The first ASUCI elections took place in February 1967. Below is a photograph of students voting in Gateway Plaza, next to what is now Langson Library. The first elected officers were Jack Lewin (President), Donald Cline (Vice President), and Ross Walker (Secretary).
AS-061. University Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Descendants of the Juaneno branch of the Mission Indians, including Chief Lobo, hike past the “Bell Tower” marker at the center of what would become the UCI campus, on the original 1,000 acres donated to The Regents by the Irvine Company. Clarence Lobo, elected chief of the Juaneno, wrote this about the plans for the UCI campus on this land: “Our children shall not know the experience of roaming over these rolling hills and listening to the wild birds as they talk to nature. Here now will be a fountain of knowledge where the cream of our youth shall drink from the rivers of learning…. The future belongs to our youth. Our footprints upon the sands of time shall be history to them.”
AS-061. University Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Chancellor Aldrich chats with Chet Huntley, co-anchor of NBC’s national evening news program “The Huntley-Brinkley Report,” before being interviewed about the new UCI campus on camera for the documentary titled “1,000-Acre Campus.” The interview took place on January 12, 1964, on the open land that would soon become UCI.
AS-061. University Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
UCI Site Dedication Day was June 20, 1964, and many luminaries attended and spoke at the ceremony. The Site Dedication plaque was unveiled by President Lyndon B. Johnson soon after he gave his address. Only a short 15 months later UC Irvine would open for classes with seven new buildings completed.
Below Chancellor Aldrich views the Site Dedication plaque in September 1965, soon after it was mounted on a wall near Gateway Commons (now the Libraries Gateway Study Center). The Site Dedication plaque is currently located in Special Collections and Archives in Langson Library.
AS-061. University Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
At the UCI Site Dedication ceremony on June 20, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson gave the principal speech, with an introduction by U.C. President Clark Kerr and welcoming remarks by Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, U.C. Regents Chairman Edward W. Carter, and UCI Chancellor Daniel Aldrich. Although U.S. Presidents had visited Orange County during political campaigns at least four previous times, this was the first formal “Presidential visit” to Orange County. Johnson addressed the importance of education to California and the nation, and complimented California’s leadership, including Clark Kerr in particular, for their vision in implementing progressive educational programs to meet the forthcoming demands. Below is the text of President Johnson’s speech.
AS-004. Central Records Unit records, 1928-1994. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Eiler Larson, aka the Laguna Beach greeter, was well known for waving to and welcoming motorists as they drove on Pacific Coast Highway into Laguna Beach from the 1940s through the 1960s. A statue of Mr. Larson now stands in front of the Greeter’s Corner Restaurant in his honor, and another statue is in front of the Pottery Shack. Both are on PCH in Laguna. Below is a photo of Mr. Larson attending the UCI Site Dedication ceremony on June 20, 1964. Larsen lived in a room at the Laguna Hotel, and made his living as a gardener. He died at age 84 in a Capistrano Beach nursing home in 1975.
AS-061. University Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Tryouts for the first UCI cheerleading squad (aka songleaders) occurred at Gateway Plaza in November 1965. The first UCI varsity basketball game took place on December 1, 1965, at Campus Hall. Wearing their ZOT pins, the new songleaders helped cheer the team on to a 85-71 victory over UC Riverside.
AS-061. University Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
At the second graduation ceremony on June 10, 1967, (left to right) Dean of Biological Sciences Edward A. Steinhaus (UCI’s first appointed dean), the founding Dean of Humanities Samuel C. McCulloch, and the first Chair of the Department of English and Comparative Literature Hazard Adams.
Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs Jack W. Peltason. He later served as the second UCI Chancellor from 1984-1992, and UC President from 1992-1995.
The first UCI Dean of Social Sciences James G. March.
AS-061. University Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Forty years ago, UCI’s fifth commencement ceremony took place in Campus Park, now Aldrich Park. Dr. Harrison Scott Brown, Professor of Geochemistry at the California Institute of Technology, spoke on “Technological Change and the Human Condition.” There were approximately 800 students graduating on June 13, 1970. Just a few weeks ago, the forty-fifth commencement ceremonies saw approximately 8,000 students graduate in four days of commencement ceremonies held between June 5th and 13th.
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AS-054. Anton Ercegovich Slides of the University of California, 1963-1976. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
UC Irvine’s second Chancellor, Jack Peltason, poses with Peter the Anteater.
AS-061. University Communications Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
