FOLSOM, Calif. — Folsom Lake College (FLC) marked its 20th anniversary as an accredited institution earlier this month.
On Jan. 9, 2024, current, retired and past employees gathered at FLC’s Harris Center to celebrate 20 years to the day since the college’s founding, according to a social media post.
Thelma Scott-Skillman, FLC’s founding president, was in attendance. She said it was an honor and a privilege to serve as the college’s first president and remembers a time when it was nothing but a dedicated group of faculty, staff and administrators starting out in portables on a hill overlooking Folsom.
“It brings me tremendous pride on FLC’s 20th Anniversary to fondly reminisce about the college’s early years, celebrate its continued growth, vitality and treasured role within the community, and to anticipate Folsom Lake College’s bright future as we build upon its legacy,” Scott-Skillman said in a statement.
FLC opened on Jan. 9, 2004, but the city of Folsom donated a 151-acre parcel of land to the Los Rios Community College district to be preserved for a future college site in 1967, according to the college’s website.
A Folsom Lake Center opened in 1993 as an educational branch of Cosumnes River College, which joined the Los Rios district in 1970, the website said. Folsom Lake Center’s first permanent structure, Aspen Hall, was built in 1999.
In 2004, FLC became the 109th community college in California and the fourth Los Rios college.
Los Rios Chancellor Brian King said it has been exciting to watch FLC’s enrollment and community engagement growth in 20 years.
“When I first arrived in Los Rios as chancellor in 2013, Folsom Lake College still very much operated as a small startup college,” King said. “Its growth has, in so many ways, mirrored the growth of Folsom itself.”
Art Pimentel is FLC’s current president. He said the college, with a commitment to academic success, has empowered more than 126,000 students.
“Over the past two decades, Folsom Lake College has grown and evolved, becoming a cornerstone of educational excellence in the region,” he said.
Pimentel said he is excited for FLC’s newest campus addition, a 75,000 square foot science building expected to open fall 2025. The facility was originally slated for a November 2024 completion, ABC10 previously reported.
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