Imperial Valley College is a college in Imperial County, California, United States. Founded in 1962 the college currently enrolls around 7,000 students per year. Currently, Victor Jaime is President of the college. The main campus is located on a 160-acre (0.65Â km2) site in the city of Imperial. The extended campuses are located in El Centro and Brawley.
History
The Imperial Valley College had its beginning on May 9, 1922 with the name of Central Junior College, opening in September that year. Originally at Central Union High School, 2 years later a new college named Brawley Junior College was opened. Brawley Junior College had to close in 1947 due to lack of attendance. Because of this, Central Junior College was now receiving students from all over the Imperial Valley; students and faculty wanted to change the school name to a more representative one. The Board of Trustees officially changed to Imperial Valley College in late 1951. The college remained housed on the campus of Central Union High School in El Centro until the governance of the college was changed in 1959.
The Imperial Community College District was formed by a vote of the electorate in 1959 and a bond issue then authorized construction of a new campus on a 160-acre (0.65Â km2) parcel at Aten Road and Highway 111.
A ground-breaking service was held, October 2, 1961, for the new college campus. Meanwhile, due to the lack of space, IVC moved from El Centro to a temporary site in Imperial, on the campus of Imperial High School. The new campus opened for students in September 1962.
Mascot
Because of the desert location, the mascot "Arabs" was chosen. However, the college's leadership has intermittently considered changing this because the mascot has become a distraction for athletic teams traveling out of the Valley. An unsuccessful push to change the mascot was launched during the spring 2009 academic semester.
References
External links
- Imperial Valley College
Sources
- Henderson, Tracey. Imperial Valley. Neyenesch, 1968.