Los Angeles Pierce College (Pierce College or Pierce) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior s ...

Woodland Hills, Los Angeles Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Geography Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is located east of Ca ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It is part of the

Los Angeles Community College District The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) is the community college district serving Los Angeles, California, and some of its neighboring cities and certain unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Its headquarters are in Downtown Lo ...

and is accredited by the

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) was an organization providing accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Sam ...

. It serves 22,000 students each semester. 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 Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...

. 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 working farm for hands-on training.)

Academics

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 CSU may refer to: * Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card * Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code * Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation * Christian Social ...

schools. Students can pursue any of the 44

associate's degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of Tertiary education, post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelo ...

s or 78 Certificates of Achievement the school offers directly.

Campus

Pierce College comprises amidst a dense metropolis, an area larger than many university campuses, including that of

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. The grounds are landscaped with more than 2,200 trees, thousands of roses and a 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 a concession for dining services, replacing several small vendors at the five LACCD colleges including Pierce.

John Shepard Stadium

Besides hosting the Brahmas' football and women's soccer teams, John Shepard Stadium (current capacity 5,500) 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 The Los Angeles Skyhawks was a professional soccer club based in Los Angeles, California, that was a member of the American Soccer League. Founded as part of the American Soccer League's expansion to the west coast in 1976, they were the first pro ...

of the American Soccer League, played their home games at the Pierce College stadium. The Los Angeles Express of the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

played their last home game here on June 15, 1985. 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 San Fernando Valley Quakes was an American soccer team based in Calabasas, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2008, wh ...

men's soccer team, which competed in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syst ...

Transport

Los Angeles Pierce College has its own stop on the Metro G/Orange Line, the

Pierce College station Pierce College station, signed as Pierce College/Winnetka, is a station on the G Line of the Los Angeles Metro Busway system. It is named after the adjacent community college of the same name, which is located on Winnetka Avenue, immediately ...

, on Winnetka Avenue near Victory Boulevard.

Solar power

Pierce College has a 191-kilowatt solar generation system that has 1,274

photovoltaic panels Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially us ...

and a 360-

kilowatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

, natural gas co-generation system. This project is the largest of its kind to be undertaken by a U.S. community college, yielding around 4.4 million

kilowatt-hours A kilowatt-hour ( unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bi ...

of electricity a year and reducing

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...

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 , name_etymology = , image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg , image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge , image_size = 300 , map = LARmap.jpg , map_size ...

is nearby to the north. Under propositions A and AA, a new

water reclamation Water reclamation (also called wastewater reuse, water reuse or water recycling) is the process of converting municipal wastewater (sewage) or industrial wastewater into water that can be reused for a variety of purposes. Types of reuse include ...

facility is also being planned, and the new facilities will meet rigorous Silver-level guidelines set by the

U.S. Green Building Council The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and op ...

for

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, constructio ...

Old Trapper's Lodge

The campus is home to Old Trapper's Lodge, California Historical Landmark No. 939.5, an

outsider art Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrate ...

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.

Pierce College Farm and Farm Center

The Pierce College Farm covers 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. 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 and De Soto is a 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. In October the Foundation sponsored an annual Harvest Festival, featuring pumpkins grown on the Pierce farm, a 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. 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

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. The Weather Station organizes tours showing their equipment and their functions upon request.

Athletics

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 The California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) is a sports association of community colleges in the U.S. state of California. It oversees 108 athletic programs throughout the state. The organization was formed in 1929 as the Calif ...

(CCCAA) in the

Western State Conference The Western State Conference (WSC) is a college athletic conference that is affiliated with the California Community College Athletic Association. The conference was established in 1950, making it the oldest community college conference in Calif ...

(WSC) for all sports except football, which competes in

Southern California Football Association Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...

(SCFA). 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

The students of Pierce College have established a student body association named Los Angeles Pierce College Associated Student Organization (ASO). The association is required by law to "encourage students to participate in the governance of the college". The ASO periodically participates in meetings sponsored by a statewide community college student organization named

Student Senate for California Community Colleges Student Senate for the California Community Colleges (SSCCC) was a task force established in 1988 by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. SSCCC was originally known as the "Council of Student Body Governments" and then la ...

. The statewide Student Senate is authorized by law "to advocate before the Legislature and other state and local governmental entities".

