UCSD Turns 25 With a Party and Glowing Predictions for the Future

The University of California at San Diego celebrated its 25th anniversary Monday with a day of pomp, partying and predictions of future success from the men who created the school and those who will lead it during the early years of its next quarter-century.

“Twenty-five years ago, few would have dared predict the leap into the top ranks of American universities that UC San Diego managed so quickly and so well,” University of California President David P. Gardner said at a convocation Monday afternoon. “Twenty-five years from now, if this campus builds on the solid foundation of the past, UCSD will have scaled new heights.”

“For UCSD to flourish in the next quarter-century, we must follow the tradition set by the founders of this institution--to search out and recruit talented and creative faculty,” Chancellor Richard C. Atkinson said.

“If we ensure an excellent faculty, the rest will take care of itself--outstanding students will be drawn to the university, research programs will flourish, and the university will continue to play a central role in the intellectual, cultural and economic life of San Diego and the state of California,” Atkinson said.

Gardner predicted rapid growth in the size of the UC system, noting that minority groups will make up a majority of the state’s population by the turn of the century. Those demographics demand renewed effort to increase the number of minorities among faculty and students in the system, he said.

Gardner also called for renewed emphasis on undergraduate education in general and Pacific Rim studies in particular. UCSD is planning to open a new school of international relations and Pacific Basin studies.

Clark Kerr, president emeritus of the University of California and a leader in the battle to open a campus here, was given the university’s Revelle medal, named for UCSD founder Roger Revelle. Revelle, who as director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography recruited UCSD’s prestigious first faculty members, was given a standing ovation when Kerr praised his leadership.

“Roger had the great dreams of how this campus might be organized academically; the fantastic energy to travel the nation and the world in search of talent; the exquisite judgment in the choosing, and the ultimate in persuasive powers in attracting the original faculty that set this campus on its course,” Kerr said.

As he finished, nearly 800 people in Mandeville Auditorium stood to applaud as Kerr and Revelle embraced on stage.

The convocation was preceded by a noontime birthday party on Muir Playing Field that attracted thousands of students and staff with a free lunch, a band and a 7-foot-tall, 4-foot by 8-foot birthday cake. Five thousand balloons were released to celebrate the school’s founding on Nov. 18, 1960.

Students had another view of the festivities.

“It’s the eighth week of school. Things are getting tight and nasty,” senior Marc Sandknop said. “This is called get out and relax awhile.”

Senior Tom Fusco added, “They start talking about how good (UCSD) is and it makes me feel better that I’m not getting straight A’s.”