RCC first opened in 1916 at the same site as the
Riverside Polytechnic High School (Riverside Poly). Originally known as
Riverside Junior College and later as
Riverside City College, the school changed its name to
Riverside Community College in the mid-1980s. In 2008, the board of trustees renamed the institution back to "Riverside City College". The junior college expanded from the Riverside Poly campus and in 1924 constructed the first two buildings of the campus quadrangle in 1924. When Riverside Poly re-located to its own campus on
Victoria Avenue in 1965 the college assumed total control of the Magnolia property. Today, Riverside City College is part of the greater Riverside Community College District which enrolls about 21,000 students each semester. Students may earn an
associate degree,
transfer to a four-year college or
university, or earn a
career certificate. In addition to the campus located in downtown Riverside, there are campuses in
Moreno Valley and
Norco. Separate education centers include the
Riverside County Sheriff's Department Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, the Center for Teaching Excellence at Stokoe, and the Rubidoux Annex in
Rubidoux. RCC is also home to Gateway to College, a
charter school that serves those
returning to high school seeking diplomas as adults. RCC maintains programs in
liberal arts and
science,
athletics, and
performing arts and
vocational education. The school band is the
RCC Marching Tigers, which includes the Fantasia Winter Guard, which has won several
Winter Guard International awards, a Fall Marching Band, a Winter Drum Line, and a Spring Pep Band. The
student newspaper is
Viewpoints. The college is home to the School for Nursing. In 2016, RCC opened the Henry W. Coil Sr. and Alice Edna Coil School for the Arts on University Avenue and Market Street, adjacent to the historic White Park. The school is the home of the college's music program, including the internationally renowned RCC Chamber Singers, and the RCC Jazz Ensemble. The school combining classrooms, studios, and
digital media labs, built around a state of the art concert hall designed with adjustable acoustics. The new school serves around 1,000 students preparing for careers in vocal or instrumental performance,
music education, and careers in the
music industry. The college's marching band performed at the
Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California on January 1, 2010, and at
Bandfest at
Pasadena City College.
1966 murder On October 30, 1966, Cheri Jo Bates, an 18-year-old student, was murdered on the college premises. She had been repeatedly kicked in the head, stabbed twice in the chest, and slashed to such an extent that she had nearly been
decapitated. The murder has been described by many as having "stripped Riverside of its innocence". The culprit was never identified, but is believed by some to have been the
Zodiac Killer, a notorious, unidentified
serial killer active in the
San Francisco Bay Area from 1968 to 1969. The Zodiac himself seemingly admitted to the crime in a
1971 letter, but this theory has been dismissed by the
Riverside Police Department. ==Athletics==