Notable alumni and staff

Ellen Albertini Dow Ellen Rose Albertini Dow (November 16, 1913 – May 4, 2015) was an American film and television character actress and drama coach. She portrayed feisty old ladies and is best known as the rapping grandmother Rosie in ''The Wedding Singer'' ...

, actress (''

The Wedding Singer ''The Wedding Singer'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, written by Tim Herlihy, and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. The film stars Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, and Christine Taylor, and tell ...

'') aided her husband, Eugene Francis Dow, in founding the Theater Department. * Jimmy Allen, NFL defensive back *

Gene LeBell Ivan “Judo” Gene LeBell (October 9, 1932 – August 9, 2022) was an American martial artist, stunt performer, actor, and professional wrestler. Nicknamed "The Godfather of Grappling", he popularized grappling in professional fighting c ...

, Stuntman * Rick Auerbach, former MLB

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

* Mark Balderas, keyboardist for RCA recording artist "Human Drama" *

Kevin Barnett Kevin Rees Barnett (born May 14, 1974) is an American former volleyball player. He played for the United States national team at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. Barnett worked as a broadcaster for the Pac-12 Networks and FOX Sports West i ...

, volleyball player * Danny Bonaduce, actor (''

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from S ...

'') and radio personality *

Coco Crisp Covelli Loyce "Coco" Crisp (born November 1, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and MiLB team manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Royals, and Oakland ...

, baseball player *

Suzanne Crough Suzanne J. Crough (March 6, 1963 – April 27, 2015) was an American child actress best known for her role as Tracy Partridge on ''The Partridge Family''. Career On ''The Partridge Family'', a musical sitcom TV show which ran from 1970 to 1974, ...

, actress (''

'') *

Denny Crum Denzel Edwin "Denny" Crum (born March 2, 1937) is an American former men's college basketball coach at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 2001, compiling a record. He guided the Cardinals to two NCAA championships (1980, 1986) and six Fi ...

, basketball coach *

Doug DeCinces Douglas Vernon DeCinces ( ; born August 29, 1950) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman from 1973 to 1987 for the Baltimore Orioles, California Angels and St. Louis Cardin ...

, baseball player * Marv Dunphy, volleyball coach *

Ron Goldman Ronald Lyle Goldman (July 2, 1968 – June 12, 1994) was an American restaurant waiter and a friend of Nicole Brown Simpson, the ex-wife of the American football player O.J. Simpson. He was murdered, along with Brown, at her home in Los Angeles ...

, murder victim, (

O. J. Simpson murder case ''The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson'' was a criminal trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court starting in 1994, in which O. J. Simpson, a former National Football League (NFL) player, broadcaster and actor, was ...

) * Robin Graham, missing person (since 1970) *

Gary LeRoi Gray Gary LeRoi Gray (born February 12, 1987) is an American actor, who has appeared in movies, television and animation. Career He is best known for his childhood role as Nelson Tibideaux, the son of Sondra Huxtable Tibideaux and Elvin Tibideaux o ...

, actor * Keith Green, gospel musician and songwriter *

Melanie Griffith Melanie Richards Griffith (born August 9, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career in the 1970s, appearing in several independent thriller films before achieving mainstream success in the mid-1980s. Born in Manhattan, New York City, ...

, actress *

Mark Harmon Thomas Mark Harmon (born September 2, 1951) is an American actor. He is most famous for playing the lead role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs in '' NCIS''. He also appeared in a wide variety of roles since the early 1970s. After spending the majority of ...

, college football player and actor * Steve Hertz, baseball coach * Bernard Jackson, NFL defensive back *

Keith Jardine Keith Jardine (born October 31, 1975) is an American actor and retired mixed martial artist who most notably competed in the UFC and Strikeforce. Jardine was known for upset victories in bouts he took at short notice against highly rated fighte ...

, wrestler and football player; retired

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

, formerly for the UFC, Strikeforce, and

King of the Cage King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in Southern California, United States. History KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mains ...

Karen Kingsbury Karen Kingsbury (born June 8, 1963) is an American Christian novelist born in Fairfax, Virginia. She was a sports writer for the ''Los Angeles Times'' and later wrote for the ''Los Angeles Daily News''. Her first book, '' Missy's Murder'' (1991), ...

, novelist *

Erik Kramer William Erik Kramer (born November 6, 1964) is an American former football quarterback. He attended John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California. After attending Pierce College and playing as their quarterback, Kramer transferred to North C ...

