Irvine : Advisers Sift Names for Saddleback North College

Saddleback Community College District spokesman Bill Schreiber said there is “no chance at all” that the district Board of Trustees will name the newly independent north campus in Irvine “O. J. Simpson Community College.”

“Home of the Juicers” was just one of many funny names proposed to the advisory panel after the trustees designated the campus a separate college on April 8, said north campus spokeswoman Susan Clark. She mentioned a few of the several hundred names suggested by faculty and staff members and students: Nouveau Riche College, The Gipper College, College of the Freeways and Duke College--Home of John Wayne Airport.

Clark said one suggested name, “You Bet Your Life College, Home of the Grouchos (Marx)” was a shot at the south campus mascot, the Gauchos. She added, “I am almost positive that most of the funny names came from administrators.” Dan Whitcomb, north campus editor of the Saddleback campus paper, the Lariat, suggested United States College. That way, he joked, the campus initials would be USC and “we could charge thousands of dollars for books and not pay back money to the district.”

The name rated highest by the advisory panel, which will probably decide on a name at its May 13 meeting, was Modjeska College, Clark said. Modjeska Peak is one of the two peaks of Saddleback Mountain.