Mt San Jacinto Community College District

Menifee Valley campus of Mt. San Jacinto College The Mt. San Jacinto Community College District was formed in 1960 by a vote of the citizens in Banning, Beaumont, Hemet, and San Jacinto. [ citation needed ] The college enrolled its first students in the fall of 1963, holding classes in rented facilities in the San Gorgonio Pass and San Jacinto Valley. The college's first president was Milo P. Johnson, whom the library on the San Jacinto Campus is currently named after. [ 4 ] The San Jacinto Campus opened in 1965 with two buildings and has since grown into a larger, more comprehensive campus serving the local community. In 1975, the residents of Temecula, Lake Elsinore, Perris, and adjacent areas voted to join the Mt. San Jacinto Community College District, increasing the college's area to the present 1,700 square miles. Although the boundaries have remained stable since 1975, the District has changed dramatically, especially since the 1980s. In recent years, unprecedented population growth has fostered the highest rate of enrollment increase of all 116 California community colleges. In response to this intense growth, Mt. San Jacinto College opened its Menifee Valley Campus in October 1990. By the end of its first year, there were 2,100 students attending classes at the new campus. Today, the campus serves more than 12,000 students each semester. The San Jacinto Campus has been master-planned and essentially will be rebuilt over the next 15 to 20 years to accommodate 12,000 to 15,000 students. In the fall of 1993, the Alice P. Cutting Business & Technology Center opened to students with new laboratories for Business, Computer Information Science, Engineering Technologies, Electronics, and Photography. In the fall of 1995, a music building opened on the San Jacinto Campus. The 1995–96 year saw a vast increase in classroom space on the Menifee Valley Campus with the opening of the Allied Health and Fine Arts buildings.

[ citation needed ] The master plan for the Menifee Valley Campus will ultimately provide for 15,000 to 20,000 students. A new learning resource center on this campus opened during the Spring 2006. The construction of two new childcare centers in 2002 paved the way for a major expansion of the Child Development and Teacher Training Center at MSJC. On May 19, 2011, groundbreaking began for a new Social Sciences and Humanities building on the Menifee Valley Campus. The state approved funding for the project in 2008, but funding was delayed because of California's budget crisis. Funding was appropriated again in 2010 after the state was able to sell bonds. This new building allowed MSJC to move some classes that were being held in aging portables into the new facility. The new MVC building was available to students by Fall 2012. [ 5 ] On March 20, 2018, Mt. San Jacinto College announced that it had purchased two office buildings on property owned by Abbott Vascular for $56.5 million to open a larger, 350,000 square-foot campus in Temecula. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] The Temecula campus later opened on August 16, 2021, offering both in-person and online class options. [ 8 ] Police chief dismissals The college police chief, Kevin Segawa, was arrested on December 2, 2009, and charged with eight felonies. He pleaded guilty to charges that included bribery, perjury and misappropriation of public funds related to his work at the college and dealings with a tow business owner. [ 9 ] He pleaded guilty on June 23, 2010. [ 10 ] Other charges stemmed from Segawa allegedly not filling complete arrest reports in two cases, one of which resulted in a civil suit against the college. [ 11 ] The replacement for Segawa, John Ortega, began acting as chief on March 14, 2011. On December 15, 2011, Ortega was placed on paid (salary administrative) leave for undisclosed reasons. On February 9, 2012, MSJC's board of trustees decided not to renew his contract.

The college declined to comment on the dismissal, but the Greater Orange News Service reported that Ortega's dismissal may have involved a sex scandal. [ 12 ] On February 2, 2013, a civil trial against the college began. Chris Kuhl sued the college for wrongful termination. Three other officers initially joined in the suit against the college: Ron Navarreta, Scott Jensen, and Pedro Gonzalez. Gonzalez settled with the college, according to court records. The other plaintiff's suits were split into separate trials by a court order. [ 13 ]

MSJC exerted the right of eminent domain to take 30 acres of land owned by Azusa Pacific University , a local private evangelical university. MSJC put down nearly $1.8 million to compensate Azusa Pacific for the condemned land. Subsequent to receiving notice of eminent domain, but before MSJC took possession, Azusa Pacific constructed an educational facility. The university countered the eminent domain action by arguing that MSJC should pay the market value of the land in 2004 when MSJC took possession. This amount was considerably higher than the value of the land in 2000 when MSJC condemned it. The California Supreme Court unanimously decided in favor of MSJC, declaring that the $1.8 million was fair compensation for the land. [ 14 ]