The college was founded as Glendale Junior College in 1927, to serve the Glendale Union High School District which at the time included La Crescenta, Glendale, and Tujunga. From 1927 to 1929 classes were held in the buildings of Glendale Union High School at Broadway and Verdugo in the City of Glendale. In 1929 the junior college moved to the Harvard School plant of the Glendale Union High School District where it remained until 1937. In this year a new plant, part of the present one, was completed and occupied. The year before, in 1936, the Glendale Junior College District was dissolved as such and became a part of the new Glendale Unified School District. The name of the school was changed to Glendale College in 1944. On July 1, 1970, Glendale College became a part of the Glendale Junior College District. On April 20, 1971, the Board of Education adopted a resolution changing the District name to Glendale Community College District.
On November 4, 1980, Glendale voters approved a measure to establish separate Boards, with the new board taking office in April 1981. The separation resulted in the creation of a board of trustees solely responsible for the governance of the Glendale Community College District. In 1936, 25 acres (10 ha) were acquired for the present site of the college.
Campus
The campus now consists of 100 acres (40 ha) and 15 permanent buildings. It is located on the slopes of the San Rafael Hills overlooking the valleys in the Glendale area.
It is governed by a 5-member elected Board of Trustees, elected by geographical district effective in 2017. Pursuant to their authority, they have promulgated policies and administrative regulations for the administration of the district and GCC and serves Glendale and La Crescenta-Montrose.
The elections for the Glendale Community College Board of Trustees is held at the same day the Glendale City Council and Glendale Unified School District Board of Education, which took place on a first Tuesday after the first Monday in April of odd-numbered years. Effective with the March 2020 election, the elections are held on a first Tuesday after the first Monday during the California Primary Election.
Blake Gailen played baseball for Glendale Community College, graduating in 2005, and was All-Western State Conference as a freshman and All-Southern California Team as a sophomore.[10] Future major leaguer Ryan Sherriff pitched for the college baseball team as the team's ace in 2011, and was named 2011 First Team All-Western State Conference South Division.[11][12][13][14][15]
Marian Cleeves Diamond, Professor Emeritus of Anatomy & Neuroanatomy at University of California, Berkeley, taught at UCB for over 50 years; one of the founders of modern neuroscience
Angie Dickinson, actress, award winner, philanthropist, Police Woman (TV), Over 50 movies, author and fitness & health expert.
Frank Wykoff, three-time Olympic gold medalist runner
In popular culture
Glendale Community College inspired the NBC show Community which premiered in the fall season of 2009. The show uses the fictional setting of Greendale Community College; the show's creator, Dan Harmon, has stated that the show was actually based on his experience attending Glendale Community College. Harmon describes the series as "flawed characters [coming into Greendale] and becoming unflawed by being in this place because it's been underestimated by the system around it."[17]
^Eberts, Mike. "History of College". Glendale Community College. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
^"The tagline 'How Do You GCC?' was developed to provoke a response from the audience. It asks the individual to think about their relationship with the college. This applies to students, members of the faculty and staff, community members and anyone that has interaction with Glendale Community College." "Style Guide - Logo". Glendale Community College. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
^Note 7 - Donor Designated Endowments. "Glendale College Foundation Audit Report". Glendale College Foundation, Inc. (A California Nonprofit Corporation). June 30, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
^"The official colors of Glendale College are cardinal and gold ..." "About GCC: Style Guide - Fonts & Colors". Glendale Community College. Archived from the original on February 25, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2015.