LBCC announced their plan to rename the Pacific Coast Campus. A survey was sent to students and staff to gain insight on what the campus should be called.
Five writers from the Viking News weigh in on what they think the campuses should be named.
Keith Lewis: The names should reflect community staples
The topic of changing the name of both Long Beach City College campuses has been a thoughtful discussion as of late.
Since its inception in 1927 Long Beach City College, and the Liberal Arts Campus has been the name of LBCC’s main campus.
Followed by the Pacific Coast Campus which opened its doors in 1949, is located on Pacific Coast Hwy and Orange Avenue.
LBCC should change the names of both campuses to something that better suits us students.
It is important to represent diversity within our campus, as well as a great representation of the community in Long Beach as a whole.
The LAC campus should be renamed “Vida.” In both Latin and Spanish it translates in English as the word “Life.”
Naming the current LAC Campus as the Vida Campus would signify a starting point in a students pathway to their future.
PCC should change its name to the VIP Campus.
Not because we are all very important people, but because of the former VIP Records, which was a staple in the Black and Brown communities in East Long Beach in the late 1990’s.
Although the original storefront has since closed, it was within two blocks from our current campus. VIP Records’ new location is within walking distance from the PCC Campus.
Changing its name to the VIP Campus would allow LBCC to recognize the important landmark to our community that is located on one of the state’s most recognizable roadways that passes right through the heart of Long Beach.
Changing both campuses to these names showcases the diversity in a more appropriate manner.
Ryenne Jolliff: The names should reflect courses while honoring LBCC history.
PCC should be renamed the Trade and Technical Campus, a call back to its original name, while the LAC remains the same.
Most LBCC students recognize our campuses as the Liberal Arts Campus and the Pacific Coast Campus, but students may not be aware of the history behind their names.
When Long Beach City College was split into two campuses in 1949, their courses were separated into three different categories: Liberal Arts, General Adult, and Technical.
Liberal Arts courses were taught at the location that would become the LAC. The second campus was known as the Business and Technology Division Campus, eventually being renamed the Pacific Coast Campus.
It is more efficient to rename one campus so that the names characterize the many courses that LBCC has to offer.
Some would argue that naming the campuses after the courses is too broad, or that the classes offered on each campus don’t fall under their respective category.
However, these names would give students an easier way to sort through the course catalog.
Rather than having to commute back and forth between campuses, students can select the classes that best suit their major & spend their days at one location.
Additionally, this will allow future students to select the campus that will be the best fit for them.
Keeping the name of the LAC would be a logical choice because it would be easier for students to adjust to, instead of two completely new names.
The LAC has had the same name for 74 years. The saying goes – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
This new name will represent the extensive courses that LBCC has to offer while paying homage to the school’s history.
Dame Cortez: The names of the campuses should be after famous successful students
Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) is on a mission trying to find Mr. Warren G.
The campus names should honor people who students can recognize and look up to in a different perspective other than academically.
The success stories of Weathers and Warren G are ones that a student can relate more to since they were people who once attended the classrooms those students attend to now.
PCC should be renamed to the Warren G campus and LAC campus should be renamed to the Carl Weathers campus.
Weathers is best known for his performance as Apollo Creed from the “Rocky” franchise that was popular enough to garner a spin off franchise in “Creed.”
Weathers other notable works include: “Predator,” “Action Jackson” and “Happy Gilmore.”
He also managed to get signed as a free agent by the Oakland Raiders in 1970 after his football days at LBCC and San Diego State University.
Regulators, mount up.
Warren G and Nate Dogg’s “Regulate” is a classic west coast rap song that has reached heights that not much music can reach.
The song has 466 million listens on Spotify and the music video on Youtube has 340 million views.
It is one of the staple songs in the west coast classic raps playlist.
Warren G utilized LBCC’s commercial music program to propel himself into a successful career where he still tours today.
He’s managed to sell over 4 million albums worldwide and become a three time platinum artist.
These two famous students have put themselves in positions to garner some recognition from the places they started from and LBCC can do that by renaming both campuses after them.
Taylor Robinson: The campuses should be named after LGBT pioneers
The campuses should be renamed to names of LGBT pioneers to honor Long Beach’s history as an inclusive city.
PCC should be named after someone who stood for and gained rights for the LGBTQIA community.
Some famous pioneers who spearheaded the movement for LGBT rights that they could rename the PCC campus after would be Bob Crow, Harvey Milk and Vanessa Romain.
Milk was a pioneer of gay rights from San Francisco and the first openly gay man to win office in California.
Milk helped to make a bill pass that would ban discrimination in public accommodations, housing and employment on the basis of sexual orientation.
A speech in Long Beach made by Milk in 1978 addressed the audience to continue to fight for the rights of LGBT workers in public schools.
Vanessa Romain is a human rights activist, social worker and board member of the Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride non-profit organization.
Romain was there at the first Pride parade and festival in Long Beach in 1983.
Bob Crow was one of the founders of the Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Inc, now known as Long Beach Pride. He recently died Sept. 29.
The parade Crow founded is the second biggest event in the city and has continued for nearly 40 years. The event brings in upwards of 80,000 people to Long Beach on Pride weekend.
The combination of which names to use for which campus isn’t significant.
These are the important figures that helped found or pioneered the LGBTQIA community that the PCC and LAC could be renamed to.
Andrea Alonso: The names of the campuses should be named after norse gods
The campuses should be renamed to the names of the god of craftsmanship for PCC and the god of poetry for LAC.
The school’s mascot is a Viking. Vikings used to worship norse gods and LBCC can stick to the theme of the mascot to rename the campuses.
The PCC campus used to be called the business and tech campus and it consists of business classes, engineering classes and classes of more technical training skills.
In Norse mythology, Brokkr is a dwarf who is a blacksmith for the Norse gods and helped create Mjollnir,a powerful hammer held by Thor, and many other great weapons and tools.
The Brokkr campus would be a good name for a campus that helps forge future engineers and architects who plan on becoming people with sharp minds.
Bragi, who represents poetry and wisdom, would be a symbol for those who are studying the arts.
Although some might disagree that they don’t represent the campuses itself, they are meant to represent what the campuses are trying to instill into the minds of the students.
One would forge technical skills and the other would create a path towards the liberal arts.
The campuses have differing themes for names. One is a location based name and the other a curriculum based name. Naming the campuses after the gods creates two curriculum based names that are acceptable and stick to the theme of the college mascot.
Students will be learning skills in a campus named after a god of craftsmanship or a god of poetry.
Students might feel anticipation from the names of the campus for what they’ll be learning and what they could possibly master at that campus.
Using the gods’ names would personalize them more towards students’ curriculum and give them a sense of familiarity to the respective campus.