Crafton Hills College is a community college located in the city of Yucaipa, east of San Bernardino, Since its opening on September 11, 1972 Crafton Hills College has served as a beacon for higher learning in the San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. Much of the college is built on land that Ruben and Lester Finklestein donated through their foundation The Finkelstein Foundations to Crafton Hills College. The original donation included 167 acres of land in 1966 with 76 acres more in 1970 and finally donating 251 acres of additional land. Crafton Hills College now serves approximately 6,200 students each semester with both evening and night classes.
Students attending Crafton may choose to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a four-year college or university or earn a career certificate that prepares them to enter the workforce. Crafton maintains strong programs in liberal arts, the sciences and performing arts. Crafton Hills offers 37 degree programs and 35 occupational certificate plans. The college is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the accrediting body for California and the Western Pacific.
Cheryl A. Marshall, the college's current president, recently announced plans to introduce a bachelor's degree program in Emergency Services and Allied Health Systems, with other degrees (such as masters, doctorates and a Liberal Arts with teaching credential program) being added over time.
In maintaining strong programs in the liberal arts and the performing arts, Crafton Hills College publishes the annual art and literature magazine The Sand Canyon Review. This magazine is produced each spring semester, since its revival in the spring of 2008. The Sand Canyon Review has hosted work by noted writers and artists alike.
Crafton has a two-year Respiratory Care program, leading up to an RRT, a Radiology program operated cooperatively by Crafton and Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and is also the site of a California State Fire Training Academy.
The Crafton Hills College paramedic program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (www.caahep.org) upon the recommendation of the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions (CoAEMSP).
Committee for site Review
The committee for site was responsible for evaluating the fourteen original sites offered for Crafton Hills College. The committee reduced the fourteen sites down to four sites but one had a special appeal to it and that was that the land was offered up as a donation by Lester and Ruben Finkelstein through their charitable organization The Finkelstein foundation.
Committee Members
- Dr. Ray Ellerman â€" V.P for Business
- J.W. McDaniel â€" acting president
- Carleton Lockwood â€" Board President
- Dr. Paul Allen â€" Professor of history at Valley College
- Donald W. Hunt â€" Member of Yucaipa Board of Education
Architects
The architect company involved in the original design of Crafton Hills College included the services of Poper and Jones, architects from Long Beach who worked in partnership with an architect from San Bernardino named Jerome Armstrong. Because of Poper and Jones heavy involvement in the Development of Valley College the Board of Trustees decided that another architect would be needed choosing the John Porter Clark with firm Williams and Williams. Together these architects formed the Architects Collaborative in July 1966. The architects were each responsible for their own portion of the Design of the Campus.
Construction of the college
- November 22, 1966 The Board of Trustee's Officially accept land from Lester and Ruben Finkelstein
- October 2, 1969 â€" Ground Breaking Ceremony
Those in Attendance: Dr. Gordon C. Atkins - Provost, Mr. J W. McDaniel - Superintendent of the District; Mr. Edward F. Taylor - Board member from Redlands; Mr. Donald W. Hunt, Board member from Yucaipa; and Mr. and Mrs. Lester Finkelstein and Mr. and Mrs. Ruben Finkelstein. Mr. Taylor and Mr. Hunt Broke ground with a Golden Spade.
First Staff
- Gordon C. Atkins â€" Provost
- Foster Davidoff â€" President
Planning Committee
- Robert T. Galbraith â€" Biology
- William H. Hoyt â€" Physical Education
- Harold B. Pigott â€" English and Humanities
- V. Dean Stewart â€" Chemistry
Demographics
The latest statistics (Feb. 2002) for the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area are as follows:
- Population density 85.2 persons per sq. mile, San Bernardino County
214.4 persons per sq. mile, Riverside County
- Personal income $22,060 per capita (77% of national average)
- Housing tenure 64.5% owner occupied; 12.1% vacant
References
- Yucaipa: 1940s-1980s. Arcadia Publishing, 2009. 2009. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-7385-7080-8. ISBN 0-7385-7080-X.Â
- "Demographics". Retrieved April 18, 2014.Â
- "Paramedic class graduates from Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa". Redlands Daily Facts. Retrieved April 12, 2014.Â
- GUSTUSON, RACHAEL. "Crafton Hills College to offer four-year degrees". Yucaipa/ Calimesa News Mirror. Retrieved April 18, 2014.Â
Pigott, Harold B. (1983). From Concept to Concrete: the Shaping of a College. Redland California: Arthur Commercial press. p. 27. Yucaipa: 1940s-1980s. Arcadia Publishing. 2009. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-7385-7080-8. ISBN 0-7385-7080-X.Â
External links
- Crafton Hills College
