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.
2000
February 28: For the first time in SAC history, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams were league champions.
May: For the first time in the college’s 85-year history, a schedule for final exams did not exist. Final exams were given during regular class hours.
May 3: Seventy-four students from Middle College High School’s first graduating class were awarded associate degrees as well as high school diplomas.
August 10: After a 20-year absence, summer stock returned to Santa Ana College’s Phillips Hall Theatre as the rollicking rock 'n roll musical, GREASE, opened for a two-week run.
September 20: Santa Ana College celebrated its 85th birthday.
October 8: Rev. Jesse Jackson visited SAC to encourage students to “get out the vote” in the upcoming presidential election.
November: SAC’s journalism program received the Associated Collegiate Press National Pacemaker Awards for el Don – considered the best college newspaper in the country for the eighth year in a row – and the student-run magazine West 17th making SAC the only college in America, two or four-year, to simultaneously win both ACP honors.
November 20: Handmade AIDS quilts were displayed at the Johnson Center in observation of AIDS Awareness Week.
2001
April 26: SAC’s weekly Around and About Orange County cable news program produced its 500th show. Over 200 SAC-TV alumni are employed in the media industry.
May 25: SAC was named one of 13 educational institutions to participate in ENLACE, a six-year $28 million effort to strengthen the K-16 educational pathway for Hispanic students earning high school and college degrees. The initiative was funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
September 18: A candlelight vigil dedicated to the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks was held at Santa Ana College.
November 10: Santa Ana College School of Continuing Education in coordination with the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation offered a free naturalization application clinic.
2002
July 19: SAC’s Circle K Club and MEChA held a Pow Wow with inter-tribal dancing by various Native American peoples.
2003
The Santa Ana College Athletic Hall of Fame was established to celebrate, recognize and honor the accomplishments of individuals who have made significant contributions as a student-athlete, coach or friend to the rich tradition of the Santa Ana College athletic program.
2004
First-year Head Soccer Coach Jose Vasquez led the Dons to an unbeaten record of 19-0-4, including a 3-0 victory over Cerritos College in the state title game, to win the sixth State Championship in program history as well as its second National Championship.
July: After Dr. Rita Cepeda left her role as president of SAC. John Didion, Rancho Santiago Community College District executive vice chancellor of human resources and educational services, was named interim president of SAC.
2005
March: Dr. Erlinda J. Martinez was named president of Santa Ana College.
2006
August: The 28,000-square-foot state-of-the-art Digital Media Center opened at 1300 S. Bristol Street. The facility, which houses a RSCCD business incubator and instructional space for SAC’s digital media art, digital music, and TV/video programs, was funded by a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, land donated by the City of Santa Ana, and Measure E bond funds.
2007
March 16: Some 5,000 kindergarten students from Santa Ana Unified School District got their first glimpse of college through the 14th annual KinderCaminata.
May 11: The college hosted a grand opening celebration to dedicate the new 22,000-square-foot Exercise Science Locker Room Complex.
August 7: According to Community College Week, a national publication for two-year college professionals, Santa Ana College ranked 10th among the top 100 associate degree producers for Hispanic students in the nation.
September 11: Rancho Santiago Community College District and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department dedicated the new Orange County Sheriff’s Regional Training Academy, a 52,000-square-foot facility constructed using Measure E bond funds to house SAC’s public safety program.
2008
February: A ceremony was held to celebrate construction of a new two-story 20,000-square-foot classroom building at Santa Ana College. The “I” Building houses 16 classrooms.
February 4: Former President Bill Clinton spoke to a capacity crowd at Santa Ana College to support Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
2009
February 5: Santa Ana College joined the ranks of a growing number of smoke-free college campuses in California and nationwide. SAC was been declared a tobacco-free institution. Smoking would only be permitted on parking lots around the perimeter of the campus.
May 28: Santa Ana College celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a new child development center. The new building, SAC’s Early Childhood Education Center, was the newest Measure E project at Santa Ana College.
June 30: According to Community College Week, a national publication for two-year college professionals, Santa Ana College ranked 7th among the top 100 associate degree producers for Hispanic students in the nation. In addition, Santa Ana College ranked 24th among the top 100 associate degree producers for Asian American students in the nation.
August 12: Juan Sepúlveda, director of White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, led a town hall-style “Community Conversations” at Santa Ana College to gain input on the status of Hispanic education.