Jump to content

Los Angeles Pierce College

Coordinates: 34°11′02″N 118°34′30″W / 34.183921°N 118.5750531°W / 34.183921; -118.5750531
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Los Angeles Pierce College
TypePublic community college
Established1947
Parent institution
LACCD
AccreditationACCJC
PresidentAracely Aguiar (interim)
Students23,000
Location
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
,
U.S.

34°11′02″N 118°34′30″W / 34.183921°N 118.5750531°W / 34.183921; -118.5750531
CampusUrban, 426 acres (172 ha)
Colors   Scarlet & white
NicknameBrahmas
Sporting affiliations
CCCAA – WSC,
SCFA (football)
MascotBrahma Bull
Websitewww.piercecollege.edu

Los Angeles Pierce College, shortened to Pierce College or simply Pierce, is a public community college in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Los Angeles Community College District and is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. It serves 22,000 students each semester.[1]

The college began with 70 students and 18 faculty members on September 15, 1947. Originally known as the Clarence W. Pierce School of Agriculture, the institution's initial focus was crop cultivation and animal husbandry. Nine years later, in 1956, the school was renamed to Los Angeles Pierce Junior College, retaining the name of its founder, Dr. Pierce, as well as his commitment to agricultural and veterinary study. (Pierce still maintains a 225-acre (91 ha) working farm for hands-on training.)

Academics

[edit]

Pierce College offers courses on more than 100 subjects in 92 academic disciplines, and has transfer alliances with most of the universities in the state. Students at the school successfully transfer to UC and CSU schools.

Students can pursue any of the 44 associate's degrees or 78 Certificates of Achievement the school offers directly.

The western rural Farm Area, at Los Angeles Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

Campus

[edit]

Pierce College comprises 426 acres (172 ha) amidst a dense metropolis, an area larger than many university campuses, including that of UCLA. The grounds are landscaped with more than 2,200 trees, thousands of roses and a 1.9-acre (0.77 ha) botanical garden. The Pierce College farm houses small herds of cattle, sheep, goats, and a small poultry flock for its students to learn from.

In June 2017, the Los Angeles Community College District Board Of Trustees voted to grant San Francisco Bay Area-based Pacific Dining[2] a concession for dining services, replacing several small vendors at the five LACCD colleges including Pierce. Pacific Dining has not offered food at Pierce since 2020, resulting in few food options on campus. [3]

John Shepard Stadium

[edit]
View from the Pierce College Performing Arts Building up in the Chalk Hills,
northeast across San Fernando Valley to the San Gabriel Mountains.
Student body composition as of 2022
Race and ethnicity[4] Total
Hispanic 49% 49
 
White 28% 28
 
Unknown 10% 10
 
Asian 9% 9
 
Black 4% 4
 
Two or more races[a] 4% 4
 
Foreign national 1% 1
 
Gender Distribution
Male 41% 41
 
Female 59% 59
 
Age Distribution
Under 18 9% 9
 
18-24 57% 57
 
25-64 33% 33
 
Over 65 1% 1
 

Besides hosting the Brahmas' football and women's soccer teams, John Shepard Stadium (current capacity 5,500)[5] also has hosted many outdoor professional sporting events in San Fernando Valley history.

From 1976 to 1979, the San Fernando Valley's first professional sports team, the Los Angeles Skyhawks of the American Soccer League, played their home games at the Pierce College stadium.

The Los Angeles Express of the USFL played their last home game here on June 15, 1985.[6] The stadium was expanded to 16,000-person capacity for the game.

Shepard Stadium hosts Nuts for Mutts, an annual dog show and pet fair that raises funds for the New Leash on Life Animal Rescue.

The stadium is also the former home stadium of the San Fernando Valley Quakes men's soccer team, which competed in the USL Premier Development League.

Transport

[edit]

Los Angeles Pierce College has its own stop on the Metro G/Orange Line, the Pierce College station, on Winnetka Avenue near Victory Boulevard.

Solar power

[edit]

Pierce College has a 191-kilowatt solar generation system that has 1,274 photovoltaic panels and a 360-kilowatt, natural gas co-generation system. This project is the largest of its kind to be undertaken by a U.S. community college[citation needed], yielding around 4.4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 1,500 tons over its operating lifetime. The college also has a water retention pond beneath its soccer field, collecting run-off from the adjacent parking lot. The Los Angeles River is nearby to the north. Under propositions A and AA[clarification needed], a new water reclamation facility is also being planned, and the new facilities will meet rigorous Silver-level guidelines set by the U.S. Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.[citation needed]

Old Trapper's Lodge

[edit]
Old Trapper's Lodge
LocationWoodland Hills, Los Angeles
Built1951 to 1981
ArchitectJohn Ehn
Reference no.939.5

The campus is home to Old Trapper's Lodge, California Historical Landmark No. 939.5, an outsider art environment that pays homage to the pioneer upbringing of its creator John Ehn. It represents the life work of John Ehn (1897–1981), a self-taught artist who wished to pass on a sense of the Old West, derived from personal experiences, myths, and tall tales. From 1951 to 1981, using his family as models, and incorporating memorabilia, the 'Old Trapper' followed his dreams and visions to create the Lodge and its 'Boot Hill.' The artwork was moved from the original site in Sun Valley, CA, and relocated to the college.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

Pierce College Farm and Farm Center

[edit]
South Gym

The Pierce College Farm covers 226 acres (91 ha) of the college with several units for their animals. The farm has a $13 million equestrian center used for agricultural students' education that offers UC transferable courses for important animal and veterinary science programs.[20]

In April of every year, the Foundation for Pierce College hosts Farmwalk, an outdoor festival including animals, activities, displays, games and music. The Farmwalk also includes face-painting, a petting-zoo and hayrides for children, all to benefit the Pierce College farm.

