Bakersfield College (BC) 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 ...

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of th ...

. BC serves about 31,000 students each semester or 46,500 annually, and 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, certificate programs, and is one of fifteen California Community Colleges offering a baccalaureate degree. It is part of the Kern Community College District (KCCD), which is itself part of the

California Community Colleges system The California Community Colleges is a postsecondary education University system, system in the U.S. state of California.California Education CodSection 70900(added to the Education Code by Chapter 973 of the California Statutes of 1988Assembly ...

History

Founded in 1913 as Bakersfield Junior College, the school was initially housed on the campus of

Bakersfield High School Bakersfield High School (BHS) is a State school#United States, public four-year high school located in Bakersfield, California, United States. Opened in 1893, Bakersfield High School serves grades ninth through twelfth within the Kern High School D ...

(then Kern County Union High School). In 1947, the school dropped "Junior" from its name. In 1956, Bakersfield College moved to its current location "on the hill" in northeast Bakersfield on the "Panorama Bluffs" that overlook the prolific

Kern River Oil Field The Kern River Oil Field is a large oil field in Kern County in the San Joaquin Valley of California, north-northeast of Bakersfield in the lower Sierra foothills. Yielding a cumulative production of close to of oil by the end of 2006, it is ...

Campus

The main campus is located on a plot in Northeast Bakersfield, and it also operates four

satellite campus A satellite campus, branch campus or regional campus is a campus of a university or college that is physically at a distance from the original university or college area. This branch campus may be located in a different city, state, or country, ...

es: the Weill Institute in downtown Bakersfield, shared by the Kern Community College District, the SouthWest Campus also located in Bakersfield, the Delano Campus in Delano, approximately north of Bakersfield and the Arvin Educational Center in Arvin.

Organization and administration

BC is part of the Kern Community College District (KCCD).

Academics

BC serves about 31,000 students each semester.

Student life

Newspaper

''The Renegade Rip'' is the

student newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station Graduate student journal, produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related new ...

of Bakersfield College. In publication since 1929, ''The Rip'' covers campus news as well as major events off campus. ''The Renegade Rip'' won Associated Collegiate Press National Pacesetter Awards in 2003 and 2008.

Performing arts

The Renegade Pep Band supports the college's athletic teams. Golden Empire Performing Arts is a non-profit

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

account of the Bakersfield College Foundation that supports the Bakersfield College Drumline and the

Golden Empire Drum and Bugle Corps The following is a list of current drum corps competing as members of Drum Corps International Drum Corps International (DCI) is a governing body for drum and bugle corps. Founded in 1971 and known as "marching music's major league," DCI devel ...

Athletics

The college's athletic teams are known as the Renegades ('Gades). The team competes as a member of the

California Community College Athletic Association The California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A; formerly 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 ...

(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 Califo ...

(WSC) for all sports except football and wrestling, which compete in

Southern California Football Association The Southern California Football Association (SCFA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A). Member institutions are located in California. The SCFA was organized in 2008. The ...

(SCFA) and

Southern California Wrestling 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, M ...

(SCWA). The college has an extensive athletics program with 20 varsity teams, including men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, football, soccer, volleyball, wrestling, baseball, softball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field, and men's and women's swimming. Renegades football has a long tradition of success in Junior College-level competition, and plays out of the 20,000-seat, on-campus Memorial Stadium.

Notable people

Brandon Banks Brandon DeSean Banks (born December 21, 1987) is an American former professional gridiron football, football wide receiver and return specialist. He was signed by the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) as an undrafted fre ...

, professional football player *

Robert Beltran Robert Adame Beltran (born November 19, 1953) is an American actor known for his role as Commander Chakotay on the 1990s television series '' Star Trek: Voyager''. He is also known for stage acting in California, and for playing Raoul Mendoza ...

, film and television actor *

Vern Burke Vernon Eugene Burke (born April 30, 1941) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons, and the New Orleans Saints. ...

, professional football player *

Tyrone Crawford Tyrone Crawford (born November 22, 1989) is a Canadian former professional football player who was a defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Boise State Broncos before bein ...

