Rename Cerritos College?

What sets Norwalk apart from many other cities is that it has its own college. However, the name of it is not Norwalk College, but Cerritos, the name of a neighboring town. Long Beach City College is not named Lakewood College, nor is Cerritos Auto Square named the Norwalk Auto Square.

In addition, when someone says he goes to Cerritos College, no one asks, “By any chance do you know what city that’s in?” That’s because they simply assume by the name that the college is in Cerritos. As a result, Cerritos gets all the recognition and Norwalk doesn’t get any.

It’s also important to know that Cerritos College was built on Los Angeles County property before the boundaries between Norwalk and Cerritos were established. It was named after an Indian territory called Los Cerritos. However, as you can see, this name does not reflect the college’s true identity.

I feel that one way to properly acknowledge Norwalk is to change the name to Norwalk College, or at least Cerritos-Norwalk College. In this way, everyone would have another reason to be proud of this city, and furthermore, would stop the perplexed stares of passersby who read the sign “Cerritos College of Norwalk.”

THOMAS HARTER

Norwalk