A reception in the Price Center Ballroom Thursday recognized faculty, students and staff involved in community service as part of a year-long program to acknowledge UCSD’s 40th anniversary.
Guardian
The ceremony commemorated the Board of Regents’ decision to establish a campus on the former San Diego army base on Nov. 18, 1960. On display was a 40-year timeline, memory boards dedicated to each decade and a video presentation of UCSD in the 1960s.
Chancellor Robert Dynes began the ceremony at 3 p.m. by welcoming 130 guests. Among the attendees were Herbert York, UCSD’s first chancellor and current diversity council chairman, as well as Hugo Fisher, a former senator and co-author of the Master Plan for Higher Education, who was also responsible for securing governmental funds for the creation of UCSD.
Dynes commented that although it is a relatively young university, UCSD has done well in establishing itself as a fine institution. The 2000 U.S. News and World Report ranked UCSD seventh nationally among public universities. The Irwin and Joan Jacobs School of Engineering was ranked ninth among schools of its type.
The 40-year observance’s theme, “”Giving Back to the Community,”” was inspired by all who volunteer, according to Dynes.
“”Each of you that works in the community has given UCSD a face, because you represent us as you display your care,”” Dynes said. “”You set an example … for the rest of UCSD.””
Senior Vice Chancellor Marsha Chandler spoke about the Extended Studies for Outreach Program, founded in the 1960s as a way for volunteers to offer support in the community. According to Chandler, this program strengthens the university.
“”We can all take enormous pride as we look at the range and depth of the programs that we have here at UCSD,”” Chandler said. “”The Straight Student Volunteers are students who are healing the community, but also helping themselves by going outside of their own interests and spending time with others, which is the time that matters the most.””
Clark Kerr, then-president of the University of California, said at UCSD’s 25th anniversary that “”the advance of [UCSD] to a peak position among the 3,200 institutions of higher education in the United States is one of the few academic marvels in all history. No other major American university has ever grown so remarkable both in quantity and in quality at the same time, and in so short a time.””
York agreed.
He spoke about how UCSD was originally named UC La Jolla. The naming became so controversial, according to York, that newspapers coined the name “”UC Here.””
According to Fisher, UCSD was officially named in 1960 when he was asked his opinion at a town meeting. The name UC San Diego was chosen because La Jolla is a community of San Diego.
According to Fisher, UCSD “”went on to become one of the greatest universities in the nation.
“”I am proud of what it has become, and it is a wonderful idea to put the 40th anniversary together with the community service aspect of the college,”” he said. “”The volunteer work is instrumental in why UCSD is such a fine school.””
The program, represented by the motto “”Celebrating 40 Years of Education, Service and Discovery,”” will encompass over 300 activities and 40 events beginning Nov. 21.
UCSD TV will televise two half-hour video segments about UCSD’s 40 years. The first will detail the past, and the second will include an interview with Dynes about the future.
“”We care about the well-being of this community because we are a part of it,”” Dynes said. “”The only way that that happens is the time you take to make it happen.
“”We are a great university and [are] becoming even greater because of you, and we can make the next 40 years even better than the past 40 years.””
