UC San Diego. Thurgood Marshall College Office of the Provost Records, 1965-2018 (RSS 1130)

The Provost is Thurgood Marshall College's chief academic and administrative officer. Reporting directly to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Provost works closely with, and partially supervises, the College Deans. The Provost's Office is responsible for freshman orientation, academic counseling, graduation, the designation of college honors, and dismissals. The Provost also holds a tenured faculty appointment in a campus academic department.

UC San Diego began enrolling undergraduate students in 1964. Shortly thereafter, planning for the campus' third college began. The College III Preliminary Planning Committee released a plan for an interdisciplinary college with a liberal arts focus on the study of history and theory in November 1965. It would be named, at least temporarily, Third College.

The subsequent planning for Third College, at times difficult and politically controversial, evolved with the input of many key players. Two student groups, the Mexican American Youth Association (MAYA, later known as the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, or MEChA), and the Black Student Council (BSC), were approached by Provisional Provost Armin Rappaport, who asked them for insights on the possible form of the curriculum's ethnic component. MAYA and BSC students joined together as the Lumumba-Zapata Coalition, and pushed for a college that was more than just a traditional college with an ethnic element. Supported by many faculty members, including Carlos Blanco (the faculty advisor to MAYA), William Frazer, Herbert Marcuse, and Joseph Watson (the faculty advisor to the BSC), the Coalition submitted their academic, administrative, and community-based demands to the Academic Senate in May 1969. A radical plan, it faced some significant opposition, and tensions grew as planning progress slowed. Several weeks after the plan was first introduced in the Senate, faculty member Sylvio Varon wrote a resolution that laid out a concrete plan for achieving the Third College that the Lumumba-Zapata Coalition envisioned.

From 1968-1970, the discussions were largely centered around three important issues. First, the representation of minority groups was a major priority. This included enrolled students, faculty, and staff, and also extended to the organizations that would be selected for the construction and financing of the college. A second priority was that students be involved in College planning and governance. This idea of student involvement in governance was a major departure from the administrative structures of the existing First and Second Colleges. Thirdly, there was the discussion of Third College's curriculum. The curricular focus was to be contemporary social problems, including economics, health, communications, urban and rural development, language arts, and cultural studies.

At the Opening Ceremonies in September 1970, 169 students were welcomed into Third College. Recruitment of minority students was largely conducted by students and faculty. The College's governance included student representation. The departments included Asian and Pacific Islander Studies, Communication Arts, Health Science, Third World Studies, and Urban and Rural Development. Three additional departments were still in planning stages: Environmental Design and Engineering, Literature Sciences, and Pre-Law.

The college was dedicated as Thurgood Marshall College in October 1993. Thurgood Marshall College Provosts to date have been: Armin Rappaport (Provisional, 1967-1968) and William R. Frazer (Acting, 1969-1970). Joseph Watson (1970-1981), Faustina Solis (1981-1988), Cecil Lytle (1988-2005), Robert Kluender (Interim, 2005-2006), Allan Havis (2006-2016), and Leslie Carver (2016-present).

For additional related material, see UC San Diego. Office of the Chancellor Subject Files, RSS 1. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.