Carl Boggs: Legacy Giving Profile
Words of Love for VC
To say Carl Boggs, Ph.D., is a prolific writer is an understatement. The National University social sciences professor has written 22 nonfiction books on critical social and political theory, politics, U.S. foreign and military policy, social movements and film studies. He has authored hundreds of articles, scores of book and film reviews and is on the editorial board of several journals, including Theory and Society, where he is book-review editor, and New Political Science.
He has always been a writer, he said, but it was during his time as a student at Ventura College
when his interest blossomed and he honed his skill.
“I think I have accomplished a lot and Ventura College was really crucial in that,” he said. “I would go so far as to say that Ventura College was responsible for my success.”
“Ventura College was the place where I learned to write,” he added. During his two years at VC, he had a sports column in the Pirate Press student newspaper and had great instructors, like Charlie Plummer who was the paper’s advisor. “To this day, I remember my instructors at Ventura College,” he said, naming a handful of instructors off the top of his head. “They all inspired you. That was crucial to me.”
Boggs enrolled at VC after graduating from Oxnard High School in 1955. Though he had been accepted to four-year universities, his family didn’t really have the financial resources to send him.
“When I was going to school, I could have really used a program like the Promise,” he said of the program that covers recent high school graduates’ cost of enrollment, health and student center fees for the first year. While at VC, Boggs worked full-time on the night shift at the Camarillo State Mental Hospital and was a stringer for the Oxnard Press-Courier covering VC sports. Oh, and he was also the top-ranked golf player on the college’s team.
“I didn’t get much sleep. I put all my free time into my classes.”
Boggs went on to the University of California, Berkeley, where he majored in political science and journalism. He also received his master’s degree and doctorate from Cal Berkeley.
Over the last 10 years, Boggs has supported the Ventura College Foundation’s Promise Program. “I can see myself in these students,” he said.
Boggs enjoys attending Foundation events and touring the campus. For about the past 30 years, he has followed the college’s basketball team and attends games when he can.
“I want to give and keep giving,” he said. “If I give to the Ventura College Foundation, I can really see the results and see students benefiting from the resources. You see the difference. You see the impact.”