Quartzsite Becomes Site of Higher Education

Quartzsite may still be reckoned as a “town” as opposed to a city, but some of the locals are strutting about like peacocks now that the town officially has a community college campus. At the trailing end of March, bigwigs of all stripe (and clothing) turned up for big opening ceremonies at the new campus of Arizona Western College.

Don’t expect dorms, libraries, and vast laboratories with bearded professors, the new building is a bit on the modest side: The footprint scales in at a bit less than 6,000 square feet–perhaps on the size scale equivalent with the home of one of Quartzsite’s former mayors. But the new building does boast a computer lab, study rooms, and even a fitness center. Some of these areas will be open for public and community group use.

Classes are slated to open come next fall. What’s on the educational menu? It could be a mystery meal–the local papers are hard pressed to disclose what coursework will be offered. The local Desert Messenger even pitches a plea for those, “interested in teaching academic or personal interest courses,” to contact the college’s Parker campus. Interestingly enough, earlier this year the Parker college director had been asking around Quartzsite for folk interested in teaching short-term classes of interest to snowbirds.

We put a call into Jim Brouillette, the college’s director of services for LaPaz County to find out more, even delaying this story for his response. Jim never got around to calling us back so instead of waiting any longer, we’re running it without course offering information. Maybe Brouillette is busy running course outlines off the mimeograph.

Photo: Tiña DeMaris