History of the University of California &
Higher Education/Law
History of the University of California
The Clark Kerr Memoirs Project
The Berkeley Public Policy Press is proud to play a modest role in documenting the rich legacy of University of California President Emeritus Clark Kerr. President Kerr, whose two volume history of his momentous years as president is being published by the University of California Press, has asked IGS to publish a series of monographs that relate to specific issues and events during his tenure. Angus Taylor's history of the Academic Senate of the University of California is the first volume published by the Berkeley Public Policy Press in this supplementary series. Taylor deftly describes the notable achievements of shared governance as it evolved through the joint efforts of the Academic Senate and the president of the university.
Turning Points and Ironies: Issues and Events--Berkeley, 1959-67
Ray Colvig, 225pp, Book #4156, $24.95
In this volume, Ray Colvig, who headed UC Berkeley’s office of public information for nearly 30 years, provides a definitive account of the people and the politics that shaped the campus during the troubled years of the 1960s. He offers, as well, a unique rendition of the perceptions and interpretations of the media and other outside observers during that period.
Central to Colvig’s compelling narrative is Clark Kerr, who was attacked by both the left and the right, each doing so for their own reasons and each distorting Kerr’s intentions and actions. Colvig lays bare the particulars of that political and personal tragedy.
While the Berkeley faculty and administration took a pragmatic approach to the turmoil, the press was filled with hyperbolic brooding and desperate warnings of the end of the university as it was known. None of the dire predictions came true; the university, of course, survived; and the Free Speech Movement, airbrushed of its excesses, has become a major artifact of campus lore. Those who are interested in what really happened can read it here.
The Rise and Demise of the UCSC Colleges
Carlos G. Noreña, 367 pages, Book #413X, $24.95
Carlos G. Noreña traces the decade-long effort to create a new kind of UC campus. The passion in this lengthy essay is deeply rooted in the prolonged and vigorous debate on the pros and cons of the collegial plan for UC Santa Cruz conceived by President Clark Kerr and Chancellor Dean McHenry.
"Professor Noreña's thoughtful and fair-minded history of the Santa Cruz campus will attract attention for the light it sheds on the difficulties of academic innovation. It calls to mind Niccolo Machiavelli's provocative words: 'There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things.'" -From the foreword by John Dizikes Professor Emeritus, American Studies, UC Santa Cruz
Berkeley and Its Students: Days of Conflict, Years of Change, 1945-1970
Essays by Peter S. Van Houten and Edward L. Barrett, Jr., 171 pages, Book #4083, $19.95
Van Houten tracks the changes in student life at Berkeley after World War II as well as the shifts in university policies and practices that developed in response to the changing student population. His essay provides the larger social and historical context for the "Six Year War" that raged in Berkeley from 1964-70. Beginning with the Free Speech Movement, social concern turned to social activism and eventually, to violence as the focus of student protest shifted from political expression on campus to national policy around the world in a series of skirmishes examined in more detail by Edward Barrett, Jr.
In the second essay, Barrett details the changing policies governing the use of the University of California's name and facilities as administration was decentralized from the office of the president to the various campuses during the postwar period. Student opposition to the rules that prohibited certain kinds of political activity on university campuses, sparked the Free Speech Movement of 1964 and the "Six Year War" that followed.
Against this background in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Barrett, Kerr and others labored to rationalize policies and procedures for running what had now become a major enterprise-a university of six campuses with greatly expanded student bodies, three new campuses underway, sprawling national laboratories, and other specialized facilities. Barrett describes the administrative problems, political ramifications, and events in the larger world that impacted the development and implementation of one particularly troublesome set of regulations-the famous Rule 17, dating back to the 1930s, that governed the use of the university's name and facilities-now termed the "Kerr Directives." What could be a dry rendition of administrative rule making becomes a dramatic account of the interplay of changing student demographics with university and state politics. Following the spotlight of press and public scrutiny, Barrett traces the course of student activism from panty raids to protest demonstrations as compliance turned to defiance.
These essays expand upon and provide background to key aspects of student life discussed in Clark Kerr's memoirs of his years as first chancellor at Berkeley and, as president of the University of California from 1958 to 1967, architect of the decentralization and expansion that underlay so many of these events.
