CSUDH History: 1960s
Travel back in time and read California State University, Dominguez Hills' history.
April 29, 1960: Governor Pat Brown signs bill for state college to be known as South Bay State College.
January 19, 1962: Newly formed CSC Board of Trustees appoints Dr. Leo F. Cain president of South Bay State College.
July 2, 1962: First meeting of President Cain’s planning staff. Chief priority: select college site.
July 12, 1962: Trustees rename South Bay State as California State College at Palos Verdes (CSCPV).
December 8, 1962: Trustees decide CSCPV library will open with 50,000 volumes.
June 7, 1963: Trustees put CSCPV on year-round quarter system.
January 1964: Trustees approve CSCPV curricular plan with dual-major, interdisciplinary studies approach.
May 6, 1964: Consulting architect A. Quincy Jones submits master plan for campus.
April 1, 1964: Design for a “Small College” experimental subunit approved.
August 1964: University Library design approved by trustees.
September 9, 1964: First meeting of CSCPV Advisory Board.
May 1965: Campus slated to move from Palos Verdes to one of four proposed sites: Friendship Park, Fort MacArthur, Torrance and Dominguez Hills.
September 1965: Classes begin for freshmen and juniors at California Federal Savings Bank in Palos Verdes Peninsula.
October 14, 1965: In the wake of Watts urban unrest, Governor Pat Brown and staff favor Dominguez Hills site – best accessibility to minorities who want college education. Trustees approve 346-acre site; Jones and Emmons appointed master architects.
October 1965: Debut of The Mariner, CSCPV’s first newspaper; college’s first chorus formed.
November 19, 1965: William R. Hart, an Air Force veteran is elected as first student body president.
Winter 1965: College enrollment totals 27 freshmen, 14 juniors.
March 3, 1966: Trustees change name of institution to California State College, Dominguez Hills (CSCDH).
September 21, 1966: Student association’s first social event is held – “Hootenanny Under the Stars.”
September 1966: Watts campus (across from future college site) opens with 20 new faculty and 180 students.
December 1966: Future of young college threatened – Governor-elect Reagan recommends halt to college site acquisition and construction, imposition of tuition, freeze on hiring and financial cuts.
January 1967: CSCDH’s first public demonstrations held against Reagan proposals; compromise with the new governor saves the university.
June 10, 1967: Four students graduate at the first Dominguez Hills commencement, Bill Hart, Pamela Striplin, Othilie W. Moritz, and Sharon Chambers.
1967: School nickname, “Los Gitanos” (the gypsies), is adopted. Motto: “In learning is brotherhood, integrity and freedom.”
First evening classes open.
Fall 1967: Donald Loker elected new chair of expanded Advisory Board, helps establish College Foundation to promote Dominguez Hills’ best interests; first Foundation board of directors includes Loker, Leo Cain, Harry Nethery and William Huston, president of Watson Land Company.
1967: Dominguez Hills Academic Senate develops
December 5, 1967: Lt. Gov. Robert Finch keynotes groundbreaking ceremonies for first permanent buildings.
February 6, 1968: Voters incorporate City of Carson.
February 20, 1968: President Cain attends first Carson City Council meeting; offers new city use of Dominguez Hills/USC faculty-student team to survey city land-use patterns.
1968: Black Students Union chapter begun on campus calls for interdepartmental Afro-American studies major.
June 1968: Annual student awards convocation canceled in memory of Robert F. Kennedy, who was shot in Los Angeles on June 6.
Spring 1968: College’s second commencement graduates 21 students.
Fall 1968: Enrollment exceeds 1,000 for first time.
Lyle Gibson named college’s first vice president.
October 14, 1968: CSCDH Small College classrooms open.
October 1969: First bus service established to CSCDH.
January 1969: Student Association votes funds for Draft Counseling Center; trustees approve the motion a month later.
February 27, 1969: Small College Little Theatre opens – Ben Jonson’s “Volpone” is first play.
June 14, 1969: Third commencement sees 85 bachelor’s degrees awarded.
1969: Students for a Democratic Society and the United Mexican American Students Association form campus chapters; UMASA calls for Mexican American studies major.
Summer 1969: Tennis courts and physical education facilities constructed.
July 1969: 250 applicants turned away from CSC Dominguez Hills due to budget restrictions.
Fall 1969: College Advisory Board “greenlights” University Extension Program
October – November 1969: Vietnam War rallies held at CSC Dominguez Hills