San Jose State College - La Torre Yearbook (San Jose, CA)

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Land, brick and mortar have played an important role in the growth of SJS. A month after the Class of 1960 arrived, the new three-story library addition was finished, and during that same school year the mens gymnasium wing was completed. A year later, in the fall of 1957, these students, as sophomores, returned to classes in the new Science Building and Centennial Hall, a new three-story classroom building. A new story was added to the Spartan Shop, and in November administrative offices were moved from Tower Hall to a new two-story location at Seventh and San Fernando. The Spartan Cafeteria began operation in 1958, replacing an under- sized cafeteria managed for years in the home economics building. These buildingSJWhich the Class of 1960 helped initiate, were only a small part of a long- range, large-scale building program. Memorial Chapel had opened in 1952. The Engineering Building and the Music Building were both completed in 1958. The Speech and Drama Build- ing opened in the fall of 1954. The old bookstore, which had been housed in temporary barracks in the area now occupied by the library, gave way in the fall of 1955 to the present Spartan Shop. Departing seniors have seen the campus expand from Seventh to Ninth Street, with the completion of the Art and Health Buildings in an area where hundreds of student and faculty automobiles were formerly parked. This year, for the first time, faculty members occupy their own oHice building located between the womens gymnasium and Tower Hall. The college once consisted of a single building. It was leveled by a disastrous fire in 1880, but was promptly rebuilt. It was again demolished by the great earthquake of 1906. Tower Hall, a now famous campus landmark, was built in 1910, and the Morris Dailey auditorium, named for the colleges late president, was added in 1920. In 1935 the academic sc0pe of the school was expanded to include fields other than teacher training. In the same year the college took on its present name. Education continues to attract the majority of students, but competent Engineering and Business Departments boast a large enrollment. A total of 141 majors were offered in 1958-59. The year previous to the arrival of the Class of 1960 only 129 majors were offered. The number of majors in non-degree programs has dropped from nine to five, while the number of BA majors offered has been reduced from 61 to 49. Bachelor of Science majors, however, have increased from two to 20, and Master of Science majors from none to six. Many new courses have also been added to the evening program. In the fall of 1955, evening classes numbered 150, none of which were physical science courses. At present, more than 325 classes are scheduled and over 400 students are enrolled in the physical sciences alone. Due to the rapid expansion of the graduate program, 6070 of the limited students enrolled in evening courses are graduate students, compared to 2070 in 1955. In 1958 San Jose State College received accreditation from the Western College Association, Engineers, Council for Professional Development, State Board of Education, American Chem- ical Society, American Council on Education for Journalism, NationallCouncil for Accredita- tion of Teacher Education, and the National League for Nursing, Inc. SJS today stands at the threshold of full recognition, further diversification of curriculum, continued elevation of academic standards, and an augmented program of building, growth, and expansion. And so, the Class of 1960 regards in retrospect the years which have brought them thus far. Research by KayAthos

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In Retrospect It has been the privilege of the Class of 1960 to see its Alma Mater come of age and receive the Cloak of maturity among schools of highest learning in the state of California. San Jose State College has today not only the largest student body in the state college system, but also the faculty, buildings, campus, and other facilities necessary to maintain its pre-eminence. . by the founders who christened it Minnls Evening Normal School when it opened in San Fran- - Cisco in 1857. It was a loyal little band of 150 students who came along when the school, having been integrated into the state educational system, moved to San Jose in 1871 as the California State Normal School. Almost a century later, in the fall of 1955, the college enrolled 9,648 students. Its faculty was more than four times as large as the entire student body of 1871. The campus was being contin- ually enlarged, new buildingswere being constructed, academic offerings had expanded far beyond teacher training, and an orderly plan for continued, steady growth had been developed. The increasing congestion in halls and on the campus walkways, of which graduating seniors have been so much aware, is Visual evidence of a record-breaking enrollment of 16,276 students in the fall of 1959. The SJS enrollment increase in the past ten years has far exceeded the na- tional average for colleges. The evening programs have kept pace with the overall growth; enrollment in evening programs has nearly donbled in the past four years. The enrollment in the fall of 1955 was 3,855; by the fall of 1959 it was 7,014. During this time the number of limited students increased from 932 to 3,858. Faculty strength increased even more rapidly, improving the pupil-teacher ratio from 19.8 students per instructor in 1955-56, to 16.5 students per instructor in 1958-59. Today even the Music: Concert Hall cannot accommodate the entire faculty of 900. In 1920-21, when the school was renamed San Jose State Teachers College the entire student body of 577 could have crowded into the concert hall which, at that time, seated 565. SJS has shown a gain not only in quantity but also in quality. Along with the higher entrance standards have come higher faculty standards. In 1954-55, less than 4070 of the faculty members held doctorate degrees. By the time the Class of 1960 arrived on campus, half the faculty had this degree. Today the percentage is even higher.

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