I guess Brown University is already taken . . . https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/story/2019-05-16/pat-brown-a-good-pick-for-new-colleges-name-utak
I read the article, but I am confused. The article says "The University of California, San Diego" later mention San Diego State College, now University. If the CalState doing this, it is perfectly fine. But If UC System has a new Pat Brown University, it sounds out of place as their name conventions starts with The University of California at XXXX. The most recently one was The University of California at Merced.
This is a proposed name for a "residential college" within UCSD. It's something like a House within Harvard College or, well, Hogwarts. For example, Thurgood Marshall College "directs growth as a scholar and citizen through general education courses designed to raise awareness and understanding of the diversity of cultures in contemporary American society." Sixth College, a temporary name that lasted but they're talking in the above about changing, "concentrates its general education requirements on developing ethical integrity, creativity, self-understanding, critical reasoning, and appreciation of the powers and implications of science and technology." UC San Diego College System
Jonathan is correct - UCSD does not use college in the traditional sense. Likewise, Ted threw this conversation off by suggesting that the new college could eventually turn into Pat Brown University. A college is, in this case, already part of a university, and will never become a university on its own. The correct URL for the text cited by Jonathan: http://provost.ucsd.edu/colleges/?_ga=2.222612507.1260010712.1558114297-275826635.1558114297 There is no issue for discussion here. The original text cited by Kizmet is a letter to the editor, all of four or five short sentences in length. It's like a comment following a Yahoo news story - written by a numbnut and not significant at all, although the letter writer might have an orgasm if he were to see his Pat Brown idea discussed here in our, um, distinguished forum.
Or alternatively, it does. It has a "college" system vaguely modeled on that of Oxford and Cambridge. I guess that the original idea was that undergraduates could belong to a smaller community within a larger and more impersonal university, and that each college could cultivate its own identity and emphases a bit. UC Santa Cruz has a similar system. Kizmet implied that in her OP. (She was referring to Brown University in RI, I assume.) Whether "Pat Brown College" would be a good name for the college. I'm a Californian and I don't really have any big objection. Pat Brown was effective, likeable and rather unobjectionable.
So, this is a college within the University of California at San Diego, not another academic institution within the University of California system?
Most certainly. I know I have to actively try not to orgasm whenever I come here. To the topic at hand, I think a strong case could be made for any number of naming opportunities based on merit. I think the most likely outcome for the naming of these two colleges, however, is that they will be named after the philanthropist who writes the biggest check to endow them. When public universities could rely, primarily, on their state appropriations for survival then there was a certain freedom to name things after politicians or historical figures or everyone's favorite lovable janitor. These days, less money from the state comes in and private philanthropy has to pick up the slack. I'd say we are more likely to see Jeff Bezos College before we see a Pat Brown College. Unless, of course, Gov. Brown's family is exceedingly wealthy and wishes to honor him by making a sizable gift to UCSD for the privilege, that is. As an aside, given that there are two Cornells and two Columbias, I don't see what harm a second Brown might cause.
Pat Brown was Governor of California in 1960, when UC San Diego was created out of the already existing Scripps Institute of Oceanography (which still exists as part of UCSD). I don't know how much input Brown had personally in the creation of UCSD, but his regime was a time of dramatic expansion for the UC system in general, when something like half of its campuses suddenly appeared and he doubtless had something to do with that.
