Long Beach City College will name its new performing arts center after famed singer Jenni Rivera, who attended the college more than three decades ago and was recently inducted into its hall of fame.
The college’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved the move at a meeting held last week, nearly 13 years to the date of the plane crash in Monterrey, Mexico, that claimed Rivera’s life.
In exchange for naming the new facility, which is expected to open in spring, Jenni Rivera Enterprises agreed to donate $2 million to the Long Beach City College Foundation over 10 years.
“Long Beach shaped who Jenni was — as an artist, a mother and a woman committed to her community,” Jacqi Rivera, one of Rivera’s children and CEO of Jenni Rivera Enterprises, said in a statement. “Knowing that young performers will grow, train, and find their creative voice in a center that carries her name is profoundly meaningful to us.”
The college’s performing arts center will contain a 300-seat mainstage theater, a 50-seat black box venue, recording and digital production studios and rehearsal spaces. The 67,000 square foot, $75 million venue replaces Music Building G and Theatre Arts Building H.
According to the gift agreement, 70% of the $2 million donation will go to scholarships and programs both at the performing arts center and the college as a whole. Twenty percent of the money is earmarked for maintenance of the building and 5% will be at the discretion of the LBCC Foundation’s president.
Once open, the performing arts center will be the second Long Beach fixture to bear Rivera’s name. In 2015, the city named a park near Chittick Field in Rivera’s honor. It includes a 125-foot mural of Rivera in an “LB” hat with the words “Mariposa De Barrio.”
Rivera grew up in Long Beach, “from the hood,” she said in a 2012 interview with television host Mario Lopez. She excelled academically at Long Beach Poly High School but became pregnant her sophomore year.
Rivera didn’t expect to finish high school, she said in a 2003 interview with journalist Gustavo Arellano, adding: “But my counselors told me there was no way they would let me drop out — I had too much promise.”
She graduated from Reid Continuation High School as valedictorian in 1987, the same year her father started his record label, Cintas Acuario.
Rivera released her first album in 1992. A year earlier, she had earned her business degree from Cal State Long Beach after transferring from LBCC.
“La Diva de la Banda” broke through singing corridos — traditional Mexican ballads typically sung by men. Her first album was called “La Chacalosa” or “The Jackal.”
In a statement, LBCC Superintendent-President Mike Muñoz said Rivera’s story “is one of perseverance, authenticity, and pride in her roots, and mirrors the experiences of so many LBCC students.”
“We hope her name on this beautiful new facility reminds every student that their voice matters and their dreams are within reach,” Muñoz said.