User:IHaveTwoCats/History of the University of California, Riverside

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The history of the University of California, Riverside, or UCR, started in Native tribal lands, such as the Cahuilla, Tongva, Luiseño, and Serrano, and in 1907 when UCR was the University’s Citrus Experiment Station. By the 1950s, the University had established a teaching-focused liberal arts curriculum at the site in the spirit of a small liberal arts college, but California’s rapidly growing population made it necessary for the Riverside campus to become an official general campus of the UC system in 1959. With the influence of Native Americans such as Rupert Costo, of the Cahuilla tribe, his Eastern Cherokee wife, Jeannette Henry Costo, and Judge John Gabbert, the University of California system was persuaded to place a university in Riverside. The contributions of Rupert and Jeannette Henry Costo played an important part in the early establishment of the UCR campus during the 1950s.

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As a result of rampant development of commercial interests and housing tracts in California throughout the decades, countless Native sites have had their lands confiscated and their tribal system of government destroyed, leaving Native lands either destroyed or threatened. For decades there had been little to no regard for California's indigenous population. Aware of indigenous history, the University of California, Riverside, as an institution, respectfully acknowledges and recognizes the original and rightful owners of the land located in Southern California, as well as the future ancestors and descendants of the Cahuilla, Tongva, Luiseño, and Serrano Native tribal people. The University recognizes both the history of the land in which its institution is located and that Native Americans played an important part in the early establishment of the University campus with their contributions. Notable Native American scholars and activists Rupert Costo, of the Cahuilla tribe, and his Eastern Cherokee wife, Jeannette Henry, played an essential role in the early establishment of the University of California, Riverside campus during the 1950s. Their influence, along with Judge John Gabbert, were vital in persuading the University of California system to place a university in Riverside. Through their involvement in Native causes and tribal activism, Rupert and Jeannette Henry Costo developed a Native American academic community at the University and served as a link between the local native communities and the University. As leaders in Native activism, the Costos defended native land, water rights, and wrote articles and books with the purpose of correcting misconceptions and inaccuracies about Native American Indians found in school children history books and in scholarly work. For the University of California, Riverside, the Costos helped establish the Costo Archive, the Rupert Costo Library in American Indian History, and the Costo Chair in American Indian History, which were formerly presented to the University in a dedication ceremony in 1986. They also gifted and entrusted one of the most important collections of Native Americans research materials in the United States to the University in 1986. This collection, which is housed in the Tomas Rivera Library on the University campus, forms the Rupert Costo Library of the American Indian and consists of about 7,000 books, 9,000 documents, artifacts, and artwork of Native American history and culture. Because of their contributions, accomplishments, and invaluable resources to the University, the University of California, Riverside dedicated the Costo Hall on the University campus to Rupert and Jeanette Henry Costo in 1994. As the Costos wanted, the Costo Hall became a student Commons building. One of the many offices that are housed in the Hall is the Native American Student Association, which provides educational, cultural, and social support for UCR American Indian students.

It is pivotal to understand and acknowledge Native American history and their major contribution to the University of California, Riverside to support and encourage the necessary efforts to dismantle the devastating effects of settler colonialism in present day society. As one of the most diverse campuses in the University of California system, the University of California, Riverside utilizes these native lands as a meeting place for many, including UCR faculty, staff, and students. The University offers a Native American Studies program, an M.A. program, and a Ph.D. program, which is one of the country’s most highly regarded programs in Native American history, to students. The Center for California Native Nations, which was established in 2000 by the University of California, Riverside Chancellor, Raymond L. Orbach, and the Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, and planned by Joel Martin, a non-Native academic activist professor and holder of the Costo Chair in American Indian History, will further increase the relationship between the University and surrounding local Native communities, such as the Cahuillas, Serranos, Chemehuevis, Luiseños, Kumeyaay, Cupeños, and Tongva, by providing assistance to advance scholarly research for California Native American culture. This assistance will benefit local tribal communities with economic development, environmental issues, repatriation of Native artifacts, language preservation, and public policy aid. The Center for California Native Nations is actively involved with local tribal communities through the Site Monitor Certification Program, a six-unit certification program that the University of California, Riverside established and expanded, and is funded by the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians and the Costo Endowment. Upon graduating from the certification program, tribal students are offered the opportunity to return to their reservations to teach cultural programs on how to monitor potentially threatened sites and educate contractors and developers of sacred Native sites. The annual Medicine Ways Conference, first hosted in 1982 at the University of California, Riverside by the Native American Student Association and Native American Student Programs, aims to preserve Native American culture by showcasing indigenous voices, Native traditions, such as Native songs and dancing, and emphasizing the importance of traditional Native American medicine. The support and involvement from such programs provide UCR tribal students the opportunity to insert native voices into the region’s history. As an institution who understands and acknowledges Native American history and the land in which it is located, the University of California, Riverside has the responsibility to continually educate, reflect, preserve, and listen to the histories and people in local areas.