Thurgood Marshall College
Encyclopedia
Thurgood Marshall College (TMC) is one of the six undergraduate colleges at the University of California, San Diego. The college, named after Thurgood Marshall
, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice and lawyer for the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education
, emphasizes "scholarship, social responsibility
and the belief that a liberal arts education must include an understanding of [one's] role in society." Marshall College's general education requirements emphasize this culture of community involvement and multiculturalism
; accordingly Marshall houses the minors in community service
and African-American studies for the campus. Founded as Third College 1970 amid the student activism of the period, TMC's original aim was to help students understand their own community and the greater context of that community in the United States. Marshall College's required writing
program is called Dimensions of Culture
(DOC), and is a 3 quarter (1 year) sequence that explores race, identity, imagination, tradition, and the law
in the United States.
The Wright Committee report suggested that the college have a muse—namely Clio
, the Greek muse of history. History was chosen by the committee because it mixed humanism with science—College III would be a sort of "common ground" between the science of Revelle
and the humanities of Muir
.
In a quiet act of rebelliousness (or perhaps it was just individuality), the committee planned that College III students would only have to take three courses per quarter to graduate in four years, as opposed to the four it took at the other UCSD colleges. Citing the three-course "full load" at UC Santa Cruz, the committee suggested that taking four courses in one quarter would "make the students ride off in all directions," and that three-in depth courses would be preferable.
The final note of the Wright Committee report described what the committee felt was needed in a College III Provost: "a paragon of intellectual vitality, scholarly accomplishment, and administrative talent... sympathetic with the aims of College III, but independent enough... to be able to shape the College in important ways." They asked that a provost be appointed as soon as possible.
By 1967, College III had found its first provost: Armin Rappaport, a history professor at U.C. Berkeley. It was appropriate that the provost of a college with Clio as its muse would be a historian, and Rappaport was that. By the time May rolled around, College III was now "Third College."
However, with the swirling political changes of the late 1960s, the college of Clio and Rappaport was never to be. Once the controversy and battles among students, faculty, and administration commenced—featuring lively figures such as Herbert Schiller
, Herbert Marcuse
, and Angela Davis
-- the future of Third College would be in a turmoil that didn't fully clear until it finally received its official name, Thurgood Marshall College, in 1993.
and Emiliano Zapata
in an attempt to honor these famous twentieth century revolutionaries. Unable to get approval for this name from UC Administration
, the college remained unnamed and was referred to as Third College for more than two decades.
In the early 1990s, an attempt was made to name the college after Martin Luther King, but failed when King's family announced that they would rather see a full-fledged King College built in the South
. In 1993 UCSD's third college finally received its official name after the death of Justice Marshall
.
In the spring of 2007 a new controversy arose, as students of TMC began protesting against the administrators of the college. The Lumumba-Zapata Coalition (which has since been re-established) along with other students claimed the Dimensions of Culture Program had lost some of its original messages, protesting against what they termed a "new and diluted" core writing requirement with a decreased focus on race and the ethnic significance of the individual within society. The protests, including picketing, began with the controversial non-hiring of two D.O.C. Teaching Assistants. Others believed that the coalition was pushing an agenda of political indoctrination that conflicted with the academic goals of the Dimensions of Culture Program. The protests had mixed effects. In response to the complaints in regards to the curriculum a committee has been set up to review and change the curriculum accordingly. Student positions have been included on the committee so an equitable curriculum will be created. In August 2009, Co-Director of the DOC Program, Robert Horwitz stated, "Various criticisms were leveled at DOC in the last few years, and faculty and student investigations concluded that changes needed to be made. Those changes have been implemented and have resulted in a NEW DOC."
The second year housing is split into dual-story apartments called the "Lowers" which resemble townhouses. These are designated letters A through F, and the "Uppers" which are double story and are designated G through M (with I building excluded). Marshall Uppers are located next to the Marshall Field, a large multi-use field.
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice and lawyer for the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
, emphasizes "scholarship, social responsibility
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
and the belief that a liberal arts education must include an understanding of [one's] role in society." Marshall College's general education requirements emphasize this culture of community involvement and multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
; accordingly Marshall houses the minors in community service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
and African-American studies for the campus. Founded as Third College 1970 amid the student activism of the period, TMC's original aim was to help students understand their own community and the greater context of that community in the United States. Marshall College's required writing
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
program is called Dimensions of Culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
(DOC), and is a 3 quarter (1 year) sequence that explores race, identity, imagination, tradition, and the law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
in the United States.
Early history
In November, 1965, the College III Preliminary Planning Committee released the first substantial report on what form UCSD's third college would take. The committee, comprising faculty members George Backus, Henry Booker, Gabriel Jackson, C.D. Keeling, and committee chair Andrew Wright, suggested that College III should focus itself on history and theory.The Wright Committee report suggested that the college have a muse—namely Clio
Clio
thumb|Clio—detail from [[The Art of Painting|The Allegory of Painting]] by [[Johannes Vermeer]]In Greek mythology, Clio or Kleio, is the muse of history. Like all the muses, she is a daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne...
, the Greek muse of history. History was chosen by the committee because it mixed humanism with science—College III would be a sort of "common ground" between the science of Revelle
Roger Revelle College
Revelle College was the first college founded at the University of California, San Diego, and named after oceanographer Roger Revelle in 1964...
and the humanities of Muir
John Muir College
John Muir College is one of the six undergraduate colleges at the University of California, San Diego . The college is named after John Muir, the environmentalist and founder of the Sierra Club. It has a humanitarian emphasis focused on the "spirit of self-sufficiency and individual choice"...
