Schulte visits Pierce College to see the farm

Last Friday at the request of a writer for the college newspaper (“The Roundup”) I spent several hours on the campus of Pierce College in Woodland Hills. Pierce is one of the nine community colleges in the LACCD system. It has a long and proud history in Los Angeles.

Most of the time that day was spent in touring the Farm Center , which, along with the larger farm, comprises nearly 250 acres of land granted to Pierce College in the earlier days of the college. The  entire  parcel is green and lush. It provides land for crops, for a variety of farm animals, for “eco-agriculture” programs and for the efforts of several  hundred students who major in large animal science, equine studies, pre-veterinary programs and other pursuits at the college.

Yet the Farm Center is threatened by discussion (and threats) of plans for adding to the encroaching development nearby----the condoization of Woodland Hills. Moving in this direction would reduce options for study at Pierce, would reduce avenues of farm income and would destroy a large and very significant open space at the edge of the college.  Open space that is badly needed in sprawling Los Angeles.  Development would greatly diminish what is distinctive----and for many students----attractive about Pierce.

Yet all this fits a pattern. It is a pattern of poor management and short-sighted decisions that affect not just Pierce but all of the nine colleges. It is a pattern that keeps the colleges far short of reaching their promise, of delivering on what they were intended to deliver.

Driving around the rest of the Pierce campus one sees fine buildings, athletic fields, charming faculty office buildings, newer facilities-----all of which would seem to contribute to a good college experience. The fact that Pierce and the other colleges fall short of this promise is tragic----and a failure to deliver as promised.

When I went to college I was fortunate enough to receive a four-year scholarship to one of the finest colleges in the country. My four years at Yale were rich and rewarding and life-changing. The experience is what I would hope that college would be for all students who the desire, are willing to work hard and who dream of achieving. That is why the motto for my campaign is “the college education you deserve”.

I hope you will agree and that together we can work hard over the next several years to make our nine community colleges truly worth our pride and involvement.