The Yavapai Community College Police Department released its annual safety and security report in October, revealing minimal criminal activity leading to arrests across both campuses and four centers during the reporting period.
The report highlights 10 non-arrest situations in 2023 involving alcohol violations, nine of which pertained to residence hall students. Additionally, three non-arrest situations related to drug violations were recorded, with two incidents involving residence hall students. One case of intimidation was also reported on the Prescott Campus in 2023 and one similar report in 2021 at the Verde Valley Campus.
For more details, please refer to the full report reproduced below that was prepared by the Campus Police Department, which outlines arrests and non-arrest referrals over the past three years.
Even before the fall 2024 semester began, Yavapai Community College initiated its cultural learning mission with an impressive lineup at the Performing Arts Center on the Prescott Campus. These events, allegedly aligned with the College’s mission, are expected to attract over a thousand attendees at a time to the Performing Arts Center.
While these outstanding programs primarily benefit the residents of Prescott and Prescott Valley, the College faces challenges in offering similar opportunities in the Sedona/Verde Valley area and other more semi-rural or rural areas in the County. It has yet to overcome those challenges. This has been the case for the past few decades.
Shown below are the major programs announced for August at the Performing Arts Center.
The College Mission “Yavapai College enriches our community by providing accessible, quality workforce, transfer, lifelong, and cultural learning opportunities.”
The Yavapai Community College Foundation has announced a 30-day, $25,000 matching grant donation challenge to help with scholarships and operations of the Del E. Webb Family Enrichment Center (FEC). The challenge is a result of a generous donation from Yavapai Community College District Governing Board member, Ray Sigafoos.
The donation described by the Community College in its press release, as slightly edited, follows below:
With this donation, every dollar contributed to the FEC through August 13 will be matched up to $25,000, effectively doubling the impact of any community member’s donation.
The FEC is a child development center located on the Prescott campus of Yavapai College. It provides a safe, nurturing, child-centered program that focuses on promoting children’s learning. As a laboratory school, the FEC provides a setting for Yavapai College early childhood education students to develop the skills and competencies necessary for careers with young children. Learn more about the FEC online at www.yc.edu/fec.
“We are deeply grateful for the generous matching donation from Ray Sigafoos,” said Victoria Sweet, Director of the Del E. Webb Family Enrichment Center. “His support not only bolsters our operating budget, but also provides scholarships for children in need of care. This contribution will have a profound impact on our staff and the children we serve, fostering excellence throughout our center.”
Ray Sigafoos is the present District 1 representative on the District Governing Board. He has been a member since 2005. He is a graduate of NAU and has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant since 1971. He has served on the boards of a number of institutions over the years, including the Prescott Fine Arts Association, the Phippen Art Museum, the Primavera School, the Yavapai Community Hospital Association, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
“I was Board Chair in 2007 when the FEC was dedicated,” said Sigafoos. “During my dedication speech I donated $2,000 and challenged the board to make a similar donation. As to the recent challenge, I have the ability and desire to see that FEC continues in its mission. I hope that the challenge is successful.”
“How exciting it is to have a donor want to make such a personal impact for the Del E. Webb Family Enrichment Center,” said Community College Executive Director Mary Talosi. “Hopefully, this will encourage the community to join Mr. Sigafoos in his endeavor to support the Center, the early childhood development program, the faculty, staff and most importantly, the children of the FEC.”
Those wishing to donate to the FEC may do so online at www.yc.edu/FEC25K.
The Sedona-Verde Valley Osher Life Long Learning Institution will offer a wine appreciation workshop on the Verde Valley campus in Clarkdale on Wednesday, May 1. The workshop fee is $15 and the participation fee is $65. The workshop will run from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
You may register on-line at yc.edu/ollisvregister for the program.
After two years, the renovation of Building “M” on Verde Campus is nearing its final stages. Personnel are expected to begin moving back into the newly refurbished premises throughout June and July, in readiness for the upcoming fall semester. The last renovation of Building “M” took place during the 2011-12 academic year.
