El Camino College is a two-year public community college located in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as Alondra Park. It is commonly referred to as "Elco" or "ECC". It consists of 37 buildings spanning an area of roughly 26 acres (11Â ha).
The El Camino Community College District was officially established as of July 1, 1947. Today the college serves nearly 23,000 students of a diverse background within the El Camino Community College District, Southern California's South Bay, including the communities of Alondra Park, Carson, Del Aire, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Ladera Heights, Lawndale, Lennox, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, View Parkâ€"Windsor Hills. El Camino College offers nearly 2,500 different classes offered in some 85 different programs, including vocational, undergraduate, and honors courses, many available in online and televised formats for distance education.
El Camino is known for its large program in English as a Second Language (ESL) which emphasizes a strong academic approach to prepare students for college-level work in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. El Camino's forensics program has won awards on a national level, beating 4-year universities such as Notre Dame and UCLA.
Student demographics
Total Students: 23,409
El Camino College (Alondra/Unincorporated Los Angeles) is one of the most diverse campuses in the nation. International students are required to show proof of English ability before being accepted into the school. Students can demonstrate their English ability either by taking the TOEFL test, or by completing an ESL program at a school with which El Camino College has a transfer agreement. This sort of agreement is also called "TOEFL Waiver".
Campus media
KECC radio station
The first time KECC was actually on the air experimentally was Career Day, April 27, 1994. This operation lasted only four hours, from 9Â am to 1Â pm. On November 11, 1994, KECC signed on the air for the first time as a regularly scheduled carrier current broadcast station. At that time, the frequency used was 1620Â kHz.
The station was soon involved in emergency operation when heavy rains flooded the campus in January 1995, during Registration. The campus police radio system had been submerged by the rising water and had shorted out. KECC being on higher ground was still operating and became a radio relay station, with the police phoning in problems and the broadcast staff relaying them.
In the fall of 2000 KECC changed frequency from 1200Â kHz to 1500Â kHz.
The Union
The school newspaper The Union was renamed from The Warwhoop as a result of pressure to be more politically correct and sensitive to Native Americans. The newspaper has won numerous awards.
Athletics
Built in 1958, Murdock Stadium hosts some of the schools athletic programs.
In media
El Camino College has been used as a filming location since at least the 1970s. Among recent movies shot in part at the College are:
- Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 remake)
- The Longest Yard (2005 remake)
- BET's reality show, Baldwin Hills
- The Italian Job
- 1st & Ten, HBO series
- The Dark Knight Rises
Performing arts
El Camino College has a 2,000 seat auditorium, a 350-seat Campus Theatre and the intimate 190 seat Robert Hagg Recital Hall. The Marsee Auditorium, in addition to being the venue for South Bay Ballet's annual production of The Nutcracker, is known for showcasing dance and opera companies, traveling artists and other Broadway, film and television veterans, such as Shirley Jones and Gregory Hines. The Marsee Auditorium as well as the other on-campus venues also host El Camino College resident performers.
Notable alumni
- Chet Baker, musician, (did not graduate)
- David Benoit, musician
- Antonio Chatman, NFL wide receiver, 1997
- Fred Claire, general manager, Los Angeles Dodgers
- Robert Cornegy, New York City Councilmember
- Derrick Deese, Professional football player for San Francisco 49ers and Fox Sports Radio host
- Rudy de Leon, USA Deputy Secretary of Defense
- Bo Derek, actress
- Don Dulay, professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association
- Fred Dryer, actor, producer and former football defensive end in the NFL
- Keith Erickson, professional basketball player
- Jason Farol, singer
- Michael Fincke, NASA astronaut
- George Foster, professional baseball player
- Lynette Fromme, (didn't graduate)
- Donte Gamble, American football player
- Denny Hocking, professional baseball player
- Flo Hyman, USA Volleyball Olympian
- Alan Jardine of The Beach Boys
- Ras Kass, Rapper (did not graduate)
- Suge Knight, Rap impresario
- Clara Lee, Actress
- Dennis Mangers, California Assemblyman
- Saladin McCullough, American football player
- Cliff Meidl, USA Kayaking Olympian
- Kris Medlen, professional baseball player, attended but finished at Santa Ana College)
- Chris Montez, singer (did not graduate)
- Chris Mortensen, ESPN
- Therese Murray, President of the Massachusetts Senate
- George Nakano, California Assemblyman
- Carol Neblett, Operatic soprano
- Jamize Olawale, NFL player
- David Pack
- John Ramsey, Public-address announcer for several Los Angeles professional sports teams
- Marcel Reece, NFL player
- Niu Sale, American football player
- Nathan Salmon, Professor (graduated under the name "Nathan Salmon Ucuzoglu")
- Lauren Sánchez
- Steve Sarkisian, football coach
- Kenbrell Thompkins, football player
- Douglas Trumbull, Filmmaker
- Brian Wilson (did not graduate)
- William Allen Young, Actor
- Frank Zappa, (did not graduate)
- Park Jun-gyu, Korean Actor
Notable faculty
- Fitzhugh Dodson, taught philosophy from 1959
- Julius Sumner Miller (1952â€"1974)
See also
- Compton Community College District (Compton College)
References
External links
- Official website
- LA Sports: Murdock Stadium