Glendale Community College (California)

The college was founded as Glendale Junior College in 1927, to serve the Glendale Union High School District which at the time included La Crescenta, Glendale, and Tujunga. From 1927 to 1929 classes were held in the buildings of Glendale Union High School at Broadway and Verdugo in the city of Glendale. In 1929 the junior college moved to the Harvard School plant of the Glendale Union High School District where it remained until 1937. In this year a new plant, part of the present one, was completed and occupied. The year before, in 1936, the Glendale Junior College District was dissolved as such and became a part of the new Glendale Unified School District. The name of the school was changed to Glendale College in 1944. On July 1, 1970, Glendale College became a part of the Glendale Junior College District. On April 20, 1971, the board of education adopted a resolution changing the district name to Glendale Community College District.

On November 4, 1980, Glendale voters approved a measure to establish separate boards, with the new board taking office in April 1981. The separation resulted in the creation of a board of trustees solely responsible for the governance of the Glendale Community College District. In 1936, 25 acres (10 ha) were acquired for the present site of the college.

The Verdugo Campus now consists of 100 acres (40 ha) and 15 permanent buildings. It is located on the slopes of the San Rafael Hills overlooking the valleys in the Glendale area.

The college has an open admissions policy and offers credit for life experiences. It is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).

The college athletic teams are nicknamed the Vaqueros (men) or Lady Vaqueros (women). Glendale currently fields eight men's and eight women's varsity teams. It competes as a member of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) in the Western State Conference (WSC) for all sports except football, which competes in Southern California Football Association (SCFA).^[9]

Blake Gailen played baseball for Glendale Community College, graduating in 2005, and was All-Western State Conference as a freshman and All-Southern California Team as a sophomore.^[10] Future major leaguer Ryan Sherriff pitched for the college baseball team as the team's ace in 2011, and was named 2011 First Team All-Western State Conference South Division.^{[11][12][13][14][15]}

Glendale Community College inspired the NBC show Community which premiered in the fall season of 2009. The show uses the fictional setting of Greendale Community College; the show's creator, Dan Harmon, has stated that the show was actually based on his experience attending Glendale Community College. Harmon describes the series as "flawed characters [coming into Greendale] and becoming unflawed by being in this place because it's been underestimated by the system around it."^[19]