.
In a quiet act of rebelliousness (or perhaps it was just individuality), the committee planned that College III students would only have to take three courses per quarter to graduate in four years, as opposed to the four it took at the other UCSD colleges. Citing the three-course "full load" at UC Santa Cruz, the committee suggested that taking four courses in one quarter would "make the students ride off in all directions," and that three-in depth courses would be preferable.
The final note of the Wright Committee report described what the committee felt was needed in a College III Provost: "a paragon of intellectual vitality, scholarly accomplishment, and administrative talent... sympathetic with the aims of College III, but independent enough... to be able to shape the College in important ways." They asked that a provost be appointed as soon as possible.
By 1967, College III had found its first provost: Armin Rappaport, a history professor at U.C. Berkeley. It was appropriate that the provost of a college with Clio as its muse would be a historian, and Rappaport was that. By the time May rolled around, College III was now "Third College."
However, with the swirling political changes of the late 1960s, the college of Clio and Rappaport was never to be. Once the controversy and battles among students, faculty, and administration commenced—featuring lively figures such as Herbert Schiller
Herbert Schiller
Herbert Irving Schiller was an American media critic, sociologist, author, and scholar. He earned his PhD in 1960 from New York University....
, Herbert Marcuse
Herbert Marcuse
Herbert Marcuse was a German Jewish philosopher, sociologist and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory...
, and Angela Davis
Angela Davis
Angela Davis is an American political activist, scholar, and author. Davis was most politically active during the late 1960s through the 1970s and was associated with the Communist Party USA, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party...
-- the future of Third College would be in a turmoil that didn't fully clear until it finally received its official name, Thurgood Marshall College, in 1993.
Naming controversies
At its inception, students pushed for the new college to be named "Lumumba-Zapata College" in honor of Patrice LumumbaPatrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese independence leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only ten weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis...
and Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata Salazar was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910, and which was initially directed against the president Porfirio Díaz. He formed and commanded an important revolutionary force, the Liberation Army of the South, during the Mexican Revolution...
in an attempt to honor these famous twentieth century revolutionaries. Unable to get approval for this name from UC Administration
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, the college remained unnamed and was referred to as Third College for more than two decades.
In the early 1990s, an attempt was made to name the college after Martin Luther King, but failed when King's family announced that they would rather see a full-fledged King College built in the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
. In 1993 UCSD's third college finally received its official name after the death of Justice Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
.
In the spring of 2007 a new controversy arose, as students of TMC began protesting against the administrators of the college. The Lumumba-Zapata Coalition (which has since been re-established) along with other students claimed the Dimensions of Culture Program had lost some of its original messages, protesting against what they termed a "new and diluted" core writing requirement with a decreased focus on race and the ethnic significance of the individual within society. The protests, including picketing, began with the controversial non-hiring of two D.O.C. Teaching Assistants. Others believed that the coalition was pushing an agenda of political indoctrination that conflicted with the academic goals of the Dimensions of Culture Program. The protests had mixed effects. In response to the complaints in regards to the curriculum a committee has been set up to review and change the curriculum accordingly. Student positions have been included on the committee so an equitable curriculum will be created. In August 2009, Co-Director of the DOC Program, Robert Horwitz stated, "Various criticisms were leveled at DOC in the last few years, and faculty and student investigations concluded that changes needed to be made. Those changes have been implemented and have resulted in a NEW DOC."
Founding of the Preuss School
Then Thurgood Marshall College Provost Cecil Lytle was instrumental in founding the Preuss School at UCSD, which opened in 1999. Providing the impetus for the founding of The Preuss School was considered to be in line with the social justice oriented mission of the College. The College maintains strong links to The Preuss School by providing the charter school with undergraduate tutors and mentors.Student life
Thurgood Marshall's dining hall, Oceanview Terrace, is typically referred to as "OVT". It is known as the campus' most appetizing dining hall, with students often trekking to it from all colleges. OVT was notorious for being the only dining hall opened till 1am. However, due to budget cuts, starting from 2009, OVT opens from 9am-8pm on weekdays and from 10am-8pm on Sat & Sun. Food quality has slowly been diminishing throughout the years, though despite the struggles, OVT still remains one of UCSD's finest dining halls. Goody's Place & Market has opened near the Upper apartments, and this eatery is open until 1 AM.Residence halls and apartments
Thurgood Marshall freshmen are housed in suite-style residential halls. Each suite typically holds 10–12 students. These buildings are not named and are designated by letters N through V. The Marshall Dorms also house an outdoor beach volleyball court, situated next to the "Marshall Hump", a small hill like grassy area.The second year housing is split into dual-story apartments called the "Lowers" which resemble townhouses. These are designated letters A through F, and the "Uppers" which are double story and are designated G through M (with I building excluded). Marshall Uppers are located next to the Marshall Field, a large multi-use field.
External links
- Dedication of Thurgood Marshall College (video)
- What's In a Name? The Long Saga of Third College
- Marshall College Partnership Schools
- The Burden of Excellence by former TMC Provost, Cecil Lytle
- Brown-eyed children of the sun: lessons from the Chicano movement, 1965-1975 By George Mariscal
- Overview of UCSD's College System