Citrus College 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 ...

Glendora, California Glendora is a city in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, California, east of Los Angeles. As of the 2020 census, the population of Glendora was 52,558. Known as the "Pride of the Foothills", Glendora is nestled in the foothills o ...

. The Citrus Community College District, which supports the institution, includes the communities of

Azusa Azusa may refer to: Relating to California From a Native American language, likely Tongva language, Tongva ''Asuksagna:'' *Azusa, California, a city in the United States *Azusa Pacific University, a Christian-based institution in Azusa, California ...

, Claremont,

Duarte Duarte may refer to: * Duarte (surname), person's surname (or composed surname) and given name * Duarte, California, United States * Duarte Province, Dominican Republic * Pico Duarte Pico Duarte is the highest peak in the Dominican Republic, on th ...

, Glendora and

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As the ...

. Founded in 1915 by educator Floyd S. Hayden, Citrus College is the oldest community college in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

, and the fifth oldest in the state of California. Until 1961, the school was operated by the Citrus Union High School District and served the local area as both a high school and a junior college. The superintendent/president is Dr. Greg Schulz, and the board of trustees includes Cheryl Alexander, Laura J. Bollinger, Dr. Anthony Contreras, Mary Ann Lutz and Dr. Patricia A. Rasmussen. During the 2019-2020 academic year, Citrus College enrolled 19,626 students. It conferred 2,444 degrees and awarded 2,175 certificates. 531 students graduated with honors (GPAs of 3.3 to 4.0). Citrus College currently offers 65

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

s, 88 certificates and skill awards in career technical education programs, and 29 associate degrees for transfer (ADTs). Its operating budget for 2020-2021 is $78 million.

Campus

Citrus College has a 104-acre (42 ha) campus that includes 44 buildings and seven outdoor athletics facilities. The Haugh Performing Arts Center (HPAC) is a 1,440-seat proscenium venue and is host to over 140 performances annually, with over 100,000 patrons in attendance. Seats are no more than from the stage. The campus also holds a larger

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

. The campus is also served by a nearby rail station for the Metro L Line as of March 5, 2016.

Athletics

The college's athletic teams are known as the Owls. The college currently fields eight men's and eight women's varsity teams. It competes as a member of the

California Community College Athletic Association The California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) is a sports association of community colleges in the U.S. state of California. It oversees 108 athletic programs throughout the state. The organization was formed in 1929 as the Calif ...

(CCCAA) in the

Western State Conference The Western State Conference (WSC) is a college athletic conference that is affiliated with the California Community College Athletic Association. The conference was established in 1950, making it the oldest community college conference in Califo ...

(WSC) for all sports except football, which competes in

Southern California Football Association Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...

(SCFA). The football and soccer team play at the 10,000-seat-capacity Citrus Stadium.

Academics

The college runs the Citrus Singers program. This program, started in the 1960s, has provided a foundation for students to learn music and perform. Many of its alumni have gone on to be performers on Broadway and Television.

Accreditation

The college has accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Its professional memberships include the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and the Community College League of California (CCLC).

Notable faculty

John Boylan (record producer) John Patrick Boylan II (born March 21, 1941) is an American record producer and songwriter. Career Boylan grew up in Buffalo, New York. Upon graduating from Bard College, he and his brother Terence Boylan worked with music publisher Charles Ko ...

, Professor of Critical Listening Skills, and Music Business/Audio Careers *

Dale Salwak Dale Salwak is a professional magician from California who continues to perform internationally. He is a regular performer at The Magic Castle and is known as "The Gentleman of Magic". He has been the long-time director and owner (since 1978) of t ...

, Professor of English. Author of numerous books, including ''Teaching Life'', a memoir of over 35 years of teaching.

Notable alumni

Carlos Fisher Charles Edward "Carlos" Fisher (born February 22, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds. Early life Fisher graduated from Duarte High School ( Duarte, Cali ...

, baseball,

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

pitcher *

Chris Limahelu Chris Limahelu (October 16, 1950 – April 7, 2010) was placekicker for the USC Trojans football team during the 1973 and 1974 seasons when John McKay was the head coach. Only and during his playing career, he is remembered for setting new te ...

, football,

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

Lionel Manuel Lionel Manuel, Jr. (born April 13, 1962) is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver. He was drafted in the 7th round (171st pick overall) of the 1984 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, and played sev ...

, former

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

wide receiver who played seven seasons in the NFL, grew up in Rancho Cucamonga.

Free speech lawsuits

In 2003, at California's Citrus College, under the pressure of litigation and

FIRE Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

’s national campaign for campus constitutional rights, the Board of Trustees voted to rescind most of the speech codes at the public institution. This was the first victory in FIRE’s declared war on speech codes at public colleges and universities. The following year, Citrus College was sued again by FIRE when Citrus College reinstated its policy in the early 2010s, when a

Young Americans for Liberty Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) is a libertarian, classical liberal and Conservatism in the United States, conservative student activism organization headquartered in Austin, Texas. Formed in 2008 in the aftermath of the Ron Paul 2008 presiden ...

chapter, led by Gabriel Nadales and Vincenzo Sinapi-Riddle, was threatened with sanctions for not staying inside the "

Free Speech Zone Free speech zones (also known as First Amendment zones, free speech cages, and protest zones) are areas set aside in public places for the purpose of political protesting. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states that "Congres ...

." In an interview to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune,

Greg Lukianoff Gregory Christopher Lukianoff (; born 1974) is an American journalist, author and activist who serves as the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). He previously served as FIRE's first director of legal and public ...

, the president of Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said, "'Citrus College agreed to eliminate its restrictive ‘free speech zone’ in the face of a FIRE lawsuit back in 2003, but later reinstated its speech quarantine when it thought no one was watching'...'But FIRE was watching, and we'll continue to do so. If the speech codes come back again, so will we.'"

References

External links

Official website

Official athletics website
{{authority control California Community Colleges Glendora, California Educational institutions established in 1915 Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Universities and colleges in Los Angeles County, California 1915 establishments in California