Deep Springs College
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{{Infobox_University |name= Deep Springs College |established= 1917 |type= Private |city= Deep Springs |state= California |country= USA |students= 27 |campus= Rural |website= http://www.deepsprings.edu}} Deep Springs is a private, all-male, alternative college located in Deep Springs, California, in the United States. Deep Springs is located in Deep Springs Valley, near the larger Owens Valley and approximately forty miles away from the nearest towns: Bishop, California, and Dyer, Nevada. While the official name of the institution is just "Deep Springs," it is often referred to as Deep Springs College for purposes of accreditation and publicity. It was founded under the name "Deep Springs, Collegiate and Preparatory."
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Organization and philosophy
Deep Springs, a two-year college, is one of the most selective institutions for undergraduate students in the United States. Each year it admits between 10 and 14 students, and its acceptance rate is usually about 10 percent. The college supports three administrators, eight or nine professors, a staff of five, and no more than 26 male students. Teachers do not hold tenure at Deep Springs; three long-term professorships can be held for up to six years, while four short-term slots are filled generally for one or two terms of fourteen weeks each.
Image:DeepSpringsCattleDrive.jpg
Deep Springs is founded upon three principles, commonly called the "three pillars;" Academics, Labor and Self-Governance.
Deep Springs is a work college. In addition to their studies, students work a minimum of 20 hours a week on the ranch farm attached to the college. Deep Springs maintains a cattle herd and an alfalfa hay farming operation. Students pay only for incidental expenses such as textbooks; tuition, room, and board are covered by scholarships for all students. After completing two years at Deep Springs students receive a nominal associate's degree. Most continue their studies at other universities (with an average of 1/4 finishing their studies at Harvard in recent years). Two-thirds go on to earn a graduate degree, and over half eventually earn a doctorate.
Self-governance is an important part of the Deep Springs philosophy. Students play a key role in decisions about admissions, curriculum, and faculty hiring.
History
Deep Springs was founded in 1917 by L. L. Nunn, an industrialist who made his fortune building alternating current power plants throughout the western United States. The plants required well-trained engineers capable of living under rough conditions. After failing to find suitable men from eastern schools, Nunn started Deep Springs and was active in its running till his death in 1926. Nunn also founded Telluride Association [1], an educational trust based at Cornell University, in 1911.
The current president of Deep Springs is F. Ross Peterson, a historian.
Isolation
Deep Springs is located a one hour drive from the nearest towns in the Owens Valley, and is isolated by high mountain passes. During the winter, it is not uncommon that the college is inaccessible for several days while the passes are cleared.
While isolation exists naturally at Deep Springs, it also plays a central role in the philosophy of college, a role that is reconsidered on an annual basis by the Student Body.
During the 1990s, the aging direct telephone line that crossed the White Mountains was replaced by a wireless radio link connecting to the Bishop central office. Because the signal is relayed across such a substantial mountain range, the system is subject to outages caused by high winds and inclement weather. The college is on the California power grid, but receives a substantial portion of its electricity from a newly built solar power array and an older hydroelectric power station.
Alumni
Prominent alumni include:
- Julian Steward, anthropologist
- Herbert Reich, electrical engineer and inventor
- Robert B. Aird, neurologist
- Charles Collingwood, CBS journalist
- Barney Childs, composer
- Norton Dodge, economist
- William vanden Heuvel, diplomat
- Philip Hanawalt, biologist
- Robert Sproull, physicist and educator
- Glen Fukushima, businessman and public servant
- Silas Warner, computer programmer
- Nathaniel Borenstein, computer scientist
- William T. Vollmann, novelist
- Walter Isaacson, journalist
- David Hitz, computer engineer
- Peter Rock, novelist
- Benjamin Kunkel, novelist
Many alumni have been awarded Rhodes and Truman Scholarships, and two Deep Springs graduates have been awarded MacArthur Fellowships: geophysicist Raymond Jeanloz and sinologist Erik Mueggler. By virtue of its small enrollment, the number of alumni that Deep Springs has produced in its entire history is matched by most other colleges in a single year.
External links
- Official website
- NAD83 datum coordinates: Template:Coor dms.