Sarabia Receives Honorary Degree

PAC’s Spring 2009 Graduation Ceremony featured the presentation of the Alamo Colleges’ fourth Honorary Degree to Andy Sarabia, an early Communities Organized for Public Services (COPS) organizer, who was instrumental in the established of Palo Alto College in the Southside of San Antonio in the mid-1980s.

Presenting Sarabia with a medallion and a framed degree were Dr. Ana M. “Cha” Guzmán, PAC President; Denver McClendon, Alamo Colleges Board Chairman; and Dr. Bruce Leslie, Alamo Colleges Chancellor. The presentation was the highlight of the PAC Graduation Ceremony held at the Municipal Auditorium, May 5.

According to college history, the opening of Palo Alto College was the realization of a community dream to build an institution of higher learning in the Southside of San Antonio. Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS) — a grassroots organization, predominantly Hispanic, with the mission of advocacy for the underserved, and a commitment to making government responsive to citizen needs — spearheaded the efforts to establish the college in the southern section of San Antonio.

Palo Alto College was established by the Alamo Community College District (ACCD) Board of Trustees on February 21, 1983, and chartered by the Texas Legislature on March 19, 1983, as an open admission, public, two-year institution.

Palo Alto College is federally designated as a Hispanic–Serving Institution and fully accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Classes began in September 1985 with 231 students enrolled.