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History of the University of California, Berkeley
USINFO | 2013-07-24 16:30
The history of the University of California, Berkeley, can be traced the establishment of the private College of California and its merger with the Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College to form the University of California in 1868.
Founding
In 1866, the land that comprises the current Berkeley campus was purchased by the private College of California. Because it lacked sufficient funds to operate, it eventually merged with the state-run Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College to form the University of California. The university's charter was signed by California Governor Henry H. Haight on March 23, 1868. Professor John Le Conte was appointed interim president, serving until 1870 when the Board of Regents elected Henry Durant, the founder of the College of California.
The university opened in September 1869 using the former College of California's buildings in Oakland as a temporary home while the new campus underwent construction. In 1871, the Board of Regents stated that women should be admitted on an equal basis with men. With the completion of North and South Halls in 1873, the university relocated to its Berkeley location with 167 male and 222 female students. In 1874 the first Woman to graduate from the University of California was by the name of Rosa L. Scrivner with a Ph.B in Agriculture.
Names
At the time of its founding, Berkeley was the first full-curriculum public university in the state of California and thus was known as the University of California. As occurred in other states with only a single major public university, University of California was frequently shortened to California or Cal, for ease of identification. Because the school's long sports tradition stretches back to an era before the founding of the other University of California branches, its athletic teams continue to be designated as California Golden Bears, Cal Bears, or simply, Cal.
As a reflection of the University of California's development into a multi-institutional university system, the term University of California is no longer applied to the campus outside of varsity sports; the official name is University of California, Berkeley. Informally, the campus is called UC Berkeley, Berkeley, or Cal, which are all official variations. The term University of California has come to refer to the entire University of California system. The campus office for trademarks disallows the use of Cal Berkeley, though it is occasionally used colloquially. Unlike most University of California campuses, which are commonly known by their initials, usage of UCB is discouraged (as is University of California at Berkeley), and the domain name is berkeley.edu. While ucb.edu and ucberkeley.edu are also registered by the school, they are not actively used.
Berkeley is sometimes confused with Berklee College of Music, a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts, or Berkeley College, a private college with campuses in New York and New Jersey; it is not affiliated with either.
Founding
In 1866, the land that comprises the current Berkeley campus was purchased by the private College of California. Because it lacked sufficient funds to operate, it eventually merged with the state-run Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College to form the University of California. The university's charter was signed by California Governor Henry H. Haight on March 23, 1868. Professor John Le Conte was appointed interim president, serving until 1870 when the Board of Regents elected Henry Durant, the founder of the College of California.
The university opened in September 1869 using the former College of California's buildings in Oakland as a temporary home while the new campus underwent construction. In 1871, the Board of Regents stated that women should be admitted on an equal basis with men. With the completion of North and South Halls in 1873, the university relocated to its Berkeley location with 167 male and 222 female students. In 1874 the first Woman to graduate from the University of California was by the name of Rosa L. Scrivner with a Ph.B in Agriculture.
Names
At the time of its founding, Berkeley was the first full-curriculum public university in the state of California and thus was known as the University of California. As occurred in other states with only a single major public university, University of California was frequently shortened to California or Cal, for ease of identification. Because the school's long sports tradition stretches back to an era before the founding of the other University of California branches, its athletic teams continue to be designated as California Golden Bears, Cal Bears, or simply, Cal.
As a reflection of the University of California's development into a multi-institutional university system, the term University of California is no longer applied to the campus outside of varsity sports; the official name is University of California, Berkeley. Informally, the campus is called UC Berkeley, Berkeley, or Cal, which are all official variations. The term University of California has come to refer to the entire University of California system. The campus office for trademarks disallows the use of Cal Berkeley, though it is occasionally used colloquially. Unlike most University of California campuses, which are commonly known by their initials, usage of UCB is discouraged (as is University of California at Berkeley), and the domain name is berkeley.edu. While ucb.edu and ucberkeley.edu are also registered by the school, they are not actively used.
Berkeley is sometimes confused with Berklee College of Music, a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts, or Berkeley College, a private college with campuses in New York and New Jersey; it is not affiliated with either.
