Celebrated Past. Boundless Future.
Discover the history of Santa Ana College. As we celebrate our centennial, take a journey through our long and storied history.
1920
The first college dance was held at the home of Edward M. Nealley, SAJC philosophy professor.
1921
Santa Ana Junior College published the first issue of
The Algol, a yearbook exclusively for Santa Ana Junior College.
1922
A junior college district was established, making Santa Ana Junior College no longer a department of the high school. With the help of the YWCA, a hut was built on campus for the women students which contained an office, a kitchenette, and a restroom.
1923
Astronomy students built a telescope on campus.
1925
September 12:The Junior College News published its first edition of the school year. The paper could be purchased at a cost of five cents per copy, or one dollar for a year's subscription. The college's official colors were purple and white.
September 21: The faculty had nine new members, bringing the total to 29.
The Algol, SAJC's yearbook, announced that a "mission" motif would be introduced for the first time, commemorating the 150th anniversary of Mission San Juan Capistrano.
September 29: A contest was launched to determine the college mascot. $5 in prizes were offered, with first place winning $3 and second and third place getting $1 apiece.
October 7: Plans were approved for an $80,000 gymnasium and construction began on a new cafeteria. Of the 247 students enrolled, 129 were women. The first proposed college mascot names included Vikings, Owls, Eagles, Greeks, Saints, Jays and Orangemen. The Girls Athletic League was "banished." Among the reasons was the idea that it became "Too competitive."
October 14: More mascot names were proposed including Dons, Cops and Kings. An amendment to the college constitution was passed which required student-athletes to maintain 12 units in order to represent the college. Tardy students had to pay a fine of 10 cents which went towards scholarships. The college's print shop added two typesetting machines at a cost of $11,000.
October 21: Santa Ana Junior College was recognized as an accredited university and therefore would no longer be associated with University of California, Berkeley. Other junior colleges were expected to follow suit. More proposed mascot names were Beavers, Jay-Walkers and Tiger Cats.
November 4: The final set of proposed mascot names was announced. They were JayHawkers, Incas and Buzzards. Early buzz had Dons and Vikings as the favorites.
November 17: The leading mascot name choices were announced -- Cops and Dons
1926
January 18: The student body voted to select "Dons" as the official mascot for Santa Ana Junior College. With 92 votes, Dons easily won the election ahead of second place Vikings, which garnered 19 votes.
February 17: A proposal was made to create a new "union" junior college that would merge Santa Ana and Fullerton Junior Colleges. The proposal never moved forward.
March 4: Santa Ana Junior College looked to create a separate brand apart from Santa Ana High School.
March 10: A seal was created for Santa Ana Junior College. The seal featured a "Don" in the foreground and a mission in the background with Santa Ana Junior College written around it. A contest began for an Alma Mater (college song). The Dons added two new indoor sports: indoor chess and ping pong.
March 17: Construction of the gym was underway.
April 20: The student body considered a color change. Five songs were submitted during the Alma Mater contest.
September 15: The student paper was published as "The Dons". Dana King Hammond called for the slogan of "Start, Stride, Finish."
September 22: The second issue of the school newspaper bore the moniker "The Don". Andrew Gymnasium was opened. The following new courses were announced: journalism, Spanish, Latin, German, accounting, organic chemistry and introduction to business; to "make," enrollment had to be 15 students in each.
December 14:The Don was printed in color. A Music Club was organized for the first time. The Women's Athletic Association was formed.
1927
January 4: A fun, student-only, version of
The Don was published. It was known as
El Toro and all the print was red. Content appeared to all be in jest.
January 26: 72 courses were offered; five more than the previous year.
March 23: The college discussed a possible name change. Among the proposals were Valencia College and Santa Ana College.
May 18: Discussion continued regarding name change.
May 25: With 98 votes, the college once again discussed renaming Santa Ana Junior College. 28 votes were placed to not change the name with the following names also receiving votes: Valencia College (4), The Don's College (5), Santa Ana Valley College (5), Heretoga (2) and Savoc (4). Savoc stood for Santa Ana Valley Orange County.
September 14: Andrew J. "Bill" Cook was introduced as head football coach.
October 10: Junior colleges began to offer education courses and SAJC offered history of education. Faculty worked to standardize grading. Once standardized, all grading was on a bell curve.
October 18: A total of 3,368 students were enrolled in Southern California junior colleges.
November 30: Students receiving below a 'D' average, or enrolled in 9 units or less, were dismissed. Reinstatement was offered after one quarter.
December 14: Planning for a new campus began. A women's volleyball team was added.
1928
March 28: 70 students were slated to graduate.
April 18: Board discussed change of school colors. During basketball season, the team wore red and white due to the purple uniforms fading.
May: The first annual Fiesta Day was held to which all graduating high school seniors were invited—deemed a good recruiting effort.
May 14: Student body voted on a color change, and selected scarlet and black as official school colors with 126 votes for scarlet and black, and 40 votes to remain purple and white. New letterman's sweaters had a black 'S' on a scarlet background.
October 31: It was announced that John Phillip Sousa would perform in high school's gym on campus.