Irvine Gets a ‘Valley’ at College Dedication

Quips about the college’s name accompanied pomp and ceremony Tuesday as officials garbed in academic gowns dedicated the newest of California’s 106 community colleges, Irvine Valley College.

The outdoor ceremonies, under a hot noon sun, marked the formal dedication of the newly independent college, located at Jeffrey Road and Irvine Center Drive in eastern Irvine. The 5,200-student institution had been the northern branch of the Mission Viejo-based Saddleback College.

The principal speaker, state community colleges Chancellor Joshua L. Smith, joked about the new institution’s name during his formal address.

Smith, making his first appearance in Orange County since being named to the post, noted wryly that “Irvine Valley” created a valley “where none existed before,” adding: “Irvine Valley! ‘What valley?’ we all have been asked. Let’s face it, folks, Irvine Elongated Plane College just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Argued Against Name

“I’m told geologists have argued against the college’s name by pointing out that it is not located in a depressed plane. I say good. I’m delighted this college is not located in a depressed anything.

“If the ‘sun’ can have a valley; if ‘dolls’ can have a valley; if even ‘the shadow of death’ can have a valley, then surely geologists cannot deny Irvine its own valley,” he observed.

The audience of about 250 persons broke into laughter.

Irvine Valley was selected earlier this year as the new name for what had formerly been North Campus of Saddleback College. The name was a way of using Irvine , to please that city, while attempting not to offend Laguna Beach and Tustin, the other communities the college serves, according to officials familiar with the situation. Smith told Tuesday’s audience that he was indulging in some levity because a college dedication is “a fun occasion, and I don’t know how many fun occasions I will have in the coming months.” He praised the new college, saying that its fund drive earlier this month for a handicapped student who had lost all his belongings in an arson fire exemplified “lofty principles.”

‘Act of Love’

“Your act of love for one you have adopted as a member of the Irvine Valley College family became an exquisite interplay of the teacher and student roles which find their paradigm, or ultimate example, in the delicate and touching exchanges between Dante and Virgil in ‘The Divine Comedy,’ ” Smith said.

Several of the speakers who preceded Smith alluded to a state commission’s current study of what changes should be made in the community colleges system. Possible recommendations for changing the governance of the system are among items expected in the commission’s report, to be issued in February.

At a press conference after his speech, Smith, asked if he believes some governance changes are needed, said: “I believe the state community college board needs to be strengthened, but I am not one who believes that ought to be done at the expense of local decision-making. We will continue to have locally elected boards of trustees actually running the institutions.

“The board in Sacramento needs to have more authority to press state issues and state priorities and also to make districts accountable on how they spend their money.”

Irvine Valley College will hold several other Dedication Week activities on campus through Sunday, including a demonstration of law enforcement technology at 11 a.m. Thursday and an open house Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.