100 YEARS AGO (1897)
Jane Stanford deeded to the University her Nob Hill mansion in San Francisco but retained use of it in her lifetime. She suggested that eventually it be made into a University extension center or a library for students and the San Francisco community. (It was destroyed in the fire that followed the 1906 earthquake. Trustees later sold the land, now the site of the Stanford Court Hotel.)
75 YEARS AGO (1922)
The University's first basketball pavilion, located across from Encina Hall, opened with a record crowd entertained by the Stanford Band and Stanford Glee Club. The next evening, 2,500 fans celebrated as the varsity team defeated the College of the Pacific. The pavilion, with a springy floor specially constructed for player comfort and safety, was built with funds from voluntary student assessments and other sources.
To recognize extraordinary scholarship, the Academic Council declared that the top 5 percent of undergraduates would graduate "with great distinction," while the next 10 percent would have "with distinction" noted on their diplomas.
Dean of Women Mary Yost announced that henceforth freshmen women would not be allowed to go motoring unchaperoned after dark. Also, no female students, unless accompanied by a parent or guardian, would be allowed to attend off-campus public dances, except in Palo Alto.
50 YEARS AGO (1947)
Noted comedian Doodles Weaver, '36, guest-starred on the January 6 premier broadcast of KSU, the new student-operated radio station that was later to become KZSU. The station's orchestra provided music, and a full house enjoyed the comedy revue broadcast from Memorial Auditorium. The station's signal, carried by direct lines strung through University steam tunnels during Christmas break, reached Encina, Roble, Lagunita, Branner and Stanford Village.
Toyon Hall residents protested a room search by University authorities during Christmas break that turned up guns and liquor. They said it was contrary to the laws of California, the constitution of the associated students and the Fundamental Standard. Defending his action, campus police chief, Gordon Davis, said rooms had been randomly checked for at least 35 years.
25 YEARS AGO (1972)
Stanford won a dramatic Rose Bowl game on New Year's Day, defeating the Michigan Wolverines 13-12. With Stanford behind 12-10 on its own 22-yard line, and 1:48 left in the game, quarterback Don Bunce completed five straight passes and Stanford made two short runs, landing on Michigan's 31. With 12 seconds left, Rod Garcia booted a field goal that carried Stanford to victory.
In January, Associate Professor of English H. Bruce Franklin became the first tenured faculty member ever dismissed from the University. After lengthy hearings and deliberations, the faculty advisory board, in a 5-2 vote, recommended dismissal, saying the avowed Maoist a year earlier had incited occupation of the Computation Center, urged defiance of a police order to disperse and encouraged violent action at a nighttime rally. President Richard W. Lyman endorsed the recommendation, and the board of trustees concurred in a 20-2 vote.
In March, President Lyman and the student senate endorsed a petition from American Indian students and staff asking the University to stop using the Indian as Stanford's mascot and team name. Indian students said the symbol demeaned native Americans.
Catherine Peck, '35, writes this column on behalf of the Stanford Historical Society.
