Page 18 - coc-40thanniversary

band “Highway 101.” On Oct. 26, 1970, during a twilight ceremony under
Meanwhile, the once-virgin hills of a mammoth green-and-white tent, College of the
Rattlesnake Gulch were being remolded by Canyons was officially dedicated. More than 700 people
dozens of clattering steel behemoths that showed up to witness the hour-long event in the center
kicked up an endless supply of dirt and dust in of the campus. Special guest speakers were comedian
their quest to create a habitable college cam- Bob Hope and U.S. Sen. George Murphy.
pus. The street address for this new college was “The pioneer spirit of the West is still here,” said
25000 Valencia Boulevard, as Rockwell The baseball field (top) was one of Murphy, whose previous career as an actor featured
Canyon Road did not yet exist. the first amenities to be built on the roles on Broadway and in some 55 movies. “Nowhere
new campus. The hills behind it are
Unlike the present-day campus, the new being graded and prepared for con- have I witnessed a modern-day demonstration of our
college had a serious parking shortage. struction. The Cougar cheer squad great pioneer spirit that surpasses the one taking place
(above) strikes a pose.
Consequently, during class hours hundreds of right here on this campus.”
cars were parked bumper to bumper along The athletic field, minus the stadium (top,) and When it was his turn to speak, Hope, the legend of standup comedy and the silver
the modular buildings (above) being erected to
both sides of Valencia Boulevard. create the temporary campus. screen, took a serious swipe at campus radicals, reflecting the university unrest typical
Improvisation was the order of the day. of the day. “I can’t understand how people can burn down college buildings,” he said.
Students could occasionally be seen hosing down the inevitable layer of dust that accu- “For fine young students to be denied an education by a lousy fringe group is the
mulated on just about everything, while instructors often abandoned the confines of the biggest crime in our history.”
prefabs to teach outdoors. Basketball coach Lee Smelser once conducted a class while He also added his lighthearted take on the event. Referring to the tent in which
perched atop the back of a truck, and English instructor Betty Lid transformed a trash everyone was assembled, Hope quipped: “I haven’t worked anything like this since
can into a speaking lectern. Ringling Bros.” After taking in a deep breath, he added: “I’m in shock. This fresh air

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