[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 71 (Monday, May 23, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E920-E921]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              65TH ANNIVERSARY OF SOLANO COMMUNITY COLLEGE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 23, 2011

  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise with my 
colleagues Congressman Dan Lungren and Congressman John Garamendi to 
recognize the sixty-fifth anniversary of the founding of Solano 
Community College. The College has provided generations of Solano 
County residents with high quality education programs that prepare a 
diverse student population to participate in today's local and global 
communities.
  Solano College had its inception in 1945 when the California State 
Department of Education authorized the Governing Board of the Vallejo 
Unified School District to establish a junior college on the campus of 
Vallejo Senior High School. Classes for junior college students started 
in the fall of 1945 with fewer than 100 students. In the fall of 1957, 
the Governing Board of the Vallejo Unified School District voted to 
separate the junior college completely from the high school. Vallejo 
Junior College began offering summer classes in 1964, and enrollment 
increased to 1,000 students that year.
  In 1965, the voters of Solano County voted overwhelmingly to 
establish a separate community college district. At the same time, 
seven trustees were elected to the new governing board, representing 
the committees of the district.

[[Page E921]]

  In the short span of a year, the new board selected a new 
Superintendent/President, Dr. N. Dallas Evans, and then proceeded to 
name a committee of fourteen members to select a site for the new 
campus. An architectural firm, Johnson, Poole, Storm, Lillis and Smith, 
Architects Associated, was engaged early in 1967 to draw plans for the 
new campus.
  In mid-1967, the board approved plans for a $12.6 million bond issue 
to be placed before the electorate of the county on October 17, 1967, 
which passed with an 84 percent yes margin. The committee recommended 
purchasing 192 acres on Suisun Valley Road in Fairfield. Student 
enrollment at the new location was over 3000 when it was dedicated in 
April of 1971.
  By 1990, the student population had increased to 10,000, and it 
became clear that the District needed to expand to the residents of the 
South County, Vallejo/Benicia, and the North County, Vacaville/Dixon/
Winters. In 1984, the District leased space at the Vallejo Library to 
provide South County residents with five classrooms for instruction of 
college courses. By 1992, the student population had grown to over 
12,000. In 1996, the District leased space on North Village Parkway in 
Vacaville, eight classrooms.
  In 2002, the College Governing Board authorized a bond issue to 
acquire a permanent location on 10 acres for its Vallejo Center and 
build a center in Vacaville as part of a master plan to eventually 
build a campus on 60 acres of land. The Measure G Bond was passed by 
voters in November 2002 for $125 million and included renovation of the 
Fairfield campus. The bond measure work is scheduled to be completed by 
2012.
  Since becoming the Solano Community College District in 1965, the 
college has had 15 Superintendent/Presidents, including Interims, 
Acting and Administrator-in-Charge. The current Superintendent/
President is Dr. Jowel Laguerre.
  Today, we invite our colleagues to join us in honoring Solano 
Community College, its board and staff for sixty-five years of 
outstanding service to our students and wish it continued success.

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