Chaffey College 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 undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

Rancho Cucamonga, California Rancho Cucamonga ( ) is a city located just south of the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest in San Bernardino County, California, United States. About east of Downtown Los Angeles, Rancho Cucamonga is the List ...

. The college serves students in Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. It is the oldest community college in California.

History

The school was established in

Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, it lies ...

, in 1883, when city founders and brothers George and William Chaffey donated land and established an endowment for a

private college Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

. The private school was founded as the Chaffey College of Agriculture through the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

; USC, also a private university, had been founded three years earlier in nearby

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

of the new school was laid on March 17, 1883, at Fourth and Euclid in Ontario; it opened on October 15, 1885. The original institution included a

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

and was run by USC until 1901. During this period, Chaffey's football team had a 1–1 series with the young USC football team, winning 32–6 in 1893 and losing 38–0 in 1897. Chaffeybuilding

Financial troubles forced the school to close in 1901. The building was taken over by the city and became the home of Ontario High School (now Chaffey High School). In 1906 the Chaffey endowment was legally separated from USC and reorganized to benefit the newly created Chaffey Union High School District. When Ontario High school opened to students from Upland in 1911, its present name was adopted. In 1916, the Chaffey Junior College of Agriculture was added as a postgraduate department to the high school. The school's buildings were renovated and additional buildings added during the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

. A separate junior college district was created in 1922 and in 1957 bonds were approved in support of a complete separation of the high school and college facilities. The current location in Rancho Cucamonga opened in the spring of 1960. The college's mascot is the Panther. President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

visited Chaffey in 1996, announcing a proposal to finance two years of community college education to expand the basic education of all Americans to 14 years. Chaffey launched its online education program in 1999. Voters in 2002 approved the Measure L bond, providing up to $230 million in bonds during a 10-year period for the Facilities Master Plan. Through Measure L, Chaffey built its Chino campus in 2002 and expanded the Fontana campus, which opened in 1996. In 2017, Chaffey was named a top 10 community college in the nation by the

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but also has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, its original home. Its stated miss ...

. Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott awarded Chaffey with a $25 million gift in 2021 because of Chaffey’s dedication to equity. The college’s passage of Measure P in 2018 allowed Chaffey to make repairs, upgrades and improvements at its three campuses. Plans are underway to build a fourth campus in Ontario.

Academics

Chaffey offers

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

s and certificates. Chaffey offers one of the oldest aviation programs in the United States.

Athletics

The college athletic teams are nicknamed the Panthers. Teams compete in the Inland Empire Athletic Conference and National Central Conference annually.

Notable people

* Gloria Negrete McLeod, former United States Representative * Hobart Alter, pioneer in surfboard shaping industry, creator of Hobie Cat and founder of the Hobie Company * Ken Calvert, Member of United States Congress, 41st District (Corona) *

Beverly Cleary Beverly or Beverley may refer to: Places Australia * Beverley, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Beverley, Western Australia, a town * Shire of Beverley, Western Australia Canada * Beverly, Alberta, a town that amalgamated with the City ...

, author and recipient of 1984

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

* Stewart Donaldson, author, positive psychologist, evaluation scientist * Skip Ewing, country music star * Rollie Fingers,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher, (

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

) * Darryl Kile,

pitcher (

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

) * Terry Kirkman,

The Association The Association is an American sunshine pop band from Los Angeles, California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts, ''Billboard'' charts (including "Windy (The Association song), Windy" ...

Sixties band, founding member * Robert Lyn Nelson, marine painter * Meagan Tandy, Miss California USA 2007 * Joseph Wambaugh, author of novels often involving

Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

(one semester), musician Ken Calvert

References

External links

* {{authority control California Community Colleges Education in Rancho Cucamonga, California Universities and colleges established in 1883 Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Universities and colleges in San Bernardino County, California 1883 establishments in California Two-year colleges in the United States