The Community College says that the revamped facility will boast state-of-the-art digital technology aimed at enriching the student experience “through accessible content.” Additionally, it will offer contemporary learning spaces, study rooms, and student support services akin to those provided at the current Learning Center.
In a move approved by the Community College District Governing Board, approximately $3.1 million was allocated for the renovation of Building “M” in May 2022. The structure will be rebranded as the “Center for Learning and Innovation.”
Furthermore, the Yavapai Community College District Governing Board approved spending $15.3 million in May 2023 for a more expansive facility, somewhat resembling the Verde Valley Center for Learning and Innovation, on the Prescott Campus. Demolition of Building 19 on the Prescott Campus, where the Center will be located, is scheduled to begin May 13, in preparation for construction.
Arturo Castillo, Jr., and Jason Tyler Ehlert, Chino Valley Police Department
Benjamin Samuel Bruner, Christian Brady Carter, Aaron Joseph Cote and Jennifer Jane Glover, Prescott Valley Police Department
Brandon Kalani Kawainui Callio, Page Police Department
Casey Sky Dragos, Camp Verde Marshal’s Office
Christopher Flowers, Nicholas William Hamilton, Douglas Allen Harwood, Nicholas David McKay, Brian Lee Sutton and Luis Alejandro Terrazas, Prescott Police Department
Michael Andrew Bentley, Oro Valley Police Department
Oscar Molina Teran, Payson Police Department
Richard James Avery, Bradley James Bartell, Jaden Elliot-Kai Berney and Tyler Jon Slim, Coconino County Sheriff’s Office
Travis Steven O’Donnal, Ryan Hunter Palmer and Corey James Tousley, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office
Ty Matthew Furr and Steele Domingo Salinas, Flagstaff Police Department
Victor Esteven Rodriguez, Maricopa Police Department
Zachary Joseph MacGregor, Jerome Police Department
Yavapai Community College has completed the construction of a new apartment on the Prescott Campus. According to Community College authorities, the remodeling effort began with a complete gut of Building 30 to transform it from storage to a furnished apartment. The apartment comes complete with all modern kitchen appliances and laundry facilities.
The campus apartment is intended to provide temporary housing for new faculty and staff transitioning to Yavapai Community College. The College has found housing in the Prescott area for its new faculty and staff challenging, so it is attempting to help out with a temporary solution.
According to Community College officials, ‘The new apartment is comparable to the Verde Valley Campus RV park and will help new employees with this temporary solution.’
The total cost of the apartment renovation is not yet known.
Learn how Yavapai-Apache experiences are directly tied to discoveries of gold around Prescott and rich copper mines on Mingus Mountain, and the perennial streams of the Verde River watershed to raise the crops necessary to feed the growing numbers of non-Indian settlers who flooded the region beginning in the 1860s. Even after the Yavapai-Apache returned from forced exile around 1900, they survived by working in mining operations and infrastructure projects while squatting on United Verde Copper Company land. The natural beauty of central Arizona is contrasted by the ugly remnants of this extractive past: slag heaps, leach fields, and abandoned mines. This lecture will challenge listeners to think about their relationship to the environment, how the natural history and resources of the region have been abused to the detriment of the land and its original inhabitants, and open a discussion of how to heal and move forward, honoring the natural history of the land and its people.
Dr. Maurice Crandall is an Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University and an enrolled member of the Yavapai-Apache Nation. He previously taught at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Professor Crandall is a multi-award-winning author and public intellectual who has presented his research throughout the United States, as well as in Canada and Europe. His first book, These People Have Always Been a Republic: Indigenous Electorates in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands, 1598–1912, was published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2019. His second book, on Yavapai-Apache Scouts, is under contract with W.W. Norton & Company. He received his PhD in History from the University of New Mexico, and is a graduate of Mingus Union High School.