Did you know? Celebrating Academic Excellence

Kevin Ballinger

May 4, 2023

• Alumni

Did you know the first official activity of OCC was in February 1947 when the "Orange Coast Junior College District" appointed Board met for the first time? Our first appointed five-member Board was seated in January 1947. The appointed members were (Board President) Judge Donald J. Dodge* (see Judge Dodge story below) of Costa Mesa, Dante Siracusa of Huntington Beach, Donovan Lawhead of Seal Beach, Louis Condrady of Seal Beach, and Braden Finch of Newport Beach.

• Note: Costa Mesa and Westminster were not as yet cities (CM 1953 & Wm 1957) at the time of OCC's founding, but they were distinct areas moving toward incorporation.
• Our first elected Board was seated in May of 1947. It comprised Hubbard Howe of Newport Beach, Harry LeBard, of Huntington Beach, Louis Condrady of Westminster, Donovan Lawheard of Seal Beach, and Horace Parker of Costa Mesa "and Balboa Island."

Although our college was never called " Junior ," the District used "Junior" in the title until December 1970. The District officially changed to Coast Community College District 8 years after the initial planning for Golden West College. The primary reason for our name change, in Board minutes (June 1970), was a change in the State Education Code that allowed districts and colleges to drop Junior and use Community if the Board so wished. Because we had two colleges then, the Board used that opportunity to drop the word Orange and Junior and officially become Coast Community College District.

Before 1960, to create a Junior College, the citizens of a community had to do two things:

1. Secondary Schools had to allocate funding, meaning the high school districts had to determine the need.
2. They had to have their Boards, Budgets, and Policies independent of the secondary schools.

After the High School Districts of Newport Harbor and Huntington Beach jointly decided in 1947 to have a Junior College, our first Board was appointed by the Orange County Superintendent of Schools until an election could be held. Interestingly, serious discussion of a Junior College began in the late 1920s and proceeded in the '30s. World War II stopped the conversations, but the high school districts picked up the efforts as soon as the war was over and military bases were closing, including the Santa Ana Army Air Base (SAAB) in Costa Mesa.

Readers may be interested in some of the Board's early decisions listed here by dates:

• March 1947: The Board was very interested in the SAAB land but directed an investigation into how to fund a college even if we don't get the base from the Federal Government base closure.
• June 1947: The Board took action on the first person hired – Dr. Peterson as Superintendent and President of Orange Coast College. His three-year contract was unusual in that if a college did not start, he would no longer be employed, and if a college began, he would get a $500/year raise.
• September 1947: Requested resident property tax to support college operational budgets.
• December 1947: A report was made to the Board on survey results from local businesses' interest in the academic and occupational programs needed and the survey results from local High School students’ interest in attending the new college.
• January 1948: The Board was given the official report of the receipt of the SAAB base, and the Board approved the list of "terminal vocational curricula" to be offered in the first year.
• May 1949: Residents voted to approve OCC's first facility bond (2:1 ratio voted in favor)

After OCC was fully operational, planning soon began for a second campus. Remember, we were started by two High School Districts – Newport Mesa and Huntington Beach. By 1961, a campus on the Huntington Beach side of the District was in serious discussion. Here are some of those critical decisions:

• November 1961: The Board formally requested a "quick claim" deed of the OCC property to the US Government. This was needed for a possible sale of some of the OCC property.
• February 1962: The Board approved purchasing 122 acres in Huntington Beach for a new campus.
• March 1962: Report to the Board that OCC had an enrollment head count of 12,604 students (from 500 in fall 1948!).
• May 1962: The name of the new Huntington Beach campus was first discussed. No agreement was made for the name of the new college, but that was the first mention of using the title Golden West College.
• June 1962: A suggestion was recorded (but not approved) in the Board minutes to name the new college "West End College."
• October 1962: The Board approved the sale of 32 acres of OCC adjacent to Harbor Blvd. The funds were used for the property in Huntington Beach.

*Judge Dodge was the first Board President among the five appointed District Board members from Jan 27- May 1, 1947. Judge Dodge campaigned for years before OCC began separating the Newport Harbor school district from Santa Ana. He served on the Newport Harbor H.S. Board for 30 years, 20 years as the President. There is a building named after him at Newport Harbor HS – "Dodge Hall." The Newport Harbor High School in 1935 is below (left), and a 2023 camps map (right). In Judge Dodge’s obituary, his accolades included that he "was instrumental in forming both the Newport Harbor High School District and Orange Coast College… and was a member of the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce."