George R. Blumenthal
Fiat Fifty Founders Celebration
East Field, UC Santa Cruz campus
September 26, 2015
Welcome! Tonight is the capstone celebration of our 50th anniversary!
They tell me this is one of the biggest galas in Santa Cruz history!
What a great occasion!
50 years ago today, the first students arrived on this campus… our "Pioneers"!
They ate dinner right over there. They had trailers… and 50 years later, … we're in a TENT!
But I'm sure they didn't eat as well as we are tonight.
This hardy band of 652 students joined our pioneer faculty and staff.
We are fortunate to have some of those students with us tonight!
Together, they launched what UC President Clark Kerr called "a new kind of university."
A campus that aspired to blend the best of the major public research university with the intimacy of a small private college.
From Day One, we were going to be different.
Our founders instilled in us a willingness—an eagerness--to go beyond the norm… to defy convention in the pursuit of a better way.
That spirit lives on today.
You feel it the minute you set foot on this campus.
This is not a degree factory.
Santa Cruz is an incubator… an incubator for new ideas.
We do what others say can't be done… from growing strawberries organically to sequencing the human genome! (applause)
For 50 years, our pioneers have blazed trails for others to follow.
People like:
Pioneer faculty member Bill Domhoff, who was writing about income inequality and the 1 percent decades before the occupy movement.
People like anthropologist Adrienne Zihlman, who transformed theories of human evolution by daring to suggest that our female ancestors played a key role!
And people like psychology professor Craig Haney, (applause) who was documenting the injustices of our criminal justice system… well before Barack Obama became the first president to visit a federal prison. (applause)
Out-of-the-box thinkers at UC Santa Cruz transform disciplines -- and forge entirely new fields: feminist studies, History of Consciousness, Latin American and Latino Studies!
I can tell you from personal experience, this campus is an extraordinary place to be a scholar. But it may be an even more extraordinary place to be a student!
Students arrive here--some with great direction and focus.
Many more are like Kathy Sullivan—bright young people who discover something special that inspires them and shapes their future!
Let other campuses serve students who seek only the conventional path.
Santa Cruz appeals to students who prefer to chart their own way!
And just like their alma mater, our graduates do the unexpected!
Kathy became an astronaut! Then an educator! And today she leads the federal agency responsible for predicting weather, protecting oceans, and monitoring climate change!
This is the beauty of a well-rounded, liberal arts education: It engages the whole person—the mind, the heart, the hands, the artist within—and serves graduates throughout their lives.
Our alumni—now more than 100,000 of them -- are a critical part of our legacy.
Thanks to the dedicated Life members, this fall the Alumni Association will announce changes to strengthen our alumni network with a clear vision of how one hundred thousand alumni can create a more inclusive and connected community. (applause)
Our alumni carry the UC Santa Cruz ethos out into the world, where they ask questions and push the margins. They make us proud.
Which isn't to say nothing has changed in 50 years.
Universities are like people. They change over time.
UC Santa Cruz has changed as well.
We don't have narrative evaluations. The role of the colleges is different today. But no less important. We've built up to accommodate 17,000 students.
Our founding chancellor, Dean McHenry, was not afraid of change.
He told graduates during the very first commencement, in 1967, that their successors would have a different experience at UC Santa Cruz.
The faculty-student ratio would change… research would put pressure on faculty …
He even foreshadowed online education when he suggested using closed-circuit television for teaching!
If Dean McHenry were with us tonight, what would he think?
Would he ever have expected that we would, at 50, be recognized as one of the best young universities in the world?
That we would be ranked first in the world for the impact of our research? (applause)
I knew Dean, and I'm confident that if we could walk across campus together today, he would be delighted by our stewardship of this beautiful place … and by how UC Santa Cruz has blossomed since his days as chancellor.
In many ways, we are better today than in 1965!
Our first class was virtually all white, with the highest median household income in the UC system.
Today, UC Santa Cruz is much more inclusive. (applause) We are much more reflective of the diversity of California.
Nearly a third of our undergraduates identify as Hispanic/Latino – making us a Hispanic Serving Institution.
One quarter are of Asian origin
And nearly 70 percent of our students receive financial aid. (applause)
Our graduate and professional programs are thriving.
Our colleges remain vibrant places: central to our academic mission… central to the student experience… central to our community.
Over the years, some changes have come from within, others were driven by external circumstances, but on the whole, I believe these changes have made us better and much stronger as a university.
So, where will this campus be 50 years from now?
Many of our signature achievements are in fields that didn't even exist in 1965:
Think about bioinformatics, digital arts, computer game design and computational media!
Looking ahead, three things are clear to me.
First, the world needs UC Santa Cruz now more than ever. (applause)
In an era of information overload, a UC Santa Cruz education prepares graduates to make discerning judgments.
The world needs independent, creative thinkers—thinkers who can collaborate to break through gridlock and actually solve problems.
The world needs the creativity, grit, and talent of Banana Slugs. (applause)
…
Second, we will grow--just a bit--to build on our strengths.
Our proximity to Silicon Valley allows us to expand our impact without stepping far beyond the shade of our beloved redwoods.
And let me be clear: When I talk about our role in Silicon Valley, I mean more than engineering.
To remain the hub of global innovation for the next 50 years, the valley needs our social scientists, our humanists, and our artists. (applause)
That’s because Silicon Valley does have issues: (applause)
Think about the disparity in the distribution of wealth in the valley—and the paltry number of women leaders in high-tech.
Think about environmental stewardship of the San Francisco Bay, and the toxic legacy of the semiconductor industry.
Think about the regional challenges of transit and affordable housing—that are spilling over and affecting this side of the hill!
We owe it to the valley--and to ourselves--to think more broadly about how we can engage there.
…
Third, we can be confident about the future.
We've been well-served by our founders' academic vision.
We've realized the vision of our community founders, and their dreams as well, bringing intellectual, cultural, and economic vitality to Santa Cruz.
We will continue to be guided by the values that have endured for 50 years:
Environmental stewardship and social justice have always been guideposts for us.
We will continue to offer an education unlike any other… in a setting more beautiful than any other.
Because there is only one UC Santa Cruz.
Education and the creation of knowledge are among the most enduring gifts we can give one another.
It's extraordinary to build a university.
How many people can say they had a hand in that?
This may be the greatest concentration of them right here, with us tonight!
I want to thank you! It is a laudable thing we have done here on these 2,000 acres!
And we're not done!
For 50 years, we've been in this together. The City of Santa Cruz fought to have UC in this community.
From the beginning, this has been a collective effort.
Our futures are intertwined.
We're all in this together, and together we can make this the best possible university.
Whether you are a student, a staff member, faculty, alumni, a neighbor, or friend--consider what you've gotten from UC Santa Cruz:
For some of you, it has been academic freedom and intellectual engagement.
Some of you made this place your career.
Some of you met your spouse or partner here! (applause)
Some of you love the library—or the gym!
And some of you are just getting to know us and we welcome you under this tent.
Because of the generosity of you and that of many others, we are well on our way to securing a bright future for UC Santa Cruz.
The first 50 years of the University of California, Santa Cruz have been amazing. (applause)
Take a look around. All of us will be critical to making the next 50 years even more amazing.
Thank you!