The Farm Center on the corner of Victory Boulevard and De Soto Avenue is a 32-acre (13 ha) parcel that was partnered between the Foundation for Pierce College and the McBroom family. The McBroom family have invested nearly $3.5 million to operate the Farm Center which covered utility, labor, insurance, and other operational costs.[20] In October the Foundation sponsored an annual Harvest Festival, featuring pumpkins grown on the Pierce farm, a 5-mile (8.0 km) corn maze, rock climbing, games and rides for the children, a petting zoo, live music and Halloween frights for the whole family. In late December 2014, the Farm Center was evicted from Pierce College, and closed to the public.[21]

The college also serves as a Los Angeles County large animal emergency evacuation center. During a slew of fires in Southern California in 2007, Pierce College sheltered and fed more than 150 horses under the direction of the L.A. County Volunteer Equine Response team. The horses were taken in for free at Pierce, and a veterinarian was onsite. Trained volunteers from Pierce's equestrian program assisted the county rescue effort.

Weather station

[edit]

The Pierce College weather station was one of the first to cooperate with the government to provide archived data online as well as being one of the oldest operational cooperative weather stations in the country. It was founded under the direction of Professor A. Lee Haines on July 1, 1949, two years after the college was founded. In 2009, the Pierce College Weather Station was awarded $85,000 used to provide the station with new sensors that are rare for co-op stations in the U.S.[22][23] The Weather Station organizes tours showing their equipment and their functions upon request.[24]

Athletics

[edit]

The college athletic teams are nicknamed the Brahmas and currently fields six men's and six women's varsity teams. Pierce 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).[25] In 2009 the Pierce Brahmas won the American Pacific Conference, losing in the first round of bowl playoffs to the National Champs Mt. San Antonio College.

Student government

[edit]

The students of Pierce College have established a student body association named Los Angeles Pierce College Associated Student Organization (ASO).[26] The association is required by law to "encourage students to participate in the governance of the college".[27]

The ASO 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".[28]

Notable alumni and staff

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Other consists of Multiracial Americans & those who prefer to not say.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Pierce". piercecollege.edu. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  2. ^ "Pacific Dining - Food Service Management". Pacific Dining - Food Service Management.
  3. ^ "Now serving what the district orders". June 8, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  4. ^ "Student Life (Fall 2022): Los Angeles Pierce College". USNEWS. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  5. ^ "Los Angeles Sports Council - L.A. Facilities". lasports.org.
  6. ^ ""YESTERDAY IN L.A. : HERE COMES KAREEM; THERE GOES O.J." By: - Tom Hoffarth June 14, 1999 Daily News". thefreelibrary.com.
  7. ^ Russell, Charles (October 24, 2017). Self-taught Art: The Culture and Aesthetics of American Vernacular Art. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781578063802 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ Johnson, Marael (August 1, 1995). California Why Stop?: A Guide to California Roadside Historical Markers. Taylor Trade Publishing. ISBN 9781461708568 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ "John Ehn - Ancestry.com". search.ancestry.com.
  10. ^ "One Man's Vision of the West – Old Trapper's Lodge Folk Art". March 9, 2017.
  11. ^ Delja, Beatrice. "CHL # 939.5 Old Trapper's Lodge Los Angeles". californiahistoricallandmarks.com.
  12. ^ "The Old Trapper's Lodge by John Ehn – Burbank, CA". November 22, 2008.
  13. ^ "John Ehn, CA - John Michael Kohler Arts Center". jmkac.org.
  14. ^ "John Ehn - Historical records and family trees - MyHeritage". myheritage.com.
  15. ^ "The Old Trapper's Lodge (Landmark #939-2)! - The Bill Beaver Project". October 23, 2011.
  16. ^ "Old Trapper's Lodge". Harrysonpics.
  17. ^ "NarrowLarry's World of the Outstanding - Old Trapper's Lodge". narrowlarry.com.
  18. ^ Design, TOKY Branding + (June 19, 2019). "John Ehn, Old Trapper's Lodge - SPACES". spacesarchives.org.
  19. ^ Parzanese, Joe. "Old Trapper's Lodge - Weird California". Weird California.
  20. ^ a b "The Pierce Farm and the Pierce Farm Center". savepiercefarmcenter.org. Archived from the original on January 21, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  21. ^ "Pierce College moves to oust Farm Center from property after missed deadline". Los Angeles Daily News. May 4, 2015. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  22. ^ Pool, Bob (October 12, 2012). "Pierce College weather station gets major upgrade" – via LA Times.
  23. ^ http://sherman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/sherman-secures-85000-for-pierce-college om/about/
  24. ^ "About | Pierce College Weather Station". piercecollegeweather.com. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  25. ^ "2019-20 CCCAA Directory" (PDF). California Community College Athletic Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  26. ^ Associated Student Organization (ASO). Retrieved 2018-5-11.
  27. ^ Section 76060 of the California Education Code. Retrieved 2018-5-11.
  28. ^ Section 76060.5 of the California Education Code. Retrieved 2018-5-11.
  29. ^ "Rick Auerbach Stats". Baseball Almanac. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  30. ^ "Keith Jardine Canoga High School". Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  31. ^ "Keith Jardine UFC Bio". Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  32. ^ Mitnick, Kevin (2011). Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-03770-9.
  33. ^ "My Twisted World : The Story of Elliot Rodger By Elliot Rodger" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 26, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  34. ^ "CUI Hires Former Olympian as New Men's Volleyball Head Coach". Retrieved April 12, 2024.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Los Angeles Pierce College.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Los_Angeles_Pierce_College&oldid=1247799786"