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- Year:
- 1971-2008
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- Sports Played:
- Sports information Director; Director of Marketing and Community Relations
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- Induction Year:
- 2009
Bio
For 46 years, Orange Coast College has been a part of Jim Carnett’s life. Raised in Costa Mesa, Jim was a member of Costa Mesa High School’s first graduating class, and enrolled at Orange Coast College as a freshman in the fall of 1962. He completed his A.A. and was editorial page editor of the school newspaper (The Barnacle). Jim earned a B.A. degree with honors in communications at Cal State Fullerton, and an M.A. in education at Pepperdine University. He also served three years in the U.S. Army, graduating from the Army Information School at Fort Slocum, N.Y., and ran an Army news bureau in Inchon, South Korea.
Jim joined OCC’s staff in 1971, and retired last year. He was hired as a Public Information Assistant, and subsequently became Director of the News Bureau (1973), Director of Public Information (1974), Director of Community Relations (1982), Director of Marketing and Community Relations (1985), and Senior Director of Marketing and Community Relations (2003). In addition to his marketing and PR duties, he served as Sports Information Director from 1971-1985 and was president of the state’s SID association.
During his 36 years in OCC’s orbit, Jim won 41 first-place national, regional and state writing awards. He captured an unprecedented five first-place national Paragon Awards for feature writing, presented by the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR). Jim played a key role in “branding” the college. He authored OCC’s slogan (“We’ll help you get there.”) in 1988, established new school colors (orange and blue) in 1996, and chaired the committee that developed the college’s logo in 1996. Nicknamed “Mr. OCC,” Jim was also the “Voice of OCC.”
In addition to emceeing many campus special events and programs, he served as public address announcer for OCC’s football team for 21 years (1986-2007), and for the men’s basketball team for 15 seasons (1971-85). He was also PA announcer for women’s basketball games, baseball games, track meets, and crew regattas. He won 16 national awards for his athletic publications.
At the time of his retirement in 2008, the press box at LeBard Stadium was named in his honor. In 2007, Jim accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce and the South Coast Metro Alliance. He was also inducted into the Costa Mesa Hall of Fame. In 2001, Jim received NCMPR’s D. Richard Petrizzo Career Service Award. In 1987, he was named the organization’s National Communicator of the Year and was inducted into the NCMPR Hall of Fame. In 1990, he was given the California Community College Public Relations Organization’s (CCPRO) career achievement award — the All PRO.
