University of Southern California - El Rodeo Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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ster Plon calls for ». such o$ Hoov m into tree-lined r periphery of the nonson gives Or. Topping a $1 irantee construction of the $2 iter for Biological Research. ng streets within the camj ulevord above, and fumi All autos will be parked pus (below) Trustee Howe llion check to n i the trme since May, 1961, there have been few people at USC who have not felt the dnve to approach the dream of the Master Plan. Members of the Board of Trustees had already P edged personal gifts of more than $4 million toward the goal alumn, responded with $659,000 in the first year of fund raising -up 415 per cent. Trustee Howard Ahmansons family gave the um versity $1 million to guarantee construction of the $2 million b,osciences building, and Hoffman donated $640,000 Firestone made a $250,000 unrestricted gift and offered a $250,000 match- ing challenge to alumni— which they met in full Mr Mrs Frank R. Seaver gave $450,000 toward construction of the com- mons and residence at the Medical School, Mr Mrs Henry Salvatori granted $325,000 for establishment of a Research In- stitute on Communist Strategy and Propaganda and Mr Mrs Michael C. B.rkrant gave $500,000 toward the construction of a Women ' s Residence Hall. Other donors included the Olin Foundation which granted $2.3 million for the Olin Hall of Engineering. Two anonymous donors contributed $300,000 to help build a clinical research building, and Trustee Kenneth T Moms granted $250,000 for the building program of the School of Medicine. More recently the university received two electronic computers valued at nearly $2 million from Minneapolis-Honey- well. A g,ft from Trustee Franklin S. Wade made possible the $232,000 Laird J. Stabler Memorial Laboratories. In January 1962, Mrs. Mary Ormerod Harris, a longtime friend of the uni- versity, left the bulk of her multi-million dollar estate as endow- ment for the School of International Relations. The university also became the prime beneficiary in other estates totaling more than $8 millon. The most impressive recognition of the Master Plan and USC ' s efforts to reach its goals, however, came from the Ford Founda- tion. On Dec. 17, 1962, the Foundation announced a $6 5 million grant ,n unrestricted funds to support USC ' s over-all academic development. To be eligible for the grant the university must raise three dollars for each grant dollar over a three year period. James W. Armsey, director of the Foundation ' s Special Program in Educa- tion, explained why USC was chosen for the third largest grant ever made by the Fo undation to a university. 1— excellence of leadership in trustees, president and faculty. 2— strategic geographical importance in influencing other insti- tutions of the same type in the same region. 3— strong constituency interest, as demonstrated by present and potential financial support. 4— tradition of scholarship, or willingness and evidence of intent ana ability to develop it. 5— well-developed plans for future educational development. The university received an initial payment of $1 million and applied ,t to recruiting new faculty, raising faculty salaries and construction of a new physical sciences building. The fight to meet the Thousand Day Challenge began and a blackboard m the office of University Planning keeps track of the days left until the expiration of the grant. A month after the Ford an- nouncement, at the annual dinner of the USC Associates Hoff- man told the 700 guests at the Beverly Hilton banquet that the university had raised more than $19 million since the Master Plan was launched— almost a million dollars a month. Former President Eisenhower, attending as Firestone ' s guest, congratu- lated USC on its accomplishments for private higher education. Spurred on by the Ford Grant, funds continued to pour in and by May, 1964, Hoffman was able to make a startling announcement- Some people thought USC couldn ' t raise $ 1 06 million in 200 years —but, in less than three years, the university has secured more than $62 million. ' USC ' s Master Plan objectives were within sight— not decades away— but possible in the sixties so that an additional generation of students could receive the benefits of the Plan. 13

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more scholarships, better facilities — when all were needed im- mediately? Was it more important to expand the campus area or clean up the makeshift buildings already inside the grounds? These were the questions President Topping and the planning committees had pondered for two an d a half years, and out of their debates came a clear-cut plan for growth that charted step by step the rocky road to academic excellence. Phase I of the Master Plan, as Hoffman, national chairman for the Plan, explained it, aimed at raising approximately $30 mil- lion in the first four years. And, as Dr. Topping emphasized in his announcement speech, the university intended to make each dollar of this money do the work of three. Of this sum (in itself less than a third of the expected total Master Plan cost) $4 million would be allotted for academic enrichment — for graduate fellowships, faculty salary supplementation, faculty research and publication, distinguished visiting scholars, scholarships and loan funds. Other money was earmarked for new buildings, all to be erected on a priority scale. To contain these buildings — expected to cost more than $48 million — the area was to be ex- panded from 78 acres to 150, bounded by Jeffe rson, Figueroa, Exposition and Vermont. The university already owned about 85 per cent of this land; the rest would be gradually purchased. Architect William Pereira and his staff took to their drawing boards to plan carefully what this new USC might look like. Following Dr. Topping ' s prerequisite for a carefully oriented and genuinely purposeful use for every square foot of campus land, they en- visioned a campus patterned on the quadrangle concept of England ' s Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Buildings would be grouped in quads according to their related functions — the campus heart quads (Doheny, Bovard, the Student Union, the Hancock Foundation and the Von KleinSmid Center), the liberal arts complex, the science quad, the engineering quad, the busi- ness-law quad, the student activities center and the physical education center. Some of these areas would have buildings with breezeways under them, with pillars supporting the struc- tures, so that the green courts of the quads would be visible from a distance, enhancing the feeling of spaciousness within a limited area. Pereira, a former visiting art lecturer at USC ' s School of Architecture, also proposed that each quad have its jewel — a small building designed as a focal point, reflecting the most creative architectural thinking of its period and the academic disciplines sharing the quad. Interlacing the campus would be a system of greenbelts, land- scaped pedestrian and bicycle thruways. All automobiles would be parked on the periphery of the campus; streets within the cam- pus area would be gradually closed and turned into tree-lined malls. Pereira also considered the redevelopment of areas sur- rounding the campus as important to the objectives of the uni- versity. His research indicated that historically and without ex- ception, an urban university can achieve the level of scholarship which will make it internationally prominent only through bring- ing its family of scholars into residence near campus. The Hoover Urban Renewal Project of the Community Redevelopment Agency hopes to clear the way for such a situation through up- grading the 103 acres west, north and east of the campus. Pereira sees here eventually a new commercial district to serve the shopping tastes and requirements of the university com- munity and a residential district varied in character and price and organized to accommodate a high density population without losing the feeling of open space created in the campus area. Ar- tists ' sketches and scale models indicated the scope and dimen- sions of the new campus look. The dream took shape, aloof but approachable. (above) Posing during Olin Hall dedication ceremonies are James O. Wynn of the Olin Foundation; William Pereira, architect for the $2.3 million Olin Hall and many of the Master Plan buildings; President Topping; Gin Wong of William Pereira and Associates; Dr. Alfred Ingersoll, Engineering School Dean; and Charles L. Horn, president of the Olin Foundation, Inc. (middle) The

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