OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE

'Occidental College' is a small private coeducational liberal arts college located in Los Angeles, California. Occidental is nationally recognized for its rigorous academic programs, small size, diverse student body, and its location within the city of Los Angeles.^[1] Since the 1960s, Occidental has been recognized as a national leader in promoting diversity and social awareness.^[2]
Occidental is also an athletic powerhouse, producing many NCAA Division III national championship teams and Olympic athletes. Occidental College’s Latin name literally translates to “Of the West.”

Contents

History

The Birth of Occidental College

On to Eagle Rock

A Little Giant

Academics, Resources, and Rankings

Core Program

Student Research

International Programs

Reputation

Campus

Athletics

Film and Television at Occidental

Occidental in Fiction

Notable Faculty

Notable Oxy Alumni

Academic Majors

References

External links

History

The Birth of Occidental College

Occidental College (commonly referred to as Oxy) was founded on April 20, 1887, by a group of Presbyterian clergy and laymen. The college’s first term began a year later with 27 men and 13 women students, and tuition of $50 a year. Initially located in Boyle Heights, the college moved to a new campus in Los Angeles’ Highland Park neighborhood in 1898. Despite a strong Presbyterian presence on its campus, Occidental cut ties to the church in 1910. In 1912 the school began construction of a new campus located in Los Angeles’ Eagle Rock neighborhood. The Eagle Rock campus was to be designed by noted California Architect Myron Hunt. That same year, Occidental President John Willis Baer announced the trustees’ decision to convert Oxy into an all-men’s institution. However, students protested, and the idea was abandoned.

On to Eagle Rock

Two weeks after Booker T. Washington came to visit Occidental, on March 27, 1914 — the school’s 25th anniversary, Swan, Fowler, and Johnson halls were dedicated at its new Eagle Rock campus. The Eagle Rock campus covers over 120 acres (0.5 km), much of which is undeveloped land on a hill known as “Mt. Fiji.” In April 1917, the college formed an Army Corps to aid the war effort. The college opened its Hillside Theatre in 1925, and a student union in 1928. During World War II, many students left Occidental to fight the war. In July 1943, 53 students established a Navy V-12 unit on campus and left for active duty.

A Little Giant

In 1962, Time Magazine described Occidental as a little giant in a story about the college’s rise to national prominence. Indeed, this moniker was characteristic of the college’s growth.
During the late 1960’s, a strong anti-war sentiment made its presence felt at Occidental. The students’ activism was characteristic of a rise of liberalism across campus. In 1969, the school opened its first to co-ed dormitories, and two more followed a year later. On May 6, 1970, the faculty voted to suspend classes in the wake of the Kent State shootings and America’s invasion of Cambodia. Subsequently, Oxy students wrote 7,000 letters to Washington D.C., protesting U.S. involvement in the war in Southeast Asia.
In 1979, Occidental installed Water Forms II, a kinetic fountain designed by professor George Baker. The fountain is a campus landmark and was featured prominently in the 1984 film . During the 1984 Olympic Games, some track events were held at Occidental’s Patterson Field. By 1986, for the first time since World War II, women students outnumbered men. Today, the college is approximately 60 percent female and 40 percent male; roughly equivalent to the national average. On July 1, 2006, Susan Prager was named Occidental’s first female president.^[3]

Academics, Resources, and Rankings

Core Program

Divided in three parts, the Core Program was designed by the faculty of Occidental to unify and enhance the liberal arts education offered by the school. The Core Program requires students to achieve the following: (1) complete a first-year seminar and colloquia; (2) complete a set number of courses in geographical areas, languages, and the arts; and, (3) submit a senior-year comprehensive examination within the student’s chosen field.
First-year seminars and colloquia (12 course hours in total) are the centerpiece of the Core Program. Students are given a variety of class choices to fulfill the seminar and colloquia requirement, and to satisfy the first-year writing requirement. While the classes range in topic, each is based on a curriculum of cultural studies. The classes are designed to expose students to the rigor of college academics and to the four principles of the college mission—Excellence, Equity, Community, and Service.
The Core Program’s emphasis on global literacy requires students to take a minimum of three courses that touch on at least three of the following geographical areas: Africa and the Middle East; Asia and the Pacific; Europe; Latin America; the United States; and Intercultural. Students are also require to demonstrate proficiency in writing and in a foreign language and take courses in the fine arts and in the sciences, mathematics, or other courses that address formal methods of reasoning.
The final portion of the Core Program requires students to pass a senior comprehensive examination in their chosen field. Comprehensive examinations may include seminars, creative projects, fieldwork, oral exams, theses, or field research projects.

