College of Canyons Marks Anniversary : Education: The school, which helped bring culture to the agricultural region, looks back on 25 years of change and growth.

In recognition of its 25th anniversary, College of the Canyons was touted Thursday as a cooperative effort that brought culture to an area that was mostly farmland when the school was founded.

The college’s first classes were offered after-hours at a local high school and its original site for a campus was changed because neighbors feared having college students in their midst.

“This day is an example of what College of the Canyons is all about--people working together to accomplish a common goal,” said Dianne Van Hook, college superintendent-president.

Van Hook spoke to about 250 students and faculty members scattered around an open area known as Honor Grove. Many in the crowd forwent rows of white chairs to sit on the sloped lawn or lean over balconies from surrounding classroom buildings.

“This is definitely a different time, a changing time,” Van Hook told the group. “I want you to think about where you were 25 years ago. Before you know it, the future you thought was so far off will greet you in the mirror in the morning.”

Van Hook also said educational leaders must face the challenges of making community colleges more accessible and they must join the information age with computers and new technology.

Visiting officials included Santa Clarita Mayor George Pederson, who was one of the college’s first instructors, and David Mertes, chancellor of the California Community Colleges system.

“Community colleges are a fundamental statement about California,” Mertes said. “The four-year institutions, as fabulous as they are, are models of institutions that came from Europe. Community colleges essentially grew up with California.”

Ruth Newhall, a founding member of the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society and former editor of Santa Clarita’s Signal newspaper, spoke from a historical perspective.

“This college has done miracles,” she said. “It has brought world culture to the valley, which didn’t even have a bookstore.”

The school was originally to be built near Camp Plenty Road in Canyon Country on a site previously designated for an elementary school. But residents’ complaints forced a switch to an area that was then planted with onions.

The school’s name also had to be chosen carefully, Newhall said, avoiding any reference to the surrounding communities. At the time, one group of residents wanted it named for Santa Clarita and another wanted Valencia in the title.

Although much of the event focused on the college’s past, Mertes concluded his comments with a look at the future. “We are defining the kind of society we will live in 25 years from now,” he said.