Hancock Buries Time Capsule at LVC
FEBRUARY 19, 2025-- Allan Hancock College staff, faculty and students gathered at the college’s Lompoc Valley Center to bury a time capsule in celebration of the LVC on Feb. 18.
The metal time capsule, which was designed and fabricated by Hancock welding professor Gabriel Marquez, contains more than 20 items gathered by college staff and faculty that represent history at the college between 2020 and 2024. The capsule will be unearthed in 2049 when the LVC celebrates its 50th anniversary.
“This time capsule will preserve some of the history and memories of the LVC, as well as snapshots of life and learning at Hancock,” said Superintendent/President Kevin G. Walthers, Ph.D. “We hope future generations will enjoy what’s included when they dig up the capsule decades down the road.”
Items in the time capsule include apparel celebrating Hancock’s 100th anniversary (celebrated in 2020) and the LVC’s 25th anniversary (celebrated in 2024), bottles of wine from the college’s viticulture and enology program, photos of student leaders, a drawing from one of the children enrolled at LVC’s Children’s Center, and many other items. In order to best preserve the contents, the capsule was constructed with a special valve through which a small amount of argon gas was inserted.
The capsule buried at the LVC is one of four identical time capsules that Allan Hancock College is in the process of burying; the other three will reside on the college’s Santa Maria campus. While the LVC capsule will be opened in 2049, the Santa Maria campus capsules are intended to be opened in 2070, 2095, and 2120 in celebration of the college’s 150th, 175th and 200th anniversaries, respectively.
