I remember seeing the War College mentioned and have seen the pictures of the mechs supposedly going with it, but what is the War College, and how does one end up playing in it? I can't locate the information, if someone could explain it, or link me to the information I would appreciate it.

It's the equivalent of Heroclix's "New Guys Night." The Envoy will schedule essentially a group demo session. Each experienced player is expected to bring a new player (which is defined as a player who hasn't played in a tournament within specific amount of time).

Each player will play a game with one of the two 'Mechs. At the end, each player (both the new player & the experienced player who brought him) will take home one of each of the two 'Mechs.

When are venues able to sign up for the War College events?

For the July one it should be any registered venue that runs Mechwarrior.

From Wolf Strike forward it's anyone's guess, since prize support seems to be changing. However, that's a long way off (October or so for the possible War College).