Students attending Bakersfield College within the next few years will become a witness to a historical event to occur on the BC campus. The year 2013 will mark the centennial anniversary of the first enrollment of students to Bakersfield College.

In 1913, BC opened its doors to a student body of 13 and was located on the grounds of Bakersfield High School campus. It wasn’t until 1956, that the construction was completed and the campus was relocated to the Panorama Drive location.

It may be early to start thinking about a centennial celebration almost two years away, yet with it being such a significant event, plenty of time allows for plenty of ideas to circulate on how to commemorate the 100-year anniversary.

There has already been some activity in the works on campus to get a jump-start on the event. A committee has been formed to create some type of honorary festivities program that the entire community can embrace. Though the committee is on hold at this time due to the medical leave of its chairman, activity is expected to resume in the very near future according to Amber Chiang, spokesperson for the committee. “We’re always looking for ideas,” said Chiang in regards to the festivities.

Students, faculty and any interested party are encouraged to present some of their own ideas once the committee has been re-established and active once again. “Plans are still at the informative stage and should start to pick up during May, and by September the plans should be more open for discussion,” said Chiang

So far the committee had a few possibilities they were considering.

One issue they were looking at was the time frame of when the commencement part of the celebration will actually begin.

“Will it start at the end of the year 2012 or during the first semester of 2013 and will it last the entire school year? But planning is still in its early stages,” added Chiang.

A subcommittee has emerged that is in the development of publishing a book to include a chronology of the history of BC, from its first year to the present, in honor of the centennial.

The Bakersfield College Archives Association has been a dynamic source that the subcommittee has relied upon for the material being gathered to include in the book.

“Our archives here are very robust,” said Chiang. “Not only does it have a lot of information but also has photos dating back from the college’s first years.

“With that we think it’s possible for us to put together a nice book,” said Chiang. The first chapter of the book has been completed thus far.

“A lot has happened in 100 years at BC and we have the photos to prove it,” Chiang said.