El Camino College Compton Center

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El Camino College Compton Center is a public two-year college established in 1927, located in Compton, California. Originally, it was called Compton City College. In 1933 the campus was struck by a devastating earthquake which destroyed all but two buildings on the campus. In 1950 the college separated from Compton Unified School District. The new campus was constructed at its present location on 1111 East Artesia Boulevard and the old grounds were used to raise Compton High School. A former president of Compton Community College, Ulis C. Williams, was a gold medalist at the 1964 Summer Olympics. In the post World War II period of 1946-65 Compton was a football powerhouse. During that period "Tartars" won or shared 11 conference championships and played in 13 bowl games including five Junior Rose Bowls. Compton won four of those five JRB's and four national championships in 1946, 1947, 1955 and 1956. Compton's roster in those days looked like a future roll call of the National Football League Hall of Fame and included Joe Perry and Hugh McElhenny.

1 Under Investigation
2 Presidents
3 Alumni
4 References

Under Investigation

The college is under law enforcement investigation due to allegations of fraud and corruption. The college was taken over in May, 2004 by the state chancellor's office, in an unprecedented move after it failed to file required annual financial statements. The "extraordinary audit" ordered by the state legislature, which was submitted by FCMAT with the assistance of, and based on the investigation by, Kessler International, expands previous probes that ultimately led to the college being taken over by the state in May, 2004 and to the school's loss of academic accreditation last year, the Los Angeles Times reported. State auditors and Kessler International recommended that authorities consider possible prosecutions for irregularities found during the 2003-05 period examined in the report. Compton Community College was stripped of its accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges effective Aug. 19, 2005, apparently making it the first public college in the nation to lose its official approval. The school’s operations were taken over for the Fall 2006 semester by neighboring El Camino College, based in Torrance. The California Community College Chancellor’s Office plans for the Torrance school to run the Compton school as a satellite campus for at least five years and perhaps as many as eight years. The goal, according to a Chancellor’s Office spokesperson, is to help Compton rebuild and recover and to eventually reapply for its own accreditation.