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Berkeley: Student Government
During the University's early years, students
organized their extracurricular program by tacit permission of the
faculty, then charged with student government. The class of 1874
was the first to organize formally; others followed suit.
ASUC Is Born
Admission of a non-student to the football
team in 1887 motivated creation by the students of an over-all organization
to authorize and control student groups using the University's name.
The constitution of the Associated Students of the Colleges of Letters
and Sciences of the University of California was approved on March
16, 1887, and two years later the name was shortened to the present
ASUC.
College spirit during this early period was low,
but conditions changed quickly with the establishment of Stanford
and the inauguration of the Big Game in 1892. With the increased
sense of community, there was demand for more centralized and effective
management of student affairs. In October, 1900, the new ASUC constitution
restricted active membership to dues-paying undergraduates, provided
for a salaried graduate manager, and empowered the executive committee
to control all matters affecting the student body.
But self-government, as then understood on the
campus, meant not so much activities management as self-discipline,
individual and collective. It was this self-government that Benjamin
Ide Wheeler bestowed upon the Berkeley students. The President regularly
consulted senior class leaders on campus problems. To this end,
the Order of the Golden Bear was established in April, 1900. In
1905 a student committee effectively took over disciplinary functions
from the faculty. In 1913 the Academic Senate formally recognized
the Honor Spirit and advised faculty members to withdraw from the
examination room. On April 26, 1921, the Senate formally withdrew
from the government and discipline of students.
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ASUC Grows
Meanwhile, the ASUC's scope of activity expanded
rapidly. Fences were built around the athletic fields and collection
of admission fees insured. Independent student enterprises and societies
requested and received ASUC sponsorship. The Daily Californian,
founded in 1895, was assumed by the ASUC in January, 1909. The campus
store, operated by a "Co-operative Society" since 1883, was purchased
in 1913. The Pelican and Occident were taken over
from the English Club and the Blue and Gold from the junior
class in 1925.
By the mid-1920s, the ASUC had become not only
the government of a large community of 9,000 undergraduate students
(80-90 per cent of whom annually purchased ASUC membership cards),
but a huge and ramified enterprise, financing and extending into
every field of extra-curricular activity. Each major field was managed
by a student council with a paid director. The ASUC executive committee
was composed of representatives of these councils, together with
officers elected by the general student body and a faculty and an
alumni representative.
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The University Assumes Some ASUC Functions
However, the Office of Dean of Men, created
in 1923, gradually assumed increased direct authority over areas
customarily referred to student agencies. In 1943, all disciplinary
functions were removed from the student committees and assigned
to a new faculty-administrative committee on student conduct. In
music, dramatics, and debating, programs initiated and operated
by the students came under increasing faculty control, even when
remaining nominally under the ASUC auspices.
The ASUC began to come under organized and sustained
attack by student dissidents. In 1931, the Social Problems Club
distributed literature condemning the ASUC as a "refined racket.
. .controlled by the alumni and faculty." Attempts were made to
assume leadership of the student body through annual on-campus "peace
strikes." Although in each instance unsuccessful, these efforts
were continued from 1934 until American entry into World War II.
As the great depression of the 1930s deepened,
student concern turned more and more from campus to outside problems
and the ASUC executive committee was modified accordingly. By 1940,
the committee was taking actions to prevent American entry into
war, to boycott strikebound industries, to end racial discrimination,
and to establish a "Hyde Park" in Faculty Glade. Recognizing the
committee's changed role, a constitutional amendment replaced the
representatives from the activities councils with representatives
elected at-large.
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Post World War II
World War II's interruption of campus life
changed student government fundamentally and permanently. Class
spirit largely disappeared, extra-curricular achievement brought
less honor, appeals to Cal spirit aroused smaller response, and
ASUC membership declined. In 1955, in order to provide a more adequate
student social and recreational center the Regents agreed to replace
Stephens Union and Eshleman Hall as student buildings to be financed
in part by establishing compulsory student body fees. The Memorial
Union was completed in 1961, a new Eshleman Hall in 1965, and construction
of a theater-auditorium was begun in 1965.
The student government underwent many changes
after 1958. The executive committee was replaced in 1962 with a
senate which, as the ASUC legislative branch, could devote more
attention to policy matters, while a newly created cabinet of various
board chairmen would, as the executive branch, coordinate the various
activity boards and class councils.
The custom that each candidate competed individually
for ASUC office was broken in 1958, when a group of students formed
SLATE, a campus party which in elections thereafter presented candidates
pledged to its program.
