Jack Scott (California politician)
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Jack Alan Scott (born August 24, 1933) is an American educator and former Democratic politician. Currently, a scholar in residence at Claremont Graduate University, Scott earlier served as president at two California community colleges, member of the California State Assembly and California State Senate and Chancellor of the California Community Colleges System.


Early life

Scott was born in Sweetwater, Texas. He received a Bachelor's degree from Abilene Christian University, a Master of Divinity degree from
Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...
, and a Ph.D. degree in American history from Claremont Graduate University. Scott joined the faculty at
Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...
, after moving to California in 1962.


Education career

In 1973 Scott became Dean of Instruction at Orange Coast College. Five years later he became president of
Cypress College Cypress College is a public community college in Cypress, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and belongs to the North Orange County Community College District. It offers a variety of general education (55 associ ...
, serving from 1978 to 1987. Scott became president of Pasadena City College in 1987 and served there until 1995. He is the first ''President Emeritus'' of that school. On May 8, 2008, Scott was selected to be the 14th Chancellor of the California Community Colleges System, the largest system of higher education in the world. Serving over two million students on 112 college campuses, the statewide system is divided into 72 community college districts, overseen by locally elected Boards of Trustees. Retiring from that position in late summer 2012, Scott became a scholar in residence at Claremont University on September 17, 2012.


State Legislature

In 1996 Scott was recruited by state Democrats to run for California State Assembly against vulnerable incumbent Bill Hoge (R-Pasadena). He ousted him and won an easy reelection in 1998. In 2000 he ran for the California State Senate seat vacated by Democrat
Adam Schiff Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who has served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Par ...
. He faced off against fellow assemblyman Scott Wildman from neighboring Glendale in the Democratic primary. Considered more of a gadfly and complainer, Wildman was not supposed to be much of a match for the savvier Scott. He nevertheless made the race close, scoring 46.7% of the vote to Scott's 53.3%. Scott then had little trouble winning the general election and didn't even have a major party opponent in 2004. While serving in the state Senate, Scott chaired the Senate Committee on Education and also chaired the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education. He introduced legislation that would ban
Mylar BoPET (biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate) is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and a ...
balloons in response to the Burbank Water & Power complaining about hundreds of
power outages A power outage (also called a powercut, a power out, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, or a blackout) is the loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an electricity ...
caused by these kinds of balloons. This had led to protests, led by
KFI KFI (640 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It began operations in 1922 and became one of the first high-powered, clear-channel station, clear-channel List of ...
hosts John and Ken. The Senate eventually passed an amended version of the bill that would raise the penalty for selling a balloon without a proper weight attached and require the balloon to have a warning about the risks of the balloon coming in contact with power lines. California State Term Limits prevented Scott from seeking reelection in 2008.


Electoral history


Personal

Scott and his late wife, Lacreta (1934-2021), have five children, eleven grandchildren and fourteen great grandchildren.


Gun control

Scott is very active in gun control. He began his gun control efforts after his son Adam, an attorney who had recently graduated from USC Law School, was fatally shot at a party with friends. One of his friends had a shotgun, which he did not know was loaded. His friend discharged the shotgun, hitting Adam and killing him.


References


External links


Office of the Chancellor
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Join California Jack Scott
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Jack California state senators Members of the California State Assembly Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Abilene Christian University alumni 1933 births Living people Yale Divinity School alumni Claremont Graduate University alumni Pepperdine University faculty 21st-century American politicians People from Sweetwater, Texas