Thursday, December 22, 2011

History

Leland Stanford
Stanford family

Stanford was founded by Leland Stanford, a railroad magnate, United States Senator, and former California Governor, and his wife, Jane Stanford. It is named in honor of their only child,Leland Stanford, Jr., who died in 1884 just before his 16th birthday. His parents decided to dedicate a university to their only son, and Leland Stanford told his wife, "The children of California shall be our children."

The Stanfords visited Harvard's president, Charles Eliot, and asked how much it would cost to duplicate Harvard in California. Eliot replied that he supposed $15 million would be enough. David Starr Jordan, the president of Indiana University, was their eventual choice to direct Stanford, after several leaders of the Ivy League turned them down. Locals and members of the university community are known to refer to the school as The Farm, a nod to the fact that the university is located on the former site of Leland Stanford's horse farm.
The motto of Stanford University, selected by President Jordan, is "Die Luft der Freiheit weht." Translated from the German means, "The wind of freedom blows." 
The university's founding Grant of Endowment from the Stanfords came in November 1885. 
Much of this first construction was destroyed by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but the university retains the Quad, the old Chemistry Building and Encina Hall (the residence of Herbert HooverJohn Steinbeck, and Anthony Kennedy during their times at Stanford). After the 1989 earthquake inflicted further damage, the university implemented a billion-dollar capital improvement plan to retrofit and renovate older buildings for new, up-to-date uses.

Demographics of student body
UndergraduateGraduateCaliforniaU.S. Census
African American10%3%6.2%12.1%
Asian American23%13%12.3%4.3%
White American36%35%59.8%65.8%
Hispanic American13%5%35.9%14.5%
Native American2.8%<1%0.7%0.9%
International student7%33%N/AN/A

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