COLLEGE PLANS 60TH B-DAY CELEBRATION

Grossmont alumni, award-nominated band at festivities

Grossmont College will celebrate its 60th anniversary with a party from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday on the campus’s main quad.

The Manny Cepeda Orchestra Trio, a Latin Grammy-nominated Afrocuban band led by Cepeda, a music instructor at Grossmont College, will be the featured entertainment. Food, prizes, proclamations and appearances by President Denise Whisenhunt and notable alumnus and water polo coach Tyrent Lackey will also be on hand. Other alumni and students will join in the celebration, as well as Grossmont-cuyamaca Community College District Chancellor Lynn Neault and representatives from local and state elected offices.

More than 1.6 million students have attended Grossmont College since it opened in 1961. Today, Grossmont is the largest provider of higher education and job training in East County. Its alumni have gone on to serve as elected officials, hospital administrators, entrepreneurs, professional athletes, scientists, laborers, the current sheriff of San Diego County, and more.

The college offers more than 150 certificate and associate degree programs, providing workforce training, career development and transferable college-level coursework. Grossmont College is the top transfer school to San Diego State University in the United States. According to the college, the average lifetime earnings of a Grossmont graduate who holds an associate degree is $1.6 million. In addition, the Grossmontcuyamaca College Promise provides a free year of tuition at Grossmont or Cuyamaca College for first-time students who are attending college full time.

Tuesday’s celebration will highlight the partnership between the community and its college. The event will also look ahead to the next 60 years of supporting the East County economy through academic and jobtraining facilities and programming.

The college is at 8800 Grossmont College Drive, El Cajon.