El Camino College

Type	Public community college
Established	1947; 77 years ago (1947)
President	Brenda Thames [1]
Students	22,654[2]
Location	Alondra Park, California , U.S. 33°53′09″N 118°19′50″W / 33.885881°N 118.330457°W / 33.885881; -118.330457
Campus	Urban, 26 acres (11 ha)
Colors	Blue & gray
Nickname	Warriors
Website	www.elcamino.edu

El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a public community college in Alondra Park, California.^[3][4] It consists of 37 buildings spanning an area of roughly 26 acres (11 ha). It is one of two community colleges serving Southern California's South Bay area.

The El Camino Community College District was officially established on July 1, 1947. As of 2019^[update] the college served approximately 23,000 students within the El Camino Community College District, including the communities of Alondra Park, Carson, Del Aire, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Ladera Heights, Lawndale, Lennox, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, View Park–Windsor Hills.^[5] El Camino College offers 2,500 classes in 85 programs, including vocational, undergraduate, and honors courses, many available in online and televised formats for distance education.

Student demographics

Total Students: 24,349^[8]

Campus media

KECC radio station

The college hosts one radio station, KECC. The first time KECC was actually on the air experimentally was Career Day, April 27, 1994. The operation lasted only four hours, from 9 am to 1 pm. On November 11, 1994, KECC signed on the air for the first time as a regularly scheduled carrier current broadcast station. At that time, the frequency used was 1620 kHz. In the fall of 2000 KECC changed frequency from 1200 kHz to 1500 kHz.

Athletics

Built in 1958, Murdock Stadium hosts some of the schools athletic programs.

In media

The college campus has been used as a filming location since at least the 1970s. Visitors to the IBM pavilion at the 1964-65 World's Fair in New York City saw an Eames film that featured El Camino coach Kenneth Swearingen and the school football team.^[9] Among other films shot in part at the college are:

• All American
• Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 remake)
• Crime After Crime
• The Circle
• The Dark Knight Rises
• The Longest Yard (2005 remake)
• Visiting... with Huell Howser Episode 513^[10]

Performing arts

El Camino College has a 2,000-seat auditorium, a 350-seat campus theatre, and the 190-seat Robert Hagg Recital Hall.^[11] The Marsee Auditorium is the venue for the South Bay Ballet's annual production of The Nutcracker,^[12] and is known for showcasing dance and opera companies, traveling artists, and other Broadway, film and television veterans, such as Shirley Jones^[13] and Gregory Hines.^[14] The Marsee Auditorium as well as the other on-campus venues also host El Camino College resident performers.

Schauerman Library

The Schauerman Library serves as the research center of the college. The library houses the El Camino College archives.

Notable alumni

• Mary Akor, long-distance runner
• Chet Baker, musician, (did not graduate)^[15]
• David Benoit, musician^[16]
• Lewis John Carlino, screenwriter, playwright and director
• Antonio Chatman, NFL wide receiver, 1997^[17]
• Fred Claire, general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers^[16]
• Robert Cornegy, New York City Councilmember
• Rudy de Leon, USA Deputy Secretary of Defense^[16]
• Derrick Deese, Professional football player for San Francisco 49ers and Fox Sports Radio host
• Bo Derek, actress
• Fred Dryer, actor, producer and former football defensive end in the NFL^[16]
• Don Dulay, professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association
• Keith Erickson, professional basketball player^[16]
• Jason Farol, singer
• Michael Fincke, NASA astronaut^[16]
• George Foster, professional baseball player
• Lynette Fromme, member of the Manson family (didn't graduate)
• Donte Gamble, American football player
• Denny Hocking, professional baseball player
• Flo Hyman, Olympic volleyball player^[18]
• Alan Jardine, The Beach Boys co-founder^[19]
• Suge Knight, CEO and founder of Death Row Records, briefly played in the NFL, played football while attending^[20]
• Frederico Lapenda, movie producer, MMA Hall of Fame Promoter, Beverly Hills Film Festival President, Brazilian Tourism Ambassador, and Allies of the Amazon co-creator with Stan Lee.
• Clara Lee, actress
• Dennis Mangers, California Assemblyman^[16]
• Saladin McCullough, American football player
• Kris Medlen, professional baseball player, attended but finished at Santa Ana College)^[21]
• Cliff Meidl, Olympic kayaker^[16]
• Chris Montez, singer (did not graduate)^[16]
• Chris Mortensen, ESPN journalist
• Therese Murray, President of the Massachusetts Senate^[20]
• George Nakano, California Assemblyman^[22]
• Carol Neblett, operatic soprano^[16]
• David Pack, singer and musician^[16]
• Park Jun-gyu, Korean actor
• Ras Kass, rapper (did not graduate)
• John Ramsey, Public-address announcer for several Los Angeles professional sports teams
• Marcel Reece, NFL player
• Gerard Robinson, American education reformer
• Tamir Saban, American-Israeli basketball player
• Niu Sale, American football player
• Nathan Salmon, professor (graduated under the name "Nathan Salmon Ucuzoglu")
• Lauren Sánchez, Emmy Award-nominated American news anchor^[20]
• Kenbrell Thompkins, football player
• Douglas Trumbull, filmmaker^[20]
• Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys co-founder (did not graduate)^[19]
• William Allen Young, actor^[16]

Notable faculty

• John DeMita, theater professor
• Fitzhugh Dodson, philosophy professor from 1959
• George Gerbner, communications professor from 1952 to 1956
• Kim Krizan, English professor
• Julius Sumner Miller, physics professor from 1953 to 1970
• Ambrose Schindler, American football coach