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'''Raymond College''' was an [[Undergraduate education|undergraduate]] honors college at the [[University of the Pacific (United States)|University of the Pacific]] from the years 1962 to 1977.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Brewer |first=Kara |date=1977-01-01 |title="Pioneer or Perish" : A History of the University of the Pacific During the Administration of Dr. Robert E. Burns, 1946-1971 |url=https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/pacific-pubs/3 |journal=University of the Pacific Books |pages=142, 150-151, 188}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=University of the Pacific |date=1977-09-23 |title=The Pacifican, September 23, 1977 |url=https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/pacifican/1342 |journal=All Issues - Student Newspaper, The Pacifican, Pacific Weekly |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=12}}</ref> Located in [[Stockton, California|Stockton]], it had an interdisciplinary curriculum that emphasized learning in the [[Natural science|natural sciences]], [[Social science|social sciences]], and [[humanities]], styling itself in the tradition of the [[Liberal arts education|liberal arts]]. Raymond College initially offered an accelerated three-year program, though it moved to a standard four-year program in the early 1970s. The curriculum emphasized seminar style learning, only offered a single interdisciplinary major, and students received written evaluations called term letters rather than traditional [[Grading in education|letter grades]].
== History ==
Raymond was the first of the three cluster colleges developed under University of the Pacific President [https://www.pacific.edu/about-pacific/administrative-offices/office-of-the-president/past-presidents/burns Robert Burns]. President Burns, driven the pressure of a new generation of qualified applicants, decided that the best way to serve these students was to develop cluster college: small colleges offering a unique undergraduate education. He stated that "growing larger by growing smaller" was the best way to expand the university while maintaining the high-quality personalized education that he viewed as essential to Pacific.<ref name=":0" /> He based this new model on [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]], and the [[Claremont Colleges|Claremont colleges]], noticing their success and viewing these new residential cluster colleges as a force for improved academic standards at and renewed attention for the university. Covell College, a college entirely taught in Spanish and aimed at an inter-American audience, and Callison College, a college focused on Asian studies that offered the opportunity to spend a year abroad in Asia, were the remaining two cluster colleges, launched in 1963 and 1967 respectively.
The first [[Provost (education)|Provost]] of Raymond College was Provost Warren Bryan Martin.<ref name=":0" /> Provost Martin brought the perspective that President Burns had most wanted for the school, emphasizing the importance of the liberal arts and the preparation of the whole student for a fulfilling, engaged life.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Pacific Alumni Association |date=1962-01-01 |title=Pacific Review January 1962 (Bulletin of the University of the Pacific) |url=https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/pacific-review/179 |journal=Pacific Magazine and Pacific Review |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=16}}</ref> The first class of students arrived in the fall of 1962.<ref name=":1" />
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* Social science classes in economics, history, psychology, and sociology.
There were also two comprehensive examinations: the first examination took place at the end of the first year of study and the final examination took place at the end of the final year of study.<ref name=":1" /> The curricular demands were intense, with heavy reading and writing loads; dropout rates during these years of Raymond college were very high. One student estimated a third of students dropped out before completing their degree.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Catanich |first=Steve |date=2023-08-30 |title=Steve Catanich Oral History Interview |url=https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/raymond-college/146 |journal=Raymond College}}</ref>
Provost Martin took a leave of absence before leaving Raymond entirely during the 1965-66 academic year. A new provost, Berndt Kolker, was selected to lead the college
President Burns's death in 1971 rocked the University of the Pacific, and excitement about the cluster colleges fell under the subsequent president, President McCaffrey. During a time of economic malaise in the United States, students were looking to college to provide a sense of security and a path into middle class professions, and the cluster college's 60s idealism had reduced appeal to many students.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Gilbertson |first=Philip |date=2016-07-15 |title=Pacific on the Rise: The Story of California's First University |url=https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/pacific-pubs/1 |journal=University of the Pacific Books}}</ref> Raymond College responded by shifting to a two-semester calendar like the College of the Pacific and ending the science requirement, as well as providing more career preparation opportunities.<ref name=":2" />
Raymond College continued to struggle throughout the 70s, even going so far as to provide traditional grades for those students who wanted them.<ref name=":2" /> But declining enrollments continued to plague the school, and it merged with Callison in 1977 to form Raymond-Callison or Ray-Cal. This persisted for two years before Raymond Callison itself was shut down in 1979 and folded into the College of the Pacific, the liberal arts school at Pacific.
Raymond College has a
== Unique Features ==
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Raymond College held weekly High Table sessions, which were inspired by the Oxford-Cambridge model that President Burns had worked to incorporate.<ref name=":0" /> Each High Table would include a formal dinner and a presentation from that week's speaker, followed by discussion in the Raymond Common Room (a central gathering space.) Some speakers would be controversial, and included people from such diverse backgrounds as Angela Davis, John Rousselot of the John Birch Society, and United Nations officials.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raymond College |date=1964-08-01 |title=Raymond High Table Schedule 1964-65 |url=https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/raymond-college/45 |journal=Raymond College}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raymond College |date=1963-08-01 |title=Raymond High Table Schedule 1963-64 |url=https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/raymond-college/44 |journal=Raymond College}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=de Alcuaz |first=Sandra |last2=Spaccarelli |first2=Lorenzo |date=2023-04-27 |title=Sandra De Alcuaz Oral History Interview |url=https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/raymond-college/85 |journal=Raymond College}}</ref>
Classes were not graded through traditional letter grades. Rather, students received term letters in which their professor described how well they did in the class and provided individualized feedback. Students received one of three grade levels during the early years; these were unsatisfactory (a failing grade), satisfactory, and superior. This changed in the mid 1960s to just two levels: unsatisfactory and satisfactory. The remainder of the term letter would provide context for the grade and give the student feedback for how they could improve.
Raymond, as compared to a traditional collegiate structure, never had majors or academic departments. While there would be multiple professors who taught in a certain discipline, they would not be organized into traditional departments. Students would, in the first years, take classes in every discipline in the prescribed curriculum, or, in later years, take whatever classes interested them. Regardless, they would graduate with an interdisciplinary liberal arts major.
== Controversies ==
Raymond had a number of internal controversies that reflected both the structure of the college as well as the tenor of the times.
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