The feature “On this day in Stanford history” details unusual or humorous events that occurred on the same date or week in past years from The Daily archives.
According to The Stanford Daily archives, on Oct. 5 in …
1906: Five manuscripts – a school record – were handed in for the junior class’s annual “Plug Ugly,” a satirical performance mocking a Nativist street gang by the same name. The performance gradually devolved over the years into an interclass fistfight until it was finally banned a decade later.
1931: The Associated Students of Stanford University issued a formal decree threatening disciplinary action against any students who participated in the longstanding sophomore tradition of raiding Encina Hall. In previous years, raids had become violent and resulted in significant property damage.
1953: The Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) formed a special committee to recover the stolen Stanford Axe, which had been kept at the University of California since 1947.
1960: The Daily profiled Stanford University’s first ever Nigerian students – Oyebeamiji Alabi Oladele and Michael Iserheim Osarugiwa – as they celebrated their country’s independence from Great Britain
1970: The Daily reported that many of the 22 Native Americans in its freshman class – a record high for the University at the time – were upset with the caricatured Indian school mascot. More than 30 years later, Stanford University administration is still working to treat Native American culture with sensitivity, having decided to rename Serra Mall and Serra House.
1971: President Richard Nixon – who would be implicated in the infamous Watergate Scandal just two years later – named J. Keith Mann, Associate Dean of the Stanford Law School, to head a special legal advisory board.
1987: Unnamed kidnappers of the University of California’s mascot, Oski the bear, sent letters to both Stanford and the University of California with a set of demands in exchange for the bear’s potential release.
2005: Athletic Director Ted Leland announced his resignation from Stanford after 15 years with the school. During his tenure, the university won a record 50 national championships and 11 consecutive Directors’ Cups, which are awarded to the most successful collegiate athletic program in the U.S.
2006: Stanford Medical School Prof. Roger Kornberg won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work involving DNA and RNA transcription. “When it rains, it pours – at least when it comes to Nobel Prizes,” The Daily reported. Stanford is home to 17 living Nobel laureates.
2012: The Daily spoke to Stanford student-athletes competing in the London Olympics. Among the athletes interviewed were women’s water polo gold medalists Melissa Seidemann and Annika Dries from Team USA, as well as Australian 400-meter sprinter Steven Solomon.
Contact Kyle Wang at kjwang00 ‘at’ stanford.edu.