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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i As the Master Plan ledgers f illed with donations, the face of University Park changed rapidly. Classes were held against the background of a cacophony of construction as old buildings and parking lots were cleared away and new struc- tures began to rise. The $2.3 million Olin Hall of Engineering was the first academic building to be completed. Many students would grant Olin — a striking ex- ample of USC ' s new architecture — the most at- tractive building on campus, but others would give the compliment to one of the many other new additions. In the new science quad, the Laird J. Stabler Memorial Laboratories exempli- fies Pereira ' s thruway principle of campus construction. The $232,000 research facility for physical chemistry and air pollution study is raised on stilts one floor above the street level, permitting an open vista into the quad area from the Stonier Hall side of campus. Across the quad from the laboratories rise the three towers of the $2 million Ahmanson Center for Biological Re- search also designed by Pereira. Across campus, on a pie-shaped lot at the junction of Exposi- tion and Figueroa Boulevards stands the Re- search Institute on Communist Strategy and Prop- aganda. The two-story brick building, designed by Ladd and Kelsey of Pasadena, houses the re- search institute, the campus information center and the housing office. Providing parking for visitors, the area is a key introduction point to the changing campus. Dormitory construction has kept pace with the increasing number of students who want to live on campus,- a major Master Plan goal is hous- ing on or near campus for 50 per cent of the full-time enrollment. The largest building to be completed was the Cecele and Michael C. Birn- krant Women ' s Residence Hall, the first eight- story tower on campus. Also new in the wom- en ' s quad area is the University- College complex which houses 312 women in an area composed of the old College Hall and a new three-story wing joining it to the east. The $750,000 addi- tion was designed by Albert C. Martin of rein- forced concrete with brick pilasters to blend with the architecture of the older structures in the quad. The men were not neglected. Marks Tow- er, a distinctive eight-story structure forming a quad with Trojan and Marks Hall, houses 200 men. Also for the men were three new fraternity houses, built by the university for Beta Theta Pi, Chi Phi and Sigma Chi, as part of the USC small-group housing plan. Under this plan, fi- nanced by loans from the Housing and Home Finance Agency, the fraternities deeded the land to the university which agreed to build and op- erate the residences as part of its totol hous- ing system. All three new houses cost $260,000 and each has room for 58 men. On the Medical School campus, the Blanche and Frank R. Seaver Student Residence provides housing for 100 stu- dents, dining facilities for 270, a bookstore and lounges. USC has also taken note of the increas- ing number of married students. The first unit in the planned complex at Exposition and Ver- mont, a $777,000 building catchingly titled Mar- ried Students I, was occupied last September.