Mt. San Antonio College

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Mt. San Antonio College

Type	Public community college
Established	1945
President	Martha Garcia
Students	61,000 (credit and noncredit students; fall 2021)
Location	Walnut , California , U.S. 34°02′49″N117°50′42″W / 34.047°N 117.845°W / 34.047; -117.845
Campus	suburban, 420 acres (1.7 km2)
Colors	Maroon
Nickname	Mounties
Mascot	Rizzly the Grizzly
Website	www.mtsac.edu

Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) is a public community college in Walnut, California. It offers more than 400 degree and certificate programs, 36 support programs, and more than 50 student clubs and athletic programs, including food pantry, counseling and tutoring. The college offers associate degrees, career education, community recreation courses, ESL, adult education, and youth summer programs. ^[1]

Contents

• History
• Campus
• Academics
• Student life
• Public speaking
• Chamber singers
• Fermata Nowhere
• Athletics
• Mt. SAC Relays
• Cross Country Invitational
• Notable alumni
• References

History

After World War II, local leaders anticipated the return of young people to college. Four local high school districts voted to approve the formation of the Mt. San Antonio Community College District in December 1945. ^[2] The board wasted little time. They immediately began to meet on December 26, 1945, and set out to find a suitable location and hire staff. They leased from the state of California a former U.S. Naval hospital located on 445 acres in what was unincorporated Walnut. The land had buildings from as early as 1919, when it was a home for wayward boys. It had also been the State Narcotic Hospital before the war. ^[3]

The lease began on July 1, 1946, and a newly hired staff immediately set out to open a college and begin to offer classes that fall. With a meager budget of $191,790, faculty and staff worked relentlessly to gather furniture and supplies, design courses, and register students. Family members and students voluntarily pitched in to help collect supplies and paint walls. The school opened for classes on September 16, 1946, with 682 registered students taking classes in programs organized under 7 divisions and 12 departments. ^[4]

Campus

Sitting on 420 acres in Walnut, California, ^[5] Mt. San Antonio College is strategically located in the center of the district it serves. While the college accepts students from outside of the district and even internationally, its district focuses on serving communities on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, including Baldwin Park, Bassett, Charter Oak, Covina, Diamond Bar, the southern portion of Glendora, Hacienda Heights, City of Industry, Irwindale, La Puente, La Verne, Pomona, Rowland Heights, San Dimas, Valinda, Walnut, and West Covina. ^[6]

The college has invested more than $1.5 billion in updating its facilities through public support of Measure R, Measure RR, and Measure GO bonds. ^[7] The college has a 250-acre farm; a working veterinary hospital; student-run restaurant, new science classrooms and laboratory facilities; a music, dance, and theater building; multi-media/internet connected classrooms; a new Olympic-quality stadium and athletics complex, baseball complex; two soccer fields; and is home of the world-famous Mt. SAC Relays. It has an Olympic size swimming pool, tennis courts, and a working farm which includes horses, cattle, sheep, swine, and a canine facility that works with a greyhound rescue group to rehabilitate retired racing dogs each semester. The school also has a 15-acre (6.1 ha) wildlife sanctuary that supports a large variety of native species of birds, mammals, and insects. It consists of a lake, swamp, stream, pond, meadow, and forested area. It is one of the last "safe" places for nature to exist in Walnut due to increased development and a growing population.

The Randall Planetarium has been open since 1968. There are more projects in progress, the latest being a modern agricultural sciences complex, including a working animal hospital, set to complete construction in spring 2011. Construction has also begun on a new Design Technology building. More projects are also expected in the next few years as funds from a recently voter approved measure come in. Located on campus are several campus cafes and a "Common Grounds" area.

Academics

Mt. SAC has nearly 400 programs available that provide associate degrees as well as certificates.

It has an aviation and aircraft maintenance program. Through this program, Mt SAC offers Associate of Science degrees in both Aviation Science and Commercial Flight. The school has partnerships with four-year schools to which students can arrange to receive a bachelor's degree. For example, the Mt SAC aviation program has an on-campus partnership with Southern Illinois University to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation Management. ^[8] Mt. SAC is one of 36 colleges in the United States to offer the College Training Initiative (CTI) program through the FAA. This program attracts students from across the United States. It trains students to be air traffic controllers for the FAA.

Besides air traffic control, Mt. SAC has the largest Associate of Science, Commercial Flight degree program in California. It maintains a flight training association on and off campus at nearby Brackett Airport, with a hangar and facilities made possible through donations from Sophia Clarke (renowned for also providing generous gifts for the modern and stately, state-of-the-art Sophia B. Clarke theater and its adjacent equally photogenic edifices). Its flying team is ranked as the best among community colleges in the western United States from 1991 to 2006. In 2000, 2002, 2005, and 2013, the flying team ranked #1 among community colleges in the United States. Also in 2005, and in 1987, the school was the recipient of the Loening Trophy, recognizing the school as having the nation's Best Aviation Program. The Mt SAC Flying team is a member of National Intercollegiate Flying Association and Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Flying Association.

