interactive media and animation). The college also offers logistics and supply chain programs at AAS and certificate level. Santa Monica College is ranked number one among California's junior colleges in transfers to the University of California, University of Southern California, and Loyola Marymount University. SMC is one of few community colleges that has a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy instrument for research purposes.

Accreditation

Santa Monica College is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).

Athletics

Santa Monica College fields 18 sports, eight men's teams and competes as a member of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) in the Western State Conference (WSC) for all sports except football, which competes in Southern California Football Association (SCFA). The mascot for SMC is Pico the Corsair. Pico the Corsair derives his name from Pico Boulevard, one of the four main streets which form the exterior perimeter of the campus. He sails on the ship the Lady Sixteen with his pet Pearl the Parrot while carrying his Sword of Silberkraus. The Lady Sixteen and Pearl are named after 16th street and Pearl Street respectively. SMC fields both men's and women's teams in basketball, cross country,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, swimming, track and field, volleyball, and water polo. SMC fields men's teams in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, and women's

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

, softball, and tennis teams. Santa Monica College football played undefeated seasons in 1958, 1966, 1980, and 2015. Santa Monica College won the Junior Rose Bowl, the unofficial National Championship, in 1958 against Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College on December 13, 1958. Santa Monica College Football is the defending two-time conference champion, for the years 2011 and 2012.

Corsair Field Corsair Field is an artificial turf stadium in the main campus of Santa Monica College. Details Corsair Field opened with the expansion of the campus to its current site in the early 1950s. It is the site of Santa Monica College events and many ...

(4,850) built in 1948, is home to football and track and field. The field was the starting point for both the men's and women's

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

events for the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

held in neighboring Los Angeles. Corsair Pavilion (1,600) is home to men's and women's basketball and volleyball teams, as well as the

Hollywood Fame Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

The Santa Monica College men's volleyball team won the national intercollegiate volleyball championship each year from 1961 to 1966, except for 1965, when it lost the title to UCLA.

Student life

In the fall of 2015, there were 33,964 students enrolled at SMC. Of these students: * 37.4% are full-time. * 62.6% are part-time. * 52.8% are women. * 47.2% are men. The average age is 24.1 years. * 19 and younger: 30.7% * 20 to 24: 41.2% * 25 to 29: 12.8% * 30 to 39: 8.7% * 40 to 49: 3.5% * 50 and older: 3.1% Santa Monica College is the home of

(89.9 FM), a

public radio Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

station, broadcasting throughout the Los Angeles and Orange County area with an estimated 450,000 listeners. The station is the broadcast home of '' Morning Becomes Eclectic''. As part of its hands-on media curriculum, the college produces its own weekly, student-run newspaper (both in print, and online) called '' The Corsair''. The newspaper began as ''The SaMoJaC'' and was published every two weeks before being renamed ''The Corsair'' in 1945. Big Blue Bus 4811

SMC students have established a student body association named Associated Students of Santa Monica College (ASSMC). The association is required by law to "encourage students to participate in the governance of the college". ASSMC periodically participates in meetings sponsored by 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".Section 76060.5
of the California Education Code. Retrieved 2018-5-10. SMC students who pay the $19.50 Associated Students fee at registration have unlimited access to the Big Blue Bus lines across Santa Monica and its adjacent neighborhoods, including a line on Lincoln Boulevard that accesses

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

(LAX).

Notable alumni

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Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

File:JaDean-cropped.jpg,

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...

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Ryan Seacrest Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American media personality and producer. He is the co-host of ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'', as well as the host of multiple media shows including ''American Idol'', ''American Top 40'', and '' ...

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References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Venues of the 1984 Summer Olympics Buildings and structures in Santa Monica, California California Community Colleges Educational institutions established in 1929 Olympic athletics venues Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Universities and colleges in Los Angeles County, California Organizations based in Santa Monica, California 1929 establishments in California