Compton Community College

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Compton Community College is a public two-year college established in 1927, located in Compton, California. Originally, it was called Compton City College.

In 1933 the campus was struck by a devastating earthquake which destroyed all but two buildings on the campus. In 1950 the college separated from Compton Unified School District. The new campus was constructed at its present location on 1111 East Artesia Boulevard and the old grounds were used to raise Compton High School.

A former president of Compton Community College, Ulis C. Williams, was a gold medalist at the 1964 Summer Olympics.

The college is under law enforcement investigation due to allegations of fraud and corruption. The college was taken over in 2004 by the state chancellor's office, in an unprecedented move, after it failed to file required annual financial statements.

Compton Community College was to be stripped of its accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges effective Aug. 19, 2005, apparently making it the first public college in the nation to lose its official approval. The school’s operations were taken over for the Fall 2006 semester by neighboring El Camino College, based in Torrance. The California Community College Chancellor’s Office plans for the Torrance school to run the Compton school as a satellite campus for at least five years and perhaps as many as eight years. The goal, according to a Chancellor’s Office spokesperson, is to help Compton rebuild and recover and to eventually reapply for its own accreditation.

[edit] Presidents

• Dr. O. Scott Thompson, 1927 - 1950
• Dr. Stuart McComb, 1951 - 1952
• Paul Martin, 1954 - 1959
• Dr. Phil Putnam, 1960 - 1962
• Foster Davidoff, 1963 - 1968
• Robert McKinney, 1968 - 1969
• Dr. Abel B. Sykes, Jr., 1970 - 1984
• Dr. Edison O. Jackson, 1985 - 1989
• Dr. Warren A. Washington, 1989 - 1993
• Dr. Byron Skinner, 1993 - 1996
• Ulis C. Williams, 1996 - 2005
• Dr. Rita Cepeda, interim, 2005
• Dr. Jhamillah Moore, interim, 2005 - 2006.

[edit] Alumni

Notable alumni of Compton Community College include:

• Don Wilson, Major League Baseball player for the Houston Astros [1]
• William Denby Hanna, cartoon film producer, co-founder of Hanna-Barbera Productions (now known as Cartoon Network Studios).
• Alvin "Pete" Rozelle, commissioner of the National Football League (NFL).

Coolio American Rapper

[edit] References

• Compton Community College. "Compton Community College Delivers Accreditation Documents to Accrediting Commission for Further Review." Compton Community College. 8 Aug. 2005. 23 Sept. 2005 <http://www.compton.cc.ca.us/NEWS%20RELEASE-Accreditation%20update%20_2_.pdf>.
• Fisher, Marla Jo. "Embattled Compton Community College Loses Accreditation." Community College Week 4 July 2005: 3, 14.
• Fisher, Marla Jo. "Head of Troubled California College Leaving." Community College Week 28 Feb. 2005: 3, 12.
• Compton Community College website
• History of Compton Community College
• Silverstein, Stuart. “School Takes Partner in Deal.” Los Angeles Times 18 July 2006, home ed.: B4.