Mt. Hood Community College (MHCC) is a public community college in Gresham, Oregon, United States, named after Mount Hood. Opened in 1966, MHCC enrolls around
30,000 students each year and offers classes at the 212-acre
(86 ha) main campus in Gresham, as well as the Maywood Park
Center in Portland, the Bruning Center for Allied
Health Education (also in Gresham), and at area public schools.
The college's sports teams, the Saints, compete in the
Northwest Athletic Conference.
The college also owns and oversees KMHD, a
non-profit FM broadcast radio station based in Portland.
Campus
The main campus occupies 212-acre (86 ha) in Gresham. Other
facilities include the Maywood Park campus in Portland, the Bruning Center for Allied
Health Education and area public schools.[1]
The college is within relatively short distance from the nearby
communities Sandy and Clackamas, and is roughly fifteen miles
away from downtown Portland.[2]
Academics
MHCC enrolls roughly 30,000 students[1][3]
each year and is accredited[4]
by the Northwest
Commission on Colleges and Universities. The college's programs
include nursing, funeral science, integrated media, automotive
technology and transfer opportunities to local universities toward
B.A. degrees in humanities and science programs.
The college is financed by local property tax funds, state
reimbursement funds and student tuition. Local voters established
the college tax base in 1968 and approved tax base increases in
1970 and 1980.
MHCC is home to an Eastern Oregon University 4-year
degree program in either Business
Administration or Education, both with several
concentrations.[5]
The classes are held in the same manner as a regular 4-year
institution, under the Eastern Oregon University - Mt. Hood Metro
Center.
Student
life
The college has historically been known for its jazz performance
program,[6]
and was the home of jazz radio station KMHD and was
the site of the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival each summer
from 1982 through 2002 and from 2008-2010. The college has an
active student government, almost thirty different student clubs, a
student newspaper The Advocate.
The college also annually hosts the Portland Highland Games.[7]
Athletics
Mt. Hood Community College competes in the Northwest Athletic
Conference (NWAC). The college nickname is the Saints in
reference to the St. Bernard mascot. There are four men's
teams including baseball, basketball, track and field, and cross
country. There are five women's teams including volleyball,
softball, basketball, track and field, and cross country.
The college features a large aquatics center, which includes an
indoor swimming pool.
Notable
people
Alumni
- Chris Botti, Grammy Award-winning
trumpeter[8]
- Brian Burres, Major League Baseball pitcher
- Essiet Essiet, jazz bassist
- Todd Field, Academy Award-nominated
filmmaker[9]
- Nick Kahl, politician[10]
- Stafford Mays, NFL player[11]
- Joel David Moore, actor and director[12]
- Lillian Pitt, Native American artist[13]
- Patti Smith, politician[14]
- Dave Veres, Major League Baseball player
(Chicago Cubs)[15]
- Lindsay Wagner, actress[16]
Presidents
- 1966–1976: Dr. Earl Klapstein
- 1976–1985: Dr. R. Stephen Nicholson
- 1985–1996: Dr. Paul E. Kreider
- 1996–2000: Dr. Joel E. Vela
- 2001–2007: Dr. Robert Silverman
- 2008–2011: Dr. John J. "Ski" Sygielski
- 2011–2013: Dr. Michael D. Hay
- since 2013: Dr. Debra Derr