Student Research

Occidental provides its students unique opportunities to research in their chosen field. Many students collaborate on research with their professors in the lab, at other local institutions, including the City of Hope National Cancer Research Center, and overseas. Research fellowships are provided to students in all fields of study. Over the past five years, more than 280 students received funding to undertake joint research with faculty—research that often results in co-authored publication in peer-reviewed journals. ^[4]

International Programs

Many Occidental students participate in off-campus programs in the United States and in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Oceania. Annually, nearly one third of the junior class participates.
Occidental offers a unique Occidental-at-the-United Nations Program in New York. When selected, students intern in the United Nations Secretariat or with a related institution, such as the US State Department or an international NGO. Some students also study in Washington, D.C. through American University.
Occidental is among a handful of American colleges that participates in the Richter Summer Research Program, in which students compete for a chance to pursue independent research or creative work anywhere in the world. Exchange students also are welcomed to Occidental. The school maintains exchange agreements with the University of Bristol, Cambridge University, University of East Anglia, University of Sussex, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Reputation

In U.S. News and World Report's ^[5]
of American liberal arts colleges, Occidental is 36th. Throughout the years, many of Occidental’s students and faculty have been honored with prestigious awards.^[6]
The 2007 Princeton Review describes Occidental as having a “rising star quality”. Additionally, Occidental’s professors have been called “top quality.” ^[7] Occidental is a “highly selective” college^[7] and “is committed to recruiting top students regardless of their financial background.” ^[7] The ''College Prowler'' says that people “look at Occidental degrees very highly,” but that Occidental often does not receive the attention it deserves. ^[7]

Campus

Architect Myron Hunt, who also designed the Rose Bowl Stadium, designed Oxy's original buildings in a Mediterranean style, with covered walkways and tile roofs. Currently, there are 11 on-campus residence halls with one more hall under construction. The three original buildings of the 1914 campus still stand today, although seismic concerns have limited them to classrooms and academic offices. Most of the rest of the buildings match the original style with a few exceptions. The Arthur G. Coons Administration Building has been dubbed "the Chrysler Showroom" by campus wags — a reference to its boxy glass lobby. As the seat of power, Coons has also been compared to Foucault's "panopticon." The most notable aberration, however, is Stearns Hall, which has been described as "Barbie meets Escher" for its angular, post-modern style and its shrunken scale (it is supposedly built at 90% of scale, an idea supported by the feeling of claustrophobia often encountered there). Occidental's newest building, the Hameetman Science Center, was built in 2003 to provide new research facilities for Occidental's geology and physics departments. A new residence hall (name is still unknown), scheduled to open in the spring of 2008, is under construction.^[11]

Athletics

Occidental has a long and proud history of intercollegiate athletics. The college has produced dozens of Olympians and hundreds of All Americans. Occidental is a member of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and NCAA Division III and features 19 varsity sports teams. Additionally, the school has a thriving program of club sports and intramural competition. Approximately 25 per cent of the student body participates in a varsity sports program ^[12].
During the 2006 – 2007 athletic season, the Tiger’s cross country, football and basketball teams were SCIAC champions. The school’s Blackshirts Rugby team was also league champion for the first time in five years. Occidental looks forward to future athletic success and hopes to further cement its legacy as a pioneer in intercollegiate athletics ^[12].

Film and Television at Occidental

Occidental’s beautiful campus, unique architecture, and proximity to Hollywood have made it a desired location for a number of film and television shots.^[14] Credits include:

★ '' The Cup of Fury '' (1920)

★ '' Horse Feathers '' (1932) with the Marx Brothers

★ '' Pigskin Parade '' (1936) with Judy Garland and Betty Grable

★ '' Second Chorus '' (1941) with Fred Astair

★ '' That Hagen Girl '' (1920) with Shirley Temple and Ronald Reagan

★ '' Goodbye, My Fancy '' (1951) with Joan Crawford and Robert Young

★ '' Pat and Mike '' (1952) with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy

★ '' Tall Story '' (1960) with Jane Fonda and Anthony Perkins

★ '' Take Her, She’s Mine '' (1963) with Jimmy Stewart

★ '' The Impossible Years '' (1968) with David Niven

★ '' The One and Only '' (1978) with Henry Winkler

★ '' '' (1984) featuring the Gilman Fountain as part of the Palace of Vulcan

★ '' Real Genius '' (1985) with Val Kilmer

★ '' Clueless '' (1995) with Alicia Silverstone

★ '' Kicking and Screaming '' (1995) with Josh Hamilton

★ '' Don't Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood '' (1996) with the Wayans Brothers

★ '' Boys and Girls '' (2000) with Freddie Prinze Jr.

★ '' Jurassic Park III '' (2001) with Sam Neill

★ '' Orange County '' (2002) with Colin Hanks and Jack Black

★ '' The Holiday '' (2006) with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Jack Black
TV credits include '' Dragnet '' and '' The West Wing '' (2002), '' Beverly Hills 90210 '' (1993-94) and a host of other shows and made-for-TV movies, including '' Lou Grant '', '' Remington Steele '', and '' Cannon ''.

Occidental in Fiction

★ Aldous Huxley was close friends with college president Remsen Bird during Huxley's time living in Southern California. He spent much time at the college during this period and the college is portrayed under the name of Tarzana College in his 1939 satircal novel After Many a Summer. Huxley also incorporated Bird into the novel.

★ Gary Shteyngart's novel, ''Absurdistan'', is partly set at the apocryphal "Accidental College," which is clearly a rip on Occidental's name, though its Midwestern setting is more akin to Shteyngart's alma mater, Oberlin.