, NFL quarterback *

Shia LaBeouf Shia Saide LaBeouf (; born June 11, 1986) is an American actor, performance artist, and filmmaker. He played Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series ''Even Stevens'', a role for which he received Young Artist Award nominations in 2001 and ...

, actor * Babe Laufenberg, NFL quarterback *

Bob Lazar Robert Scott Lazar (; born January 26, 1959) is an American conspiracy theorist and self-proclaimed physicist who claims he was hired in the late 1980s to reverse-engineer extraterrestrial technology. This work supposedly occurred at a secret ...

, Area 51 conspiracy theorist *

Minnette Gersh Lenier Minnette Ella Gersh Lenier (July 9, 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia – February 7, 2011 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California) was a teacher and professional magician who used stage magic to improve students' reading and learning skills. Edu ...

, magician and teacher of literacy *

Kevin Mitnick Kevin David Mitnick (born August 6, 1963) is an American computer security consultant, author, and convicted hacker. He is best known for his high-profile 1995 arrest and five years in prison for various computer and communications-related crim ...

computer security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...

consultant, author and

hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...

Mary Perry Mary Margaret Perry (January 3, 1943 – June 3, 2012) was an American volleyball player. She competed at the 1964 and the 1968 Summer Olympics. She died at home of the rare disease, multiple system atrophy. Early life Perry was born in ...

, volleyball player * Steve Reed, baseball player * Elliot Rodger, (did not graduate) perpetrator of the

2014 Isla Vista killings The 2014 Isla Vista killings were a series of misogynistic terror attacks in Isla Vista, California. On the evening of May 23, 22-year-old Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured fourteen others—by gunshot, stabbing and vehicle ramm ...

Riley Salmon Riley Salmon (born July 2, 1976, in Amarillo, Texas) is a volleyball player from the United States. He graduated from Clear Creek High School in League City, Texas, and played two years of varsity volleyball at Pierce College from 1994-96 bef ...

, volleyball player, 2008 Beijing Olympics Gold Medalist *

Bob Samuelson Robert "Bob" Lewis Samuelson (born July 30, 1966) is an American volleyball player who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics. He was born in Port Jefferson, New York. In 1992 he was part of the American team which won the bronze medal in the O ...

, volleyball player *

Paul Schrier Paul Schrier II (born June 1, 1970) is an American actor, director, and artist. He is known for his role of Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier in the ''Power Rangers'' series. He portrayed the character for seven seasons from 1993–1999, returning in 20 ...

, actor *

Scott Shaw Scott Shaw (born 23 September 1958 in Los Angeles, California) is an American author, martial artist, and filmmaker. Career Scott Shaw is an advanced martial artist. He has written a number of books on the martial arts. Shaw has written a numb ...

, author, actor, filmmaker *

Bobby Sherman Robert Cabot Sherman Jr. (born July 22, 1943), known professionally as Bobby Sherman, is an American retired paramedic, police officer, singer, actor and occasional songwriter who became a teen idol in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He had a s ...

, singer, actor and songwriter *

Richard Stock Richard Stock (1569 – 1626) was an English clergyman and one of the Puritan founders of the Feoffees for Impropriations. He was minister at All Hallows, Bread Street in London, from 1611 to 1626. Life He was born in York, according to the ''W ...

, baseball player, member of an all virgin fraternity. * Uri Treisman, professor of math and of public affairs at University of Texas at Austin, founder and executive director of the Charles A. Dana Center *

Barry Van Dyke Barry Van Dyke (born July 31, 1951) is an American actor and the second son of actor and entertainer Dick Van Dyke and Margie Willett, and nephew of Jerry Van Dyke. He has often worked with his father. He is best known to audiences as Lieutena ...

, actor and son of

Dick Van Dyke Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. His award-winning career has spanned seven decades in film, television, and stage. Van Dyke began his career as an entertainer on radio and telev ...

* Marion Vree, choral conductor, composer and educator *

Paul Walker Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gaining recogniti ...

, actor and philanthropist * Ron Weaver, football player who prolonged his eligibility under an assumed name * John Whitaker, actor * Rodney Williams, American football player *

Anton Yelchin Anton Viktorovich Yelchin ( rus, Антон Викторович Ельчин, p=ɐnˈton ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtɕɪn; March 11, 1989 – June 19, 2016) was an American actor. Born in the Soviet Union to a Russian Jewish family, he emigr ...