Always permitted to join the ASUC and to enjoy
its ticket and certain other privileges, graduate students were
first allowed to vote to be represented on the executive committee
1949. In 1955, they were made ASUC members, but in 1959, excluded
from further membership and participation.
Interpretation of student government in terms
of student rights and independence from University control, rather
than in terms of responsible exercise of delegated powers, drew
increasing student response, which culminated in the Free Speech
Movement
of 1964.
In February, 1966, a convention of elected undergraduate
and graduate delegates assembled to draft a new constitution for
the student body; they deliberated such fundamental questions as
the source of authority and role of student government, its title
to and control of on-campus student buildings, and the justification
for continuing any overall student organizations.
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Student Body Presidents
| Walter J. Barnett |
1886-87 |
| James P. Booth |
1887-88 |
| John A. Sands |
1888-89 |
| E. Coke Hill |
1889-90 |
| Fred A. Julliard |
1890-91 |
| DeWinter |
1891-92 |
| Edwin Mays |
1892-93 |
| Russ J. Avery |
1893-94 |
| Bryan Bradley |
1894-95 |
| William N. Friend |
1895-96 |
| J. A. Elston |
1896-97 |
| Philip R. Thayer |
1897-98 |
| Charles E. Thomas |
1898-99 |
| F. G. Dorety |
1899-1900 |
| Ralph T. Fisher |
1900-01 |
| John M. Eshelman |
1901-02 |
| Samuel B. Wright |
1902-03 |
| Max Thelen |
1903-04 |
| W. H. Dehm |
1904-05 |
| Prentiss N. Gray |
1905-06 |
| R. P. Merritt |
1906-07 |
| James M. Burke |
1907-08 |
| Malcolm Goodard |
1908-09 |
| J. C. Dean |
1909-10 |
| George A. Haines |
1910-11 |
| N. B. Drury |
1911-12 |
| Clare M. Torrey |
1912-13 |
| M. P. Griffith |
1913-14 |
| Victor Doyle |
1914-15 |
| C. E. Street |
1915-16 |
| L. W. Stewart |
1916-17 |
| Jack Reith |
1917-18 |
| Frank F. Hargear |
1918-19 |
| L. W. Irving |
1919-20 |
| John W. Cline |
1920-21 |
| L. W. Tenney |
1921-22 |
| Earl G. Steel |
1922-23 |
| W. W. Monahan |
1923-24 |
| Adam C. Beyer |
1924-25 |
| Brenton Metzler |
1925-26 |
| Robert E. McCarthy |
1926-27 |
| Wright C. Morton |
1927-28 |
| Chester Zinn |
1928-29 |
| John A. Reynolds |
1929-30 |
| Stern L. Altshuler |
1930-31 |
| Fred S. Stripp |
1931-32 |
| Powell H. Rader |
1932-33 |
| Wakefield Taylor |
1933-34 |
| Alden W. Smith |
1934-35 |
| Arthur Harris |
1935-36 |
| Leonard W. Charvet |
1936-37 |
| Stanley E. MacCaffrey |
1937-38 |
| Alan Lindsay |
1938-39 |
| James P. Keene |
1939-40 |
| John D. McPherson |
1940-41 |
| Ralph T. Fisher, Jr. |
1941-42 |
| Howard C. Holmes |
1942-43 |
| Joseph Mixer |
(Summer) |
| Natalie J. Burdick |
(Fall) |
| Phyliss Lindley |
(Spring) 1943-44 |
| Jean Elliott |
(Summer) |
| Richard M. Bond |
(Fall) |
| Garrett Demaret |
(Spring) 1944-45 |
| George C. Briggs |
(Fall) |
| Dick Rowson |
(Spring) 1945-46 |
| Ed Welch |
1946-47 |
| Don Lang |
1947-48 |
| Jack Andrew |
1948-49 |
| Danny Coelho |
1949-50 |
| Pete Goldschmidt |
1950-51 |
| Dick Clarke |
1951-52 |
| Dick Holler |
1952-53 |
| Ralph Vetterlein |
1953-54 |
| Dick Marston |
1954-55 |
| Bob Hamilton |
1955-56 |
| Jim Kidder |
1956-57 |
| Roger Samuelson |
1957-58 |
| Bill Stricklin |
1958-59 |
| Dave Armor |
1959-60 |
| George Link |
1960-61 |
| Brian Van Camp |
1961-62 |
| Ed Germain |
1962-63 |
| Mel Levine |
1963-64 |
| Charlie Powell |
1964-65 |
| Jerry Goldstein |
1965-66 |
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