Jim Collins became active in the YMCA in the mid-1950s as a member who valued fitness and healthy living. His YMCA Board service began at the Westside Family YMCA where he chaired virtually every committee including the branch's successful building drive. In 1977, he was elected to the Metropolitan Board and was cited for the Golden Book of Distinguished Service that same year. Under Jim's leadership as Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Directors for 1986 to 1990, the Ketchum-Downtown YMCA, the Santa Clarita Valley YMCA and the Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA all opened, expanded and flourished.

The Westside Family Y has been so successful for the past 45 years that it has outgrown its current location on Sawtelle and La Grange. The new 65,000 sq. ft. facility will be opening in Spring 2017 on the campus of University High School, the school that Carol had attended, thanks to the generosity of Jim and Carol Collins and the Katz family. The new Y will be named the Collins & Katz Family YMCA. Jim is currently one of the longest serving members of the Westside YMCA's Board of Managers.

The Collins College of Hospitality Management is the first and largest hotel and restaurant management bachelor's degree program on the West Coast and is consistently ranked among the nation's premier hospitality management programs. The college started in 1973 with 30 students and two faculty members as a department in the College of Business Administration. The department was formed in response to the demand for qualified management professionals due to the hospitality industry's explosive growth.

In the 1980s, the program grew significantly in terms of students and facilities with an ambitious faculty team and wide support from Cal Poly Pomona leadership, the California State University and industry leaders. The growth allowed the program to separate from the College of Business Administration to become the Center for Hospitality Management in 1986.

In 1990, thanks to a successful capital campaign, the Center for Hospitality Management opened its first building, which includes classrooms, offices, kitchen laboratories and the Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch. In 1991, the center became the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management.

In 1999, the program was named The Collins School of Hospitality Management in recognition a $10 million pledge from Carol and Jim Collins. Their donations and donations from other industry supporters, enabled the school to build two additional buildings.

On June 13, 2008, Cal Poly Pomona then President Michael Ortiz led a signing ceremony to designate the school a college. This designation places The Collins College among only a handful nationwide and provides the necessary infrastructure to expand its degree program and departmentalize. It remains the only hospitality management college on the West Coast.

Building from its renowned undergraduate program, The Collins College launched a Master of Science in Hospitality Management in the fall of 2010. The graduate program is the only hospitality management degree program of its kind in California.

Today with nearly 30 faculty members serving more than 1,000 ethnically diverse students, The Collins College offers a rigorous education firmly rooted in hospitality management theories and real-world applications. A customized curriculum prepares students for careers in hotel resort management, restaurant management, club management, culinary product development, tourism management and special events/meeting planning.

cpp.edu/~collins/index.shtml

Code of Beta Theta Pi

The vision of Alliance Collins Family College Ready High School is to successfully prepare students' readiness for college & careers by implementing an effective model of instruction that provides learning opportunities for all students.

Using the latest research based instructional strategies, supports, and technology, we will develop our students' skills and knowledge to meet the needs of the 21st century.