San Bernardino Valley College to Celebrate 100 Years with Centennial Gala
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San Bernardino Valley College automotive students restored this 1926 Buick Master Six, which will be featured in a Route 66–themed classic car walkway during SBVC’s Centennial Gala on March 27.
San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC) will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding with a black-tie gala, “Centennial Journey” on March 27, 2026 on the SBVC campus.
The gala will feature a walkway of classic cars dating back to the 1920s, featuring a 1926 Buick Master Six that has been restored by SBVC automotive students. The car walkway is a tribute to Route 66, which opened the same year as the college.
“SBVC’s Centennial Journey isn’t just about looking back on our first hundred years — it’s about driving forward into the next century,” said San Bernardino Valley College Foundation Executive Director Mike Layne. “For 100 years, students have come to SBVC with a dream and left with a future. From the Route 66-inspired classic car walkway and our students’ beautifully restored 1926 Buick to a night filled with music and storytelling, the gala will celebrate the people and moments that built SBVC while providing needed support for future students.”
The event will kick off at 5 p.m. with a Roaring 20s-themed cocktail party in the Applied Technology Building, which opened in March 2025. Guests can bid on silent auction items and listen to live music by the band Pepper Moons.
Dinner and a live auction will follow in the college’s gym, where attendees will take a “Centennial Journey” featuring highlights from the decades and a cast of alumni, students, volunteers and the band Radio Ready. Dinner will be catered by Cutting Edge Catering. All proceeds will support SBVC students.
The gala is co-chaired by Gloria Macias Harrison and Dr. Yolanda Moses. Macias Harrison is a San Bernardino Community College District trustee emerita and co-founder of El Chicano newspaper. Moses is a global anthropology scholar, national higher education leader, former university president and former vice chancellor at UC Riverside.
“I am humbled to serve as co-chair for the San Bernardino Valley College 100th anniversary celebration,” Macias Harrison said. “For 66 years SBVC has been a cornerstone for me. More importantly, for a century, SBVC has been a cornerstone for our community, providing a pathway to a brighter future for students whose lives have become concentric circles reaching family, friends, businesses, government and all the branches that form the tree of life for the Inland Empire. May SBVC continue to be part of the community’s foundation for 100 more years and beyond.”
“It is my honor to be asked to be the co-chair of this gala celebration of the 100th anniversary of this great institution,” Moses said. “SBVC has made me the person I am today. I will always be grateful for the education there that opened the world of possibilities to me. I want to pay it forward.”
To mark its centennial, SBVC will honor 15 people for their service to the college and/or the community. They include:
- Dr. Donald Averill, Chancellor Emeritus of SBCCD
- Dr. John Bancroft, age 101, SBVC alumnus, former SBVC administrator
- Dr. Kim Carter-Tillman, SBVC alumna
- Dino Ebel, SBVC alumnus, Dodgers third-base coach
- Captain Gary Kelly, retired SBVC faculty member
- Dr. Tomas Morales, President, CSU San Bernardino
- Rochelle Oquendo, SBVC alumna & manager of Mitla Cafe
- Margaret Ortiz, SBVC alumna & retired employee
- Ken Ramirez, Chairman Emeritus of Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation
- Dr. Diana Z. Rodriguez, Chancellor of the SBCCD
- Paul and Susan Shimoff, SBVC alumnae, local attorney and educator
- Dr. Judith Valles, SBVC alumna, first Hispanic mayor of San Bernardino
- Gloria Macias Harrison, SBVC alumna, platinum gala sponsor
Live auction items include an autographed baseball collection from the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, a 14k gold ring featuring a 2.31-carat aquamarine cushion cut and .52 carats of diamonds donated by Redlands Jewelers, a seven-night trip to Tuscany and a tailgate party for 10 with SBVC President Gilbert J. Contreras. Silent auction items include a 14k gold amethyst and diamond ring from Queen’s Jewelers and a three-night getaway for four people on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
Ticket sales are now closed, join the waitlist at sbvcfoundation.org/100gala. Limited sponsorships and corporate tables are available – if interested, contact the foundation at (909) 384-5457.
