Prologue : A sprawling Camp Matthews in 1966 . ( Inset left ) Chancellor Herbert York receives a key to Camp Matthews from Major General Bruno Hochmuth at the land transfer ceremony in 1964 . ( Inset right ) UC San Diego students gather outside Quonset hut classrooms in 1979 . Photos : Special Collections & Archives , UC San Diego
The new gateway to campus takes shape .
BY MALINDA DANZIGER ' 00 AND CATHERINE CARDNO ' 95
SE
T his is the former U . S . Marine Corps base Camp Matthews . Over a million recruits were trained here starting in 1917 . After 50 years , the base was decommissioned and the land was transferred to the University of California — a home for its newest campus , UC San Diego .
From the start , UC San Diego students have lived among the relics of Camp Matthews : Curved Quonset huts and one-story wooden buildings , previously used as barracks or mess halls , were repurposed as lecture rooms , artist workshops and even the University Bookstore .
Yet while the campus has experienced marked growth and is recognized for its global contribution to cutting-edge research , these structures have remained — a visual reminder of our past , of what came before .
And now we look toward the future .
UC SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE 39