La Voz

De Anza College was named after colonel Don Juan Bautista de Anza. He was a Spanish conquistador who was born in Mexico and spent his life exploring and creating land settlement throughout the California west coast.

The name of the school was chosen from 300 names submitted by the citizens of Cupertino. Some of the names submitted were Apricot, Piedmont and El Rey de Cupertino, meaning the king of Cupertino.

After the Foothill College Board of Trustees, headed by president Robert Smithwick, voted on the name for its new sister school, they chose a design, mascot and colors to match.

The school was designed in a Spanish style with red tile rooftops and Spanish archways. The mascot, the Don, was a name used for members of high Spanish society. The school colors gold and maroon are that of Spanish royalty.

Juan Bautista de Anza first came to California with the assignment of finding a land route from Sonora to San Gabriel. After leaving Monte Rey he stopped and camped in a spot he named Arroyo San Joseph Cupertino. His actual campsite was what is now the intersection of McClellan and Stevens Creek.

There is a legend that says De Anza left a priest in Cupertino to educate the local natives. If this is true, then he was the first person to set up a place of education in the area.

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