California Community College Chancellor & Board of Governors Recognizes RCC Football's Grind

In recent weeks, Riverside City College was selected to host the California Community College Board of Governors (BoG) for its September meeting. The two-day visit included a tour around campus that highlighted many attributes of the campus and college culture. The duty of the BoG is to set policy and provides guidance for the 73 districts and 115 colleges that constitute the system. The board is also responsible for interacting with state and federal officials along with selecting the chancellor for the system.

One of the many stops on campus included two athletic areas of focus – Arthur N. Wheelock Stadium and the Riverside Aquatics Complex. While the RAC is one of the best facilities in the Inland Empire, Wheelock Stadium lacks in many areas.

Nevertheless, the RCC football and track & field teams continue to compete at a high level and win despite the quality of the facilities they are housed. The efforts of Head Football Coach Tom Craft were recognized during the BoG site visit by the State Chancellor's Office and Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley, who serves as the CEO of the BoG and oversees the system's executive office.

Compliments of the California Community Colleges Newsletter

"One of the winningest football coaches in the California Community Colleges can teach us a lot about implementing the Vision for Success – the playbook, if you will, for an extended campaign to increase success and equity for 2.1 million students.

Riverside City College Football Coach Tom Craft's squad doesn't have a state-of-the-art training facility. The weight room looks like a throwback to junior high school. There isn't a classroom big enough near the football field to hold a meeting with the entire team, and many student athletes grapple with hunger, housing insecurity and juggle multiple jobs.

Yet, season after season, the Riverside City College Tigers are perched high in the standings, on the prowl for another conference title. But football titles are a just happy byproduct to the bigger prizes that coach Craft is after: student completion and transfer to four-year colleges and universities.

Here's what his program and successful teams of all kinds share: A supportive administration, dedicated faculty, a commitment to provide students with the academic support they need to succeed, nimble and caring staff that finds creative ways to help out with students' most basic needs, including food. And they all have buy-in and shared commitment to a master plan and common set of goals."

The remainder of the article can be found at this link.