Ohlone College turns 50 this year
Ohlone College president Gari Browning touches on the highlights of the school's 50-year existence during her annual State of the College address last Friday.
By Joseph Geha | jgeha@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: August 31, 2017 at 12:42 a.m. | UPDATED: August 31, 2017 at 10:58 a.m.
With Ohlone College approaching its 50th anniversary, college president Gari Browning last Friday reflected on many of the school's accomplishments and cautioned that student enrollment needs to rebound.
In front of a full house of faculty, staff, trustees, students and community members at the Fremont campus' Jackson Theatre, Browning delivered the annual State of the College address.
She said Ohlone continues to build pathways to college and careers for local students, through programs such as its bio-science learning alliance.
Though established only two years ago, more than 540 high school students have enrolled in the alliance program, which aims to help them prepare for and find careers in the biotechnology industry. More than 430 of those students applied at Ohlone following high school.
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And two of the school's career technical education programs — health science and administration of justice — earned "star" status from the California Community College Chancellor's Office.
The award, Browning said, recognizes the program's success in helping students earn a living wage by attaining "middle skilled jobs" with less than a bachelor's degree.
Browning said that in its 50 years, Ohlone has educated roughly 375,000 students.
But its enrollment has hit a wall. She said the school has nearly 3,400 students enrolled for the fall semester, about 70 percent of capacity. Last spring, the school had 2.6 percent fewer students than the previous spring.
Ohlone isn't alone, Browning said, noting that a robust economy is pushing down attendance at most major community colleges in the Bay Area.
She warned that the school "will have to work especially hard this year" to meet its maximum student goals. Otherwise, she added, the amount of state funding it receives can drop in coming years.
Among the accomplishments she cited were completion of projects funded through the $350 million 2010 Measure G bond, such as revamped athletics fields for softball, baseball and soccer, a new 900-space parking structure and a megawatt solar panel array.
Looking to the future, Browning showed a time-lapse video highlighting the construction progress being made on the school's new academic core buildings at the center of campus. The $180 million, three-building project will include new classrooms, lecture halls, science labs, a modernized library and a tutoring center, and is expected to be completed by summer 2019.
Browning said she's excited to watch the new buildings spring "from the hole we had in the center of campus in January."
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Browning also gave an update on the school's partnership with Foster City developer SteelWave LLC to build a mixed-use housing and retail village on 15 acres of campus frontage property. The college board approved a proposal earlier this year calling for roughly 275 apartments and townhouses that could be ready for leasing by 2023 to generate additional revenue for the college.
Browning also pointed to new technological advances awaiting students, including mobile access to their schedules and grades and school maps through a new smartphone app.
New campus survey results were also presented. They revealed that students were mostly neutral when asked whether the school should arm sworn police officers. Faculty members were nearly split on the issue and almost two thirds of staff were heavily in favor of providing guns to officers.
Browning will have final say on that decision after the college council and board of trustees weigh in, she said.
Also during her speech, Browning unveiled three new versions of the school's logo, complete with new fonts and taglines. The school's faculty, staff, administration and board were asked to vote and the results will be announced at a Nov. 4 gala, which is the culminating event and fundraiser celebrating the school's 50th anniversary.
The school has already held many smaller events throughout the year recognizing the anniversary, and in late September, there will be several days of celebrations marking the time period the first week of classes were held 50 years ago.
Joseph Geha | Reporter
Joseph Geha is a multimedia journalist covering Fremont, Milpitas, Union City, and Newark for the Bay Area News Group. His prior work has been seen in multiple Bay Area outlets, including SF Weekly, as well as on KQED and KLIV radio. He is a graduate of California State University, East Bay (Hayward), a Fremont native and a lifelong Oakland Athletics fan.
jgeha@bayareanewsgroup.com
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