IVC has seen growth and change in its 30 years

In just a few decades, a school once hidden among orange groves quickly grew into a place where thousands of artists, athletes and scholars alike could take the time to find their path in life.

Irvine Valley College celebrated its 30th anniversary Thursday with an event that drew more than 150 students, faculty, community members and dignitaries to the campus.

“I’ve been here 25 years and in the past, people didn’t know where we were and always drove past us because we were behind those orange groves,” the school’s current President Glenn Roquemore said. “But we have and always will be here for the community.”

The college first opened in 1979 as Saddleback North, a campus that acted as an additional school site for Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, which opened in 1968.

But when 6,000 students enrolled in the first semester, it became apparent that the campus was more than just an extension of another school, according to Roquemore. In 1985, it attained independent status and was renamed Irvine Valley College.

Professor of business sciences Bob Urell has been at the school since the beginning, teaching part time in 1979 and full time in 1986.

He said he remembers when the campus opened with only four single story buildings and had just over 30 faculty members.

“Now, there are more buildings on campus than I can even count,” Urell said.

Irvine Valley is currently home to 141 full-time faculty who serve around 15,000 students who, as Urell describes, have become a “diverse population” over the years.

Irvine Valley student Nabeel Faisal, 20, grew up in Dubai and after graduating from high school, he packed his bags for Orange County.

“I’ve always wanted to come to California and study,” Faisal said. “I’m looking to transfer to UC Berkeley. My goal is to take what I’ve learned here and apply it to everyday aspects of my life.”

Faisal entered the college to study engineering management, but a newfound passion he discovered in his public speaking class drew him to join Irvine Valley’s Speech and Debate Team and pursue studies in communications.

In April, the team won gold awards in Debate and Overall Sweepstakes points in this year’s Phi Rho Pi National Tournament in Cleveland, a competition that invited the top 60 teams in the country.

Faisal’s teammate Christine Lee, 23, transferred to Irvine Valley after one year of attending the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. She is studying English now.

“In Cincinnati, I was missing a sense of group motivation,” Lee said. “There’s a good work ethic here and everyone has an end goal they’re working toward. It’s the only place, since I’ve been out of high school, where I really felt like I belonged.”

Besides cultural diversity, digital media arts instructor Terry Chatkupt has noticed another trend in the student population during his eight years on campus.

“The age range of students here go from high school to people who already have their master’s and bachelor’s degrees,” he said. “They all want to come to school or even return just to sharpen their skills.”

Chatkupt has even had several retired professionals enroll in his photography and video courses.

“One of them told me she’s finally at a point where she can ‘live’ and that really stuck with me,” he said.

At Thursday’s anniversary celebration, Roquemore and fellow faculty members shared news of the school’s latest progress with guests.

Assistant Professor under the School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering Zahra Noroozi noted the participation of Irvine Valley students in the 2015 Solar Decathlon, a first ever for the school.

The school joined forces with students from UC Irvine, Chapman University and Saddleback College to form Team Orange County. The group took ninth place overall in the competition, where 14 student teams worldwide sought to build the best energy-efficient house.

In athletics, the school has won 21 state championship titles in five different sports. The most titles have been for volleyball.

“In the next 30 years, my largest hope is that we make sure we enforce economic and work force development,” Roquemore said. “When companies hire a new employee they may only be 70% ready and this is a national problem. We’re here to provide opportunities for student instruction and support to help them find their pathway.”