Chancellor's Memo (October 1972; Vol. 10, No. 4)

              Chancellor's Memo
University of California Santa Cruz
Volume 10, Number 4 October 1972
HAPPY NEW ACADEMIC YEAR
The ritual of beginning again, repeated each autumn, is being reenacted for the eighth time in
Santa Cruz.  Judging from the hundreds we have met in the nine receptions at University House,
we have an attractive and independent contingent of new students.  They seem unlikely to embrace
the conformity of style and uniformity of thought that afflicted so many young people of the late
1960s.  Adding to the euphoric atmosphere, an early rain brought back the green mantle to the
meadows of our "magic mountain".  We have over 4800 students, of whom about 4500 are undergraduates
and 300 are graduates.  Eight colleges are in full or partial operation.
College Seven has opened on schedule, using borrowed facilities in College Five and the Graduate
Student Apartments.  Under the leadership of J. Herman Blake, the College has assembled an
outstanding initial faculty and has laid out extensive college course offerings.  With the aid of
foundation grants, College Seven has more counseling and advising services than are normally
available.  Seven stresses that it, like other UCSC colleges, will strive to be a well-rounded
liberal arts college.  Its curriculum is enriched with courses and programs on the experience of
American ethnic minorities, including Chicanos, Blacks, Asians, Native Americans, and European
immigrants.  There are 220 students and 15 faculty fellows who are spread quite evenly among the
humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.
College Eight has opened a year ahead of plan, due to a set of unusual circumstances.  Kresge
requested an extra year to grow to its full size, leaving 150 new students without a college.
Senior faculty were available to constitute a planning committee.  The completion of the Classroom
Building provided close-to-ideal seminar and office facilities for a non-residential college.  So
the college was established by Regental action.  It took 150 students—all at the junior level,
some of whom are housed in Merrill College.  During this "dress rehearsal" year, College Eight
will develop its theme.  The "chairman" is Stanley A. Cain, noted ecologist; the faculty fellows
cover a broad spectrum, but have special strength in environmental studies.
Only a seer or a fool would attempt to predict the kind of year the campus will have. Universities
everywhere in the free world are sensitive to national and international forces and events. Consequently we are not masters of our own fate or insulated from the turbulence of the outside world.
Under such circumstances, I think it best to concentrate on campus problems and to get our own
house in the best possible order. Here are some problems on which I hope to make some headway
toward resolution.
Campus Balance.  The name and nature of the university require some specialized, advanced studies.
We badly need one or more professional schools.  It seems to me that the most promising area lies
in landscape design and regional planning.  I hope that the modest start being made in College
Eight may lay the basis for a future professional school.  It now appears likely that resources
will be available from private and Federal sources for a major thrust in Coastal Marine Studies.
Community Relations.  Campus relations with the Santa Cruz community, made closer by the Cambodian
crisis because students went to local people to explain their concerns, were worsened by the "be a
nuisance" tactics employed in the Haiphong blockade events of 1972.  Now that a large portion of
the student body has chosen to register to vote in Santa Cruz, campus people have an obligation to
take part in civic affairs and make known their views in a deliberative rather than defiant way.
Private Support.  The quality of education and the kind of facilities available at Santa Cruz would
not be possible without substantial gifts and grants by individuals and foundations.  Raising those
funds has required much time and attention by central administrative officers.  In the future, we
would like to share that responsibility more widely.  As a first step the colleges are taking a
more active part in seeking resources for themselves.  Campus-wide staff will continue to concentrate on the large sums needed for capital purposes by Colleges Five, Seven and Eight, and on the
logistics of mounting a campaign for the Annual Fund.  We have many unmet needs.  Readers of the
MEMO are urged to let us know of prospective sources of funding.  Donations and bequests provide
tax advantages that we will be pleased to explain.
[Signed: Dean E. McHenry]