The name “Ohlone” was suggested by Mr. Felipe Galvan to the founders of the College in 1967 as a fitting and appropriate name, thus giving the College a proud heritage and tradition which has endured among faculty, staff, students, and administration since the opening of the College more than 50 years ago.  Mr. Felipe Galvan was a descendant and an Elder of the Ohlone People, who once inhabited not only the area where Ohlone College is now located but also lived and thrived throughout the San Francisco Bay Area for thousands of years.  Mr. Galvan was a man respected and admired for his work in preserving the memory, the heritage, and the dignity of the ancestral Ohlone people through his efforts in the community, his life, and his daily example.

Officially named Ohlone College on June 18, 1967, the College honors the early Ohlone People of the Costanoan tribe.  Long before they were named Costanoan by the Spanish priests, they were known by a neighboring Miwuk tribe as the Ohlones or “people of the West.”  Distinguished by peaceful pursuits, especially in agriculture, they held profound reverence for the earth, believing it was theirs for living and not for the taking. They aided the Franciscan Fathers in building the Mission San Jose de Guadalupe in the late 18th century and prospered until 1806-1833 when a series of epidemics virtually destroyed the tribe.  Some descendants, however, still reside in the Fremont-Newark area.