DIABLO VALLEY COLLEGE

'Diablo Valley College' (DVC) is a two-year community college in Pleasant Hill in Contra Costa County, California.
DVC is one of three publicly supported two-year community colleges in the Contra Costa Community College District (along with Contra Costa College and Los Medanos College), and was first opened in 1949. Current enrollment is 26,000 students and it has 300 full-time and 370 part-time instructors.
DVC has satellite centers in San Ramon and Walnut Creek and also offers classes in other facilities in Concord, Martinez, Danville, and San Ramon.

Contents

Academics

Athletics

History

Grade-fixing scandal

School newspaper

Notable alumni

External links

References

Academics

Diablo Valley College is a popular choice for students to complete lower-division college requirements for frequently crowded California universities. In particular, DVC is a “feeder” college to the University of California, Berkeley; California State University, East Bay; and to St. Mary’s College. DVC ranks among the top five transfer colleges in California.^[1] In 2004, the top four transfer destinations were California State University, East Bay (formerly Hayward), San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley and UC Davis.
DVC also offers a variety of occupational specialties, including hotel/restaurant management, culinary arts, dental technology, and real estate. DVC formerly was home to a very active speech and debate team.

Athletics

DVC has had famous athletes throughout its sports history, probably most recognized being Willie McGee, a former MLB National League MVP, who played for the DVC baseball team in the 1970s and Doug Davis, who pitches for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Demarshay Johnson, a former DVC Basketball star currently playing for Nevada, was named 1st team All-State for California for the 2004-2005 season. In that season, he led the entire state in blocks, averaging 5.2 per game.

History

The college officially began in 1949, and was then called 'East Contra Costa Junior College.' The college moved to its permanent campus in 1952, and changed its name to Diablo Valley College in 1958.
Currently, DVC is upgrading some of their facilities. A new Bookstore, Advanced Technology Building, and Solar Panel Parking Lots are some of the recent projects. Future plans include upgrades to the Engineering Technology Building and County Connection bus stop areas.

Grade-fixing scandal

In 2007 a six-year grade fixing scheme came to light with allegations that some of the alleged 84 students used sex or cash as payment to administrators in exchange for over 400 grade changes.[1] Many of these students have transferred to universities and in some cases may have already graduated. Investigation is ongoing with felony charges expected. The scandal may damage the college's accreditation, although a spokesperson for the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges said, "They're not an institution I would expect to be pulled down by this alone."[2]

School newspaper

''The Inquirer'', the college's student-run newspaper, is produced on campus by the Journalism 121 class. It is printed on community presses of the Contra Costa Times. The paper has been produced with as many as 10 pages, but recently has been forced to print only four pages as class enrollment has declined. [3]
Notably, the newspaper was forced to produce their paper off-site at the Times' newsroom when a bomb-threat closed the campus and access to the newsroom was restricted.

Notable alumni

In addition to the athletes named above, notable alumni of Diablo Valley include:

★ Julie Strain, model and actor

★ Kyle Gass, Member of Tenacious D

★ George Miller (politician), U.S. Congressman, Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor.^[2]

External links

★ Diablo Valley College

★ DVC Drama

References

1. Focus on Results: Accountability Reporting for the California Community Colleges

2. Official Biography of Congressman George Miller