Notable Faculty

Several Occidental professors have received awards in recent years and some have held prominent positions in government and the private sector:

★ Larry Caldwell, Professor of Politics, has served in the Office of Soviet Analysis at the CIA, as Director of European Studies at the National War College in Washington D.C., and as Research Associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London

★ Martha Ronk, Price Professor of English Literature, is a 2005 PEN American Center Literary Award winner in poetry.

★ Derek Shearer, Stuart Chevalier Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs, was U.S. Ambassador to Finland from 1994 to 1997 and was formerly an aide to Bill Clinton.

★ Bob Sipchen, Adjunct Assistant Professor of English Writing, teaches journalism classes at Oxy. He is currently an editor at the Los Angeles Times, as well as a novelist. In 2002, he and colleague Alex Raksin were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing.

★ John Hirsch, Adjunct Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs, was the former U. S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone and Vice President of the International Peace Academy.

★ Robby Moore, Elbridge Amos Stuart Professor of Economics, was the originating editor of the Teaching Tools Section of ''Economic Inquiry'' and has taught Bill Gates.

Notable Oxy Alumni

★ Ben Affleck (Actor; did not graduate)

★ Kathy Augustine (U.S. politician from Nevada)

★ Howard Ahmanson, Jr (Influential philanthropist for fundamentalist Christian causes)

★ Alphonso Bell (Politician)

★ Ron Botchan (Five-time Super Bowl National Football League official from 1980 to 2002)

★ Olin Browne (PGA Tour Member)

★ Steve Coll (Former Washington Post Managing Editor, Pulitzer Prize winner)

★ Glenn Corbett (Television Actor)

★ W. Don Cornwell (CEO of Granite Broadcasting)

★ Brent Dalrymple (Prominent Geologist and National Medal of Science Winner)

★ Sharon Delmendo (Professor of English and Author)

★ Mark Dery (Author and cultural critic)

★ Mesh Flinders (Filmmaker, creator of lonelygirl15)

★ Will Friedle (Actor)

★ Eddie Galan (Songwriter, Music Producer, Billboard Music Award Winner, American Music Award Nominee, 4 Time Billboard #1)

★ Terry Gilliam (Actor and director)

★ Joanna Gleason (Actor)

★ Robinson Jeffers (Poet)

★ U. Alexis Johnson (U.S. Diplomat)

★ Howard Judd (Medical researcher)

★ Jack Kemp (Athlete and politician)

★ Terry Kitchen (Musician)

★ Jim Krusoe (Author)

★ Loren Lester (Actor)

★ Linda A. Malcor (Author)

★ Pete McCloskey (Politician)

★ Jim Mora, Sr. (Football coach)

★ Patt Morrison (NPR radio personality and columnist for the Los Angeles Times)

★ Barack Obama (U.S. Senator; transferred to Columbia University after sophomore year) ^[15]

★ Marcel Ophüls (Filmmaker; did not graduate)

★ Sam Rubin (KTLA Entertainment Reporter and Anchor)

★ Jake Shears (Lead Singer of Scissor Sisters)

★ Roger Guenveur Smith (Actor)

★ Jim Tunney (American football official) (NFL Official from 1960 - 1991)

★ Joel Tucker (Founder of JT's Stockroom)

★ Tui St. George Tucker, composer

★ Carrie Vaughn, writer

★ Fred Lawrence Whipple (Astronomer)

★ Luke Wilson (Actor)

Academic Majors

'Arts & Humanities' ★ Art History and the Visual Arts ★ Critical Theory and Social Justice ★ Film and Media Studies ★ English and Comparative Literary Studies ★ French Literary Studies ★ Group Language ★ Music ★ Philosophy ★ Religious Studies ★ Spanish Literary Studies ★ Theater 'Social Sciences' ★ Economics ★ History ★ Politics ★ Sociology 'Natural Sciences' ★ Biology ★ Chemistry ★ Geology ★ Mathematics ★ Physics ★ Psychology

'Interdepartmental Majors' ★ American Studies ★ Asian Studies ★ Biochemistry ★ Cognitive Science ★ Diplomacy and World Affairs ★ Geophysics ★ Kinesiology ★ Psychobiology ★ Urban and Environmental Policy ★ Women's Studies/Gender Studies 'Academic Minors' ★ Chinese Language and Literature ★ Classical Studies ★ Education ★ German Studies ★ Japanese Language and Literature ★ Latin American Studies ★ Linguistics ★ Russian Studies

References

1. Occidental College Website
2. Reviews of Occidental College
3. A Brief History of Occidental College
4. Occidental College Website
5. U.S, News and World Report
6. Occidental College Academic Achievements
7. Reviews of Occidetal College
8. Reviews of Occidetal College
9. Reviews of Occidetal College
10. Reviews of Occidetal College
11. Occidental College Facilities
12. Occidental College Athletics
13. Occidental College Athletics
14. Occidental College as a Movie Location
15. Obama's political activism started in college Maurice Possley

External links

★ Occidental College -- official website

★ KOXY -- student-run radio station

★ Occidental Weekly Newspaper