, professional football player *

Chris DeFrance Chris Anthony DeFrance (born September 13, 1956) is an American former professional football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins. He also was a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Fo ...

, professional football player *

Ric Drasin Richard Alan Drasin (July 12, 1944 – August 30, 2020) was an American bodybuilder, personal trainer, actor, stuntman, author, and professional wrestler. He wrestled professionally and sporadically between 1965 and 2001, while also winning ...

, professional wrestler, designer of the original Gold's Gym logo and the World Gym gorilla logo *

Phil Dumatrait Phillip Anthony Dumatrait (born July 12, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Minnesota Twins, and in the KBO League for the LG Twins. ...

, professional baseball player *

David Dunn David John Ian Dunn (born 27 December 1979) is an English former professional football player, manager and coach. Dunn played as an attacking midfielder and spent the majority of his playing career representing Blackburn Rovers. His first sti ...

, professional football player * Jean Fuller, politician *

Frank Gifford Francis Newton Gifford (August 16, 1930 – August 9, 2015) was an American professional football player, actor, and television sports commentator. After a 12-year playing career as a halfback, flanker and safety for the New York Giants of ...

, professional football player and sports commentator * Liz Gorman, professional football player *

Dallas Grider Dallas Edd Grider (December 5, 1944 – May 11, 2022) was an American football player and coach. Grider played two seasons as a linebacker for the UCLA Bruins, including the 1966 Rose Bowl victory over Michigan State. He recovered a second-quart ...

, high school and college football coach * Gerald Haslam, news and book author * Joe Hernandez, professional football player *

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

, professional football player * Junior Kennedy, professional baseball player *

Colby Lewis Colby Preston Lewis (born August 2, 1979), popularly nicknamed "Cobra", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Oakland Athletics, and Texas Rangers and in Nippon Pro ...

, professional baseball player * Guy Madison, film and television actor *

Billy Mamaril John Billy San Luis Mamaril (born June 25, 1980) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player who last played for the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He plays the forward and center positions. ...

, professional basketball player * Rishard Matthews, professional football player *

Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 55th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January until he was Remova ...

, politician * Richard Miles, ambassador * Spain Musgrove, professional football player * Brennan Newberry, professional racecar driver * Mark Nichols, professional football player *

Charles Noland Charles Noland is an American actor who has appeared in many TV shows and films, including '' Blow'' and ''Wayne's World''. He was a supporting character on ''ER'' for 2 seasons and on ''The West Wing'' for 7 seasons. Noland has also had a long ...

, actor * Rocky Rasley, professional football player *

Greg Robinson Greg Robinson may refer to: * Greg Robinson (offensive tackle) (born 1992), American football offensive tackle *Greg Robinson (American football coach) (1951–2022), American football coach *Greg Robinson (running back) Greg Robinson (born Augu ...

, college and professional football coach * Michael Rubio, politician * Carl Smith, professional football coach * Taj Smith, professional football player *

Andre Spencer Andre Devell Spencer (July 20, 1964 – August 4, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. He was a forward and played collegiately for Bakersfield College, a junior college, and the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. He played for thre ...

, professional basketball player *

Jeremy Staat Jeremy Ray Staat (born October 10, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive lineman and offensive lineman who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1998 through 2000 an ...

, professional football player * Walter W. Stiern, politician * Jim Stiger, professional football player * John Tarver, professional football player *

Mike Waufle Mike Waufle (born June 27, 1954) is a former American football coach who most recently served as the defensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). Waufle served as defensive line coach for the Oakland Raiders ...

, professional football coach * Dick Witcher, professional football player * Delbert E. Wong, first Chinese-American judge in the continental United States *

Jake Woods Jacob Thomas Woods (born September 3, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of four seasons in Major League Baseball from 2005 to 2008. He batted and threw left-handed. After attending Bakersfield Col ...

, professional baseball player * Louis Wright, professional football player

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{authority control 1913 establishments in California California Community Colleges Education in Bakersfield, California Universities and colleges established in 1913 Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Universities and colleges in Kern County, California Two-year colleges in the United States