Long before libraries and Sun Gods , Scripps Pier ( circa 1931 ) could be considered UC San Diego ’ s first signature landmark . Scripps Institution of Oceanography was the progenitor of our expeditionary spirit , from work in the lab ( left , circa 1933 ) to the above 1939 Gulf of California Expedition that forever changed the scientific view of our seafloor . Roger Revelle ( second from left aboard the E . W . Scripps ) is now the namesake of one of Scripps ’ four active research vessels , including the latest , R / V Sally Ride .
But wait !
Even our “ beginning ” is a bit nontraditional . Before there was UC San Diego , there was Scripps Institution of Oceanography . With beginnings just as humble , Scripps began in an early 1900s Coronado boathouse and then became a “ little green lab ” at La Jolla Shores before making our campus coastline the global destination for environmental understanding . Scripps was where our exploratory spirit was born , where the legends of the time like Charles Keeling first detailed the effects of climate change , and where living legends like Walter Munk became the first proto-alumni of UC San Diego .
Now over a century strong , Scripps has evolved from wooden masts and canvas sails to a fleet of four state-of-the-art ships , like our latest R / V Sally Ride . Though based on our beach , our fleet and researchers span the world at any moment , living up to the legacy that keeps us the leader in understanding our oceans , Earth and atmosphere , and the authority on strategizing our future relationship with our world — how we will respond , adapt and thrive on our planet .
Your Tradition , Your Way
As a young university , we create our own traditions — and even those are a bit nontraditional . For instance , our habit of dropping gourds off buildings . The brainy origins : when a professor ’ s exam asked the terminal velocity of a watermelon dropped from seven stories up , our first undergraduate class of 1965 got hands-on with the answer . A court of watermelon queens have continued this tradition each June , and in 1974 , students in Muir College created the annual Halloween pumpkin drop . ( Less science , more candy .)
28 TRITON | SPRING 2017