Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has honored Jorge Usatorres for his work in creating scholarships for LGBTQIA students at Los Angeles City College.
This newest scholarship is the third created by Usatorres, former owner of Faultline, the iconic gay bar. Usatorres sold the bar last year and, in a sign of appreciation to the community and Faultline’s patrons and staff, decided to establish two LGBTQIA scholarships at LACC, which is located near the Melrose Avenue bar. Usatorres has committed to creating an additional, “Jorge Usatorres LGBTQIA Scholarship Award” each year, for the next 10 years.
“My life is about service to people and the love of community,” Usatorres said. “I believe it is my responsibility to lead by example. The community invested in me and I’m invested in it. A life committed to public service has the potential of changing lives”
LACC, established in 1929, is the oldest school in the Los Angeles Community College system. It offers more than 100 vocational and professional programs including degrees, transfer programs, and certificates to more than 18,000 students. Ranked in the top three Best Southern California Community Colleges by USA Today, LACC provides one year of free enrollment to all full-time students graduating from LAUSD high schools and charter schools.
Jorge Usatorres was an asset director and risk manager for a major commercial real estate investment company when in 2014 he heard Faultline Bar was for sale and visited it. He quickly fell in love with the place. “I saw something that was almost transformative,” Usatorres said in an interview with WEHOville. “It wasn’t made up to be pretty. It was real.” Usatorres bought Faultline Bar from its then owner, Shawn Farnsworth and made a number of redesign and programming changes that soon made it the go-to spot for a wide variety of LGBTQIA people.
