Diablo Valley College
community college in Contra Costa County, California, United States
Diablo Valley College (DVC) is a public community college with campuses in Pleasant Hill and San Ramon in Contra Costa County, California. DVC is one of three public community colleges in the Contra Costa Community College District (along with Contra Costa College and Los Medanos College). It opened in 1949. DVC has more than 22,000 students and 300 full-time and 370 part-time instructors.
History
Diablo Valley College was founded in 1949 as East Contra Costa Junior College. The college enrolls over 22,000 students on two sites.
Grade-fixing scandal
In 2007, a six-year grade fixing scheme came to light with allegations that over 70 students used sex or cash as payment to student employees in the admissions and records office in exchange for over 400 grade changes. Many of these students had transferred to universities and in some cases may have already graduated. By November 2007, 49 students had been charged with misdemeanors or felonies over the incident, and at least one had accepted a no contest plea. A spokesperson for the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges said that although the scandal was a negative factor it would be unlikely to lead to the school's loss of accreditation.
The public source identifies “Diablo Valley College” as community college in Contra Costa County, California, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Diablo, Valley and College.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Diablo Valley College”, the useful work is to connect “community college in Contra Costa County, California, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5270173. VIAF identifies the subject as 129057285. The Library of Congress control number is n84146946. Authority coordinates are 37.971, -122.070. 2 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1949 and 2007.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Diablo Valley College”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Diablo Valley College primary sources, Diablo Valley College archive and Diablo research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Diablo Valley College” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.