Merced College will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of its Los Baños Campus with a free celebration Nov. 5 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the outdoor quad of the campus (22240 West Highway 152).

“The Merced College Los Baños Campus 50th year celebration highlights our commitment to serving the community and the thousands of people on the west side of Merced County who have advanced their education and created better lives for themselves,” said Dr. Chris Vitelli, president of CVHEC-member Merced College.

Campus Dean Jessica Moran, a native of Los Baños and a graduate of its high school said, “We plan to welcome our community to showcase what we have accomplished over the past five decades.”

The celebration will feature free food including taco trucks and a volunteer barbecue crew led by Merced College Trustee John Pedrozo and Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke. Free entertainment will include carnival games.

Present and past Los Baños Campus staff and students will be honored, as well as emeritus board member Gene Vierra and several adjunct instructors who have worked at the campus for many decades. Previous deans of the campus will be acknowledged including John Spevak, former Merced College president of instruction, who is now a coordinator for the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium.

Dean-emeritus Spevak contributed to this series of columns on the history of the Los Baños Campus published in the Merced Sun-Star:

• Merced College’s Los Baños Campus opened in 1971 with great expectations
• The second decade of Merced College Los Baños Campus begins in tumult, ends in success
• As new millennium began, plans for Merced College Los Baños campus took shape
• Spevak: A new permanent Los Banos Campus opens during its fourth decade
• During its fifth decade, Merced College’s Los Banos Campus expands, looks to the future

See Merced College press release:  http://www.mccd.edu/news/press-releases/items/2021-10-19-los-banos-50-years.html

(CVHEC members are encouraged to submit items for this column: centralvalleyhec@gmail.com).