Shasta College will hit a significant historic landmark when it graduates its class of 2025 next May, when Redding's community college turns 75 years old at the end of the 2024-2025 academic year.
The school will commemorate its upcoming milestone at athletic games, graduation ceremony and other campus events, toasting the school's seven decades of cracking books and building community, Shasta College Marketing Director Peter Griggs said.
Today's students at the North State's largest community college have a long list of extracurricular activities and program choices that were unheard of 75 years ago, according to one 96-year-old alum who was there as a member of the Class of 1951.
Here are five things to know about Shasta College's start, the school's famous graduates and the protective knight that has guarded the campus for almost 60 years.
Shasta College's first campus
Founded in 1948 as part of the Shasta Union High School District, Shasta College opened its original campus in 1950 on Eureka Way in Redding. That first year, 26 faculty welcomed 256 daytime students into their classrooms.
The college's original campus now houses Shasta High School, Griggs said.
Because 1950 was also the state's centennial anniversary, then President Harry S. Truman was touring California. Archives report that Truman came to speak on what was then Shasta College's Thompson Field.
Sacramento area resident Leland “Lee” Ruth, now 96, was among the first Shasta College students to graduate in 1951.
"As I remember there were two buildings in an open field. No landscaping in place and construction still going on. Classes were very small," Ruth said in a recent interview.
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Ruth earned his associate's degree in agriculture and said he was chosen by peers in his public speaking course to give the student address at commencement that year.
Most of the students were in their early 20s and had spent time in the military said Ruth, who's also a member of Shasta High School's class of 1945 and is working to plan a reunion for his distinguished high school colleagues.
"It was all business for most (students). I was there to move on as quickly as possible and very grateful to use the GI Bill for support," he said.
The college's first graduating class included 18 day program students: 11 men and 7 women, Griggs said.
Then Shasta College moved to Old Oregon Trail...
By 1964, the college had outgrown its campus on Eureka Way. Voters passed a bond issue funding a 337-acre campus at Shasta College's current site on Old Oregon Trail.
The land was previously a Wintu tribal trading center. Later it served as homestead for a veteran who fought in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) and his family, according to the school's history .
When Shasta College opened the new 39-building campus in 1968, the school reported the size of its student body jumped more than three-fold, from 1,300 to almost 5,000.
More than seven decades after its founding, Shasta College operates campuses in Red Bluff, Weaverville, Burney and a second campus in downtown Redding.
Shasta College's programs have evolved, too.
The school now offers concurrent college enrollment for high school students wanting to get an early start on a college degree. During the past decade, programs have launched to help people who dropped out of high school to finish their degrees and to assist military veterans and others earn college credit for life experience.
More than 12,500 students attended classes during the 2022-2023 academic year, according to the school.
Of those students, approximately 57% identified as women, Griggs said.
U.S. Presidents and Olympians among famous alumni and campus visitors
In addition to President Truman, Shasta College welcomed other famous guests. Among them were 1936 Olympian Jesse Owens, environmentalist and photographer Ansel Adams, former President Bill Clinton and the Harlem Globetrotters.
Notable Shasta College alumni include soprano Sydney Mancasola, tenor Rafael Helbig-Kostka, Superior Court Judge Tamara Wood, baseball's Easton Waterman, football's Ricky Ray and Jason Sehorn, and professional wrestler Ken Shamrock, according to the college .
Where Shasta College got that knight
Since 1955 Shasta College's mascot ― a knight affectionately dubbed "Oakey Doaks" ― stood guard on the Redding campus. According to the school, the Shasta College Motor Knights Club built the first suit of armor and lance, erected next to the campus entrance sign. The mascot's name came from a popular 1950s comic strip character.
Oakey Doaks stood guard for 57 years until a storm destroyed the suit of armor in 2012. That's when Shasta College Welding Club students stepped up to create a replacement knight ― plus a spare.
Today, the two Shasta College knights rouse school spirit from their posts at the main entrances to the gym and the football stadium, according to the college.
Look for that mascot — a person dressed as Oakey Doaks — sporting a new accessory this year. Welding instructor, Jay Davis made the knight a 75th anniversary shield to carry to games, Griggs said.
How to join Shasta College's 75th anniversary events
It's not just students, alumni, staff and faculty who can attend the school's special commemorative events. "The public is definitely invited" to the jubilee, Griggs said.
Cheer for the Knights at football, volleyball, soccer, wrestling or other games on the Shasta College athletics schedule. See a list of games at shastacollegeathletics.com .
Other events open to the public include art exhibits in the college gallery, while drama students will be performing Henrik Ibsen's classic "A Doll's House" in the Shasta College Theatre on Oct. 11-20. The theater is also the venue for the school's jazz concert on Nov. 1. Go to shastacollege.edu/events for more information.
To get on the college's 75th events mailing list go to shastacollege.edu/75 .
Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and news stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook . Join Jessica in the Get Out! Nor Cal recreation Facebook group. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta College hits its Diamond Anniversary: Remember 75 years of the North State Knights
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