Student life

Associated Students is the student government organization at Mt. San Antonio College and serves as the official voice of the student body. Its budget, of more than $600,000, is generated by an optional "Student Activities" fee paid by students during the fall and spring semesters. Associated Students coordinates and sponsors several events for the student body. Events and sponsorships include the following: campus holiday celebration, celebrity speakers, women's history month activities, cultural celebrations, commencement rehearsal, awards and recognition ceremonies, weekend college tours, and the transfer achievement celebration. Associated Students officers include members of the executive board, Student Senate, and Student Court.

Athletics

The Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) athletics teams, the "Mounties", have captured a total of 76 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) state championships, with 49 titles coming since 2000. Mt. SAC currently fields 23 intercollegiate sports including: baseball (M), basketball (M & W), beach volleyball (W), cross country (M & W), football (M), golf (M & W), soccer (M & W), softball (W), swimming (M & W), tennis (M & W), track and field (M & W), volleyball (W), water polo (M & W), and wrestling (M). Mt. SAC competes in the South Coast Conference in most sports, with golf (Orange Empire), wrestling (So Cal Wrestling Alliance) and football (SoCal Football Association - National Division Central Conference) hosted in other conferences.

In 2015, Mt. SAC Athletics captured the 2014–2015 Learfield/IMG Sports Director's Cup, which is awarded to the nation's top overall athletics programs at the NCAA (I, II, III), NAIA, and community college levels. The Mounties have also captured nine Daktronics National Association of Two-Year College Administrators of Athletics (NATYCAA) Cup Championships, which is awarded to the western United States top overall community college athletics program. Since its inception in 2004, Mt. SAC has also captured five second-place trophies and finished in fourth place and sixth place.

The Mt. SAC track and field/cross country programs led all Mt. SAC programs with a combined total of 30 CCCAA championships (men's track 10, women's track 11, men's cross country 1, women's cross country 8). For the past ten years, women's basketball has led all sports with five state championships and four additional top four state championship finishes. Men's soccer has four state championships (two national championships) and three additional top four state championship finishes. Women's softball has two state championships and five additional top four state championship finishes. Football has three state championships (two national championships) and three additional top two state championship finishes.

Mt. SAC Relays

Main article: Mt. SAC Relays

This event is held annually in April over a three-day period and attracts around 15,000 athletes from more than 150 colleges and universities and 150 high schools throughout the world. The relays are hosted in the college's stadium, Hilmer Lodge Stadium (12,500 expandable seating), which is named after Mt. SAC's first track and field/cross country coach. The stadium has nine 48" running lanes, 86' X 40' Daktronics screen, tifgreen Bermuda natural grass, Musco LED lighting, meeting rooms and a practice track facility with a Field Turf Field and field event practice facilities.

Famous participants at the Mt. SAC Relays include:

• Randy Barnes
• Ato Boldon
• Leroy Burrell
• Joaquim Cruz
• Gail Devers
• Stacy Dragila
• Allyson Felix
• Maurice Greene
• Allen Johnson
• Marion Jones
• Jackie Joyner-Kersee
• Bernard Lagat
• Carl Lewis
• Michael Marsh
• Noureddine Morceli
• Edwin Moses
• Maria de Lurdes Mutola
• Merlene Ottey
• Mike Powell
• Bob Seagren
• Mike Tully
• Kevin Young

Notable alumni

This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(January 2024)

• Brett Tomko, professional baseball player
• Alfonso Boone, professional football player
• Sammie Burroughs, professional football player
• Anthony Calvillo, professional football player
• Javier Castro, professional soccer player
• Ronald Cheng, Hong Kong singer and actor
• Mark Clear (born 1956), professional baseball player
• Kevin Craft, college football player
• Tommy Haynes, professional football player
• Dan Henderson, professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter
• Mike Hohensee, professional football player and coach
• Bruce Irvin, professional football player
• Avi Kaplan, Grammy Award-winning arranger and singer, former member of Pentatonix
• Joe Keough, professional baseball player
• Giovanni Lanaro, two-time Olympic pole vaulter, Mexican champion/record holder
• Tony Lorick (1941–2013), professional football player ^[16]
• Chris McAlister, professional football player
• Gary Miller, U.S. Representative
• Sona Movsesian, author, executive assistant, and podcaster ^[17]
• Halakilangi Muagututia, professional football player
• Antonio Pierce, professional football player and coach
• Bob Seagren Olympic gold medalist ^[18]
• Rocky Seto, professional football coach
• Sam Shepard, playwright, actor, and musician
• Les Shy, professional football player
• Nu'u Tafisi, professional football player
• Edward Ulloa, attorney and former criminal prosecutor
• Javier Vazquez, wrestler, MMA fighter
• Delanie Walker, professional football player
• Taco Wallace, professional football player
• Chris Woodward, professional baseball player and coach
• Shawn Wooten, professional baseball player
• Tony Zendejas, professional football player
• Rachaad White, professional football player

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References