Bakersfield College (BC) is a public community college in Bakersfield, California, United States. BC serves about 31,000 students each semester or 46,500 annually, and offers associate degrees, 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.
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History
Founded in 1913 as Bakersfield Junior College, the school was initially housed on the campus of Bakersfield High School (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.
Campus
The main campus is located on a 153-acre (62 ha) plot in Northeast Bakersfield, and it also operates four satellite campuses: 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 35 miles (56 km) north of Bakersfield and the Arvin Educational Center in Arvin.
Organization and administration
Bakersfield College (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 of Bakersfield College. In publication since 1929, The Rip covers campus news as well as major events off campus. The paper 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) account of the Bakersfield College Foundation that supports the Bakersfield College Drumline and the Golden Empire Drum and Bugle Corps.
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 (CCCAA) in the Western State Conference (WSC) for all sports except football and wrestling, which compete in the Southern California Football Association (SCFA) and Southern California Wrestling Association (SCWA). The college has an extensive athletics program with 22 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, professional football player
Robert Beltran, film and television actor
Vern Burke, professional football player
Tyrone Crawford, professional football player
Chris DeFrance, professional football player
Ric Drasin, professional wrestler, designer of the original Gold's Gym logo and the World Gym gorilla logo
Phil Dumatrait, professional baseball player
David Dunn, professional football player
Jean Fuller, politician
Frank Gifford, professional football player and sports commentator
Liz Gorman, professional football player
Dallas Grider, high school and college football coach
Gerald Haslam, news and book author
Joe Hernandez, professional football player
George Jones, professional football player
Junior Kennedy, professional baseball player
Colby Lewis, professional baseball player
Guy Madison, film and television actor
Billy Mamaril, professional basketball player