Jesse at Davis

The detested, evil dragon of my student days was, of course, the hydra-headed University of California, my hatred reaching its peak each November during the Big Game against Berkeley. But one does grow up, one matures, and one finally comes to realize that the State of California has created probably the best public university system in the nation.

I once overheard a Cal undergrad telling a friend, while walking out of Berkeley's stadium in Strawberry Canyon, "We have a love-hate relationship with Stanford. But with USC, it's entirely a hate-hate relationship." And yeah, I guess that's how it looks from the Cardinal side as well. Mutual fear and loathing of USC, along with mutual academic (if not athletic) respect, does have a way of bonding old rivals together.

Cal and UCLA are the UC system's two representatives in the Pac-10, and everyone knows who they are. But the other eight schools are also highly selective, and also provide an excellent education. Jesse attends UC Davis, eleven miles west of Sacramento, a branch that consistenly rates as one of the best schools in the University of California system (and the eleventh best public university in the entire United States, according to U.S. News & World Reports). Average high school GPA for entering freshman is 3.94.

On Sunday, I visited Jesse for the first time at the off-campus Davis apartment that he shares with his two roommates. He took me on a grand tour of the campus by bicycle (in 97-degree weather), including a ride through and around the beautiful waterway and arboretum that bisect the campus. Biking is a mode of transportation for which the school has become nationally famous -- both the university and the city of Davis are served by an excellent system of bike trails. When you have a 5,500-acre campus -- over eight square miles -- from most of which motor traffic is barred, hoofing it is not always the most sensible way to get from one class to the next.

One reason the campus is so huge is its history as an agricultural college. Davis was selected as the site of the University of California's "University Farm" in 1908, and became the site of one branch of its College of Agriculture in 1922. (At that time, the University itself was still located exclusively in Berkeley.) One symbol of the school remains a water tower, bearing the school logo, that looms over the campus. The athletic teams are called the "Aggies," and UC Davis has long been known for having one of the only two schools of veterinary medicine on the West Coast.

Agriculture remains an important focus of the school -- with the cultivation of grapes and the making of wine of obvious importance to the economy of Northern California -- but the campus has been a general campus of the UC system ever since 1959, and offers studies in the humanities and sciences, engineering and nursing, and includes respected graduate schools of law, medicine, and business.

Jesse, I should note, has no academic interest in wine, irrigation, engineering or business adminstration. As proof that UC Davis has grown far beyond its more practical roots, he will graduate (probably after one more semester) in medieval history, an excellent major with absolutely no practical application, a major that he shares with his proud uncle. There are those of us who dream of seeing Jesse next move on to law school, but as always he will choose his own path, in his own way, and at his own time.

Meanwhile, together with 30,000 other students, he continues to thrive on a beautiful campus and to receive a fine education from the University of California.

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Photos: Top, the arboretum; middle, old postcard of early "University Farm" agricultural buildings; bottom, water tower.