Orange County College Leaders and Mascots Take to the Capitol Steps

Orange County, CA, higher education leaders and mascots will communicate the collective value of higher education to workforce preparation and the economic well-being of Orange County and the state. An unprecedented gathering is planned for Thursday, May 8, at 11 a.m. at the California State Capitol Building, south steps.

Santa Ana, CA, May 03, 2008 --(PR.com)-- What:
Why are a rustler sporting a ten-gallon hat, a bottlenose dolphin, a red-headed hawk, a six-foot elephant, and an anteater with a two-foot long nose converging in Sacramento on May 8? Mascots from the publicly funded higher education institutions in Orange County will accompany their chancellors and presidents in an unprecedented gathering at the State Capitol Building to meet with lawmakers about their colleges’ and universities’ contributions to the state’s economy.

The Orange County higher education leaders and mascots will communicate the collective value of higher education to workforce preparation and the economic well-being of Orange County and the state.

When/Where:
11:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
California State Capitol Building, South Steps

Why:
A robust higher education system is fundamental to the state’s economic recovery and its future. All three systems provide unique coursework, academic degrees, workforce training and economic development, which drive the economic engine of California.

Who:
Rudy Hanley, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union CEO
Michael V. Drake, M.D., UC Irvine Chancellor
Milton A. Gordon, Ph.D., CSUF President
Edward Hernandez, Jr., Ed.D., Rancho Santiago CCD Chancellor
Ken Yglesias, Ed.D., Coast CCD Chancellor
Raghu Mathur, Ed.D., South Orange County CCD Chancellor

Visuals:
Chancellors and presidents flanked by students in mascot costumes. For this event, UCI’s mascot Peter the Anteater and CSUF’s mascot Tuffy the Titan have agreed upon a truce in their intra-county rivalry and will stand side by side urging state leaders to support higher education. Santiago Canyon College’s hawk, Golden West College’s rustler, and Coastline Community College’s dolphin will bear witness.

###

Higher education is an investment in the future.

For every dollar the state invests in a student’s higher education, the state’s economy receives a $3 net return.

In less than three years, California has slipped from being the fifth largest economic power in the world to the eighth largest. To regain our competitive edge, we must continue to invest in higher education.

If two percent more Californians had associate degrees and another one percent more earned bachelor’s degrees, the state’s economy would grow by $20 billion; state and local tax revenues would increase by $1.2 billion a year, and 174,000 new jobs would be created.

The state’s three higher education systems are uniquely positioned to help address the expected shortfall of up to 17,000 doctors by 2015 and the 116,000 additional nurses needed by 2020.

Higher education is a solution.
Contact
Rancho Santiago Community College District
Judy Iannaccone
714-480-7503
www.rsccd.org
Director, Communications
ContactContact
Categories