Documentary Supplements to The Gold and the BlueEdited by Clark Kerr, 238 pages, Book #4059, $24.95
In his two-volume memoir, The Gold and the Blue: Academic Triumphs and Political Turmoil, Clark Kerr refers to key documents that describe people, events, and policies that shaped the University of California during his years as the Berkeley campus's first chancellor and as university president. Many of those documents are reproduced in this volume. They range from memorial statements and testimonials for associates who worked tirelessly for the university to documents that convey student, legal, and administrative points of view during the 1960's Free Speech Movement. Also included are the full texts of Kerr's speeches and statements on civil rights excerpted in The Gold and the Blue, Chancellor McHenry's views on academic organization at UC Santa Cruz, and documents relating to the California State Senate's Un-American Activities Committee's long investigation into possible communist subversion on campus. As with the other volumes of the Clark Kerr Memoirs Project published by the Institute of Governmental Studies, this Documentary Supplement adds detail and insight to Kerr's description of the University of California in the mid-twentieth century as it wrestled with political challenges while also achieving academic excellence.
Budget Reform and Administrative Decentralization in the University of CaliforniaLoren M. Furtado, 59 pages, Book #4024, $12.95
In 1960, Loren Furtado was appointed university budget officer and assisted in reorganizing the university's budgetary processes and in implementing the decentralization of administration to the campuses. Here he documents Clark Kerr's efforts to bring administrative order to a rapidly growing and increasingly sprawling multiversity.
Berkeley at Mid-Century: Elements of a Golden AgeEssays by Verne A. Stadtmna, Lincoln Constance, John R. Whinnery, Travis Bogard, Betty Connors, Jacquelynn Baas, Robert W. Cole, and David Littlejohn, 141 pages, Book #4016, $21.95
Verne A. Stadtman authors a short version of his earlier history of the University of California's first 100 years. Berkeley's 1964 characterization as the country's "best balanced distinguished university" is set against its long academic history. Botanist and former dean of the College of Letters and Science Lincoln Constance relates how that college expanded during the 1960s, not only maintaining but increasing the excellence of its offerings and the research reputations of its faculty. An account of expansion and distinction for the burgeoning College of Engineering in that period is told by former Dean John Whinnery.
These were also the years that the arts finally came to Berkeley. The long tradition of a German-style university with few amenities for students or faculty, and little relation to its surrounding community, came to an end as dormitories and playing fields were built; as the arts were integrated into Berkeley's curriculum; and as major campus venues for display and performance were constructed and took their place in the San Francisco Bay Area arts scene. Several participants have collaborated to bring us the details of that effort: Travis Bogard, Betty Connors, Jacquelynn Baas, Robert W. Cole, and David Littlejohn.
The Global Campus: Education Abroad and the University of CaliforniaWilliam H. Allaway, 258 pages, Book #4032, $24.95
Bill Allaway traces the birth of Berkeley's education abroad program. Allaway's vision of the value of an international academic/cultural experience for students coupled with his peerless skill as Berkeley's ambassador to the world enabled him to navigate the complex international world with a personal style that was free from arrogance and marked by a droll wit. Thanks to Allaway, Berkeley's education abroad program achieved what University Professor Neil Smelser calls "the enviable status of being the finest of its kind in the world."
The Academic Senate of the University of California: Its Role in the Shared Governance and Operation of the University of California
Angus E. Taylor, 120 pages, Book # 3796, $15
This book is now out of print. The contents are still available online. Click here to view this publication.
Chapters in the History of the University of California
For nearly a decade, the Berkeley Public Policy Press and the Center for Studies in Higher Education have collaborated to produce a series of short histories illuminating crucial turning points in the "long century" of the University. The volumes are edited by Carroll Brentano and Sheldon Rothblatt. Seven volumes are now in print and at least three more are planned. The volumes sell for $10 and the first seven are available for $50 as a set.
Three Faces of Berkeley: Competing Ideologies in the Wheeler Era,1899-1919
Henry F. May, 50pp, Book # 3427, $10.00
May looks at the history of the University of California during the Wheeler era as a microcosm of American cultural history. Through the first two decades of the century, in the midst of a profound transformation, the University sought to balance and redefine its role--as a democratic, utilitarian institution, a stronghold of culture, and a center of high-powered research.
California's Practical Period: Cultural Context of the Emerging University, 1850's-1870's
Gunther Barth, 50pp, Book # 3567, $10.00
Barth examines higher education in nineteenth-century California, drawing connections between the 1855 College of California (and its successor, the 1868 University of California) and the elements of design that evolved out of the early cemetery and park traditions. He stresses the character of the men of this "practical period," particularly their political, economic, and intellectual behavior. Acutely aware of the complex relationship between land and ideas, and dreams and practicality, Barth captures the ironies of their juxtaposition in early California.
The Origins of the Chancellorship: The Buried Report of 1948
Eugene C. Lee, 77pp, Book # 3605, $10.00
In 1948, the University of California, facing dramatic enrollment pressures and the need for new campuses, was at an organizational crossroads. Outside consultants recommended a decentralized administration with strong campus executives. The president disagreed and pressed for strengthened central control. The outside consultants’ report conveniently disappeared.
"[A]n illuminating, authoritative, and balanced account....Lee is the one person in the best position to review this important aspect of the history of the University of California....Few people have both written so well about the history of the University of California and served that history so well."
-- Clark Kerr, UC President-Emeritus
"Lee's excellent monograph is a beautifully told tale of the lengthy and difficult history leading up to the creation of [the office of Chancellor]."
-- Charles Young, UCLA Chancellor
Equally in View : The University of California, Its Women, and the Schools
Geraldine Jonçich Clifford, 103pp, Book # 3648, $10.00
Clifford explores the uneasy relationship between the University and the schools: how was the former to control the curriculum of the later, and how was it to provide schools with the right sort of teachers? She turns a telling eye on the feminization of the teaching profession, the place of female students in the curriculum, and the major role women played in building California's provision for education at all levels. The book was published in conjunction with a special celebration of "Women at Cal."
"A Western Acropolis of Learning": The University of California in 1879
Roy Lowe, 47pp, Book # 3680, $10
Phoebe Hearst's 1897 International Competition for a new architectural plan for the Berkeley campus took place in a setting of pervasive Anglo Saxonism. Lowe
sketches the arguments for a suitable academic style for the University, uncovers signs of racial prejudice, and explains how this prejudice for AngloSaxon and northern European styles produced the winners of the competition and the unique plan adopted for the University.
The University in the 1870s: William Hammond Hall and the Original Campus Plan
Kent Watson
The University and the Constitutional Convention of 1878
Peter Van Houten, 90pp, Book # 3702, $10
These paired essays, one about the University's physical campus, the other about a change in its constitutional status, focus on the five-year period from 1873 to 1878, an era when agriculture emerged as a major force in higher education.
History at Berkeley: A Dialog in Three Parts
Gene A. Brucker, Henry F. May, and David A. Hollinger, 50pp, Book # 377X, $10
Three members of the Berkeley history department trace the changes from the 1950s through the 1970s. Over these two decades, the department underwent profound changes as the old guard of conventional, provincial historians gave way before a wave of "Young Turks" who opened the curriculum to new courses and the doors to new people. This book is a must for historians and history buffs.
Roses from the Ashes: Breakup and Rebirth in Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Athletics
Glenn T. Seaborg with Ray Colvig. Foreward by Clark Kerr, 422 pp, Book # 394X, $25
Roses from the Ashes is the story behind the rise and fall of college sports on the Pacific Coast. It was an era of colorful characters--Pappy Waldorf, Red Sanders, Johnny O and the McKeever boys--and clashing values. Glenn Seaborg had an inside view of it all. Here's the true story of the scandals that tore the Pacific Coast Conference apart--and the birth of the Pac-10--the Conference of Champions.
Law at Berkeley: The History of Boalt Hall
Sandra P. Epstein, 365pp, Book # 3753, $27.95
Boalt Hall is a unique institution in the state of California, at the University of California, and in the history of American legal education. This history of law at Berkeley begins with the first course in Roman law in 1881 and concludes with the current challenges facing Boalt Hall as a new century approaches.
Speaking Freely: A Scholar's Memoir of Experience in the University of California
Angus E. Taylor, 227 pages, Book # 3931, $21.95
Over a long and distinguished career at the University of California, Angus Ellis Taylor taught mathematics at UCLA, was vice president for academic affairs under three presidents, and served as chancellor of the university's Santa Cruz campus. A brilliant scholar and teacher, Taylor was also a gifted administrator. His story, told warmly and well here, involves some of the most difficult and tumultuous years in the life of a great university.
Golden Gate Metropolis: Perspectives on Bay Area History
Charles Wollenberg, 380pp, Book # 301X, $14.95
"Here at last in a single volume is the interwoven story of the San Francisco Bay region . . . authoritative, readable, compact, the first wide-angle portrait of a vast and vigorous urban substate."
--Richard Reinhardt, The California Historical Society
Chancellor at Berkeley
Glenn T. Seaborg & Ray Colvig, 718pp, Book # 3435, $ 34.50
This unique memoir is a fascinating, fine-grained recollection of 30 momentous months from 1958-60. Seaborg recalls his chancellorship as an academic Camelot--a Rose Bowl victory, an NCAA basketball championship, two Nobel prizewinners, and Berkeley ranked as the finest University in the nation.
Higher Education/Law
The Beleagured College: Essays on Educational Reform
Joseph Tussman, 198pp, Book # 3737, $14.95
An outstanding teacher, a thoughtful critic, and an important education innovator, Joseph Tussman offers a compelling critique of current trends in higher education. He proposes a novel conception of the "teaching power" as an inherent constitutional power and discusses attempts to limit its scope as part of a new understanding of academic freedom. The focus of the book is a look at the famous experimental college he created at UC Berkeley, offshoots of which now exist on a number of campuses.
"Tussman's work is especially thought-provoking and challenging given the current discussions regarding curricular coherence and the canon. This is an important book that addresses the fundamental problems of liberal education."
--David Pierpont Gardner, President Emeritus, University of California
"A great contribution to the current debate."
--Clark Kerr, President Emeritus, University of California
"Fascinating reading--full of original insights into the educational scene. There is much here to bring some sense into the discussion of the university today and what its role should be in the future."
--Sheldon Meyer, Oxford University Press
“It is a jubilee year in educational writing when a book appears that is distinguished by personal passion, pedagogical wisdom, circumstantial pathos, and pleasantly pungent prose, all at once.”
--Eva Brann, Academic Questions
"Unquestionably important and readable. Free of crankiness, it's not concerned with faddish 'hot-button' issues. It's written by a master stylist and makes a proposal for saving undergraduate education from its present condition of drift and incoherence."
--Stan Persky, The Vancouver Sun
Habits of Mind: The Experimental College Program at Berkeley
Katherine Bernhardi Trow, 500pp, Book # 380X, $24.95
This is the story of a heroic effort to establish a small learning community in the heart of the University of California, Berkeley, and the profound impact it had on its students. The program was the brainchild of philosopher Joseph Tussman based on the heritage of Alexander Meiklejohn. Trow analyzes the Experimental College Program and explores, through intense, open-ended interviews conducted decades later with participants, the long-term impact it had on their lives. The result is a rich, multifaceted account of an experiment that occupies an important place in the history of higher education.
Pluralism and Education: Current World Trends in Policy, Law, and Administration
Peter M. Roeder, Ingo Richter, and Hans-Peter Fussel, Editors, 345pp, Book # 3664, $21.95
This book documents the contributions to an international conference on law and education convened by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. In an age of increasing diversity and conflict, experts examine how to organize education in a pluralistic society and describe recent trends in Europe, America, Africa, and Australia.
Law at Berkeley: The History of Boalt Hall
Sandra P. Epstein, 365pp, Book # 3753, $27.95
Boalt Hall is a unique institution in the state of California, at the University of California, and in the history of American legal education. This excellent study of law at Berkeley begins with the first course in Roman law in 1881 and concludes with the current challenges facing Boalt Hall as California becomes more diverse.
Chancellor at Berkeley
Glenn T. Seaborg & Ray Colvig, 718pp, Book # 3435, $ 34.50
This is a fascinating, fine-grained memoir of 30 momentous months from 1958-60. Seaborg recalls his chancellorship as an academic Camelot--a Rose Bowl victory, an NCAA basketball championship, two Nobel prizewinners, and Berkeley ranked as the finest University in the nation.
