[2][3] At the time Langsdorf accepted the appointment as the first president of Orange County State College (January 19, 1959), the institution existed in name only.
The founding faculty members hired by Langsdorf to head the divisions of the new college represented a broad range of academic disciplines.
Newsom, Miles D. McCarthy (Science), Lawrence B. de Graaf (History), Lester Beals, Barbara Hartsig (Education), and William Alamshah (Philosophy) along with Librarian Toy.
With the initial administrators and faculty members in place along with a five-person clerical staff, Orange County State College opened its doors to 452 students at Sunny Hills High School on September 21, 1959, nine months after Langsdorf became president.
[3] When the California State College System was established following the development of the Master Plan for Higher Education in California in 1961, both the requirement that all students complete a core general education program firmly based in the liberal arts and the principle of collegial governance in the development of academic policies that were pioneered by Langsdorf at Fullerton became system-wide cornerstones.
At the time state funds for permanent buildings were driven by formulas based on FTES (full-time equivalent students).
[1] The period from 1959-65 was marked by a high level of cooperation between Langsdorf and his administrators and faculty members, relatively strong support from state agencies, budgets that were sufficient to fund the new construction and additional faculty positions needed to keep up with a rapidly growing campus.
The "old guard" faculty members viewed the college as primarily a teaching institution, while the "new turks" wanted more attention paid to research and scholarship in retention, tenure, and promotion decisions.
State college faculty also were becoming concerned about compensation and working conditions, and the issue of collective bargaining was raised on many campuses including Fullerton.
As a result, Langsdorf and his administrators were under pressure to keep the campus building plan on schedule, and to continue to add new members to the faculty.
This problem was relieved substantially when the system Board of Trustees began issuing revenue bonds to fund parking facilities on the campuses.
National events also were becoming much more turbulent with issues related to the counterculture, civil rights, the draft, and the Vietnam War coming to the forefront at this time.
Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968, the campus established a program to recruit and support more minority students.
[1] The first major incident that attracted significant public attention - and a State Senate investigation - was a student production of Michael McClure's allegedly pornographic play, The Beard, which was staged on campus during the fall semester of 1967.
[6][7] State Senators James E. Whetmore (R. Fulleron) and John G. Schmitz (R. