PCC Board Votes to Name Campus Administration Building for Former President

Dr. Jack Scott, former Pasadena City College President/Superintendent speaks during a December 8, 2021 ceremony which saw the college’s administration building renamed in his honor. At far right stands PCC’s current President/Superintendent Dr. Erika Endrijonas. [Photo by Eddie Rivera/Pasadena Now]

Accolades and congratulations poured in from every corner of the California political map on Wednesday as the Pasadena City College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to rename the campus’ iconic landmark administration building for former PCC President/Superintendent and State Senator Dr. Jack Scott.

“Jack Allen Scott is a much better building name than ‘Building C!’” joked former California State Senator Carol Lui before the special vote, which was held as part of an official Board of Trustees meeting in the jam-packed Circadian Room.

“I am so honored and so overwhelmed,” said an emotional Scott following a veritable roll call of political leaders, former associates and close friends. “This was really a surprise.”

The Pasadena City College administration building known as Building C has been renamed in honor of former PCC President Jack Scott.

Assemblymember Chris Holden called Scott “second to none,” adding, “he had the smarts to understand how to make public policy work for young people, he was a tremendous leader here at Pasadena City College, was an innovative visionary, then he goes to Sacramento, where he shifts gears and becomes an extraordinary legislator. I don’t think there has been a position that Jack has held, where he hasn’t excelled.”

Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo, himself a former PCC student, said, “Scott left a tremendous legacy with his career here, and I am certainly proud to honor him. There would not be a Mayor Victor Gordo without Pasadena City College.”

In his remarks following the vote, Scott paid tribute to his son Adam, who was killed in 1993 at a party by a friend handling a weapon. A tree and plaque at the PCC campus’ mirror pool, in the shadow of the renamed administration building, pay tribute to his son.

He also thanked and remembered his wife of more than 60 years, Lacreta, who passed away in February of 2021.

Scott was served as PCC President/Superintendent from 1987 to 1995. He was elected to the State Senate in 2000 and was reelected in 2004. He became the chancellor of the California State Community College System in 2008.

Following his retirement as chancellor in 2012, he has served as a Claremont University Scholar in Residence and on the boards of various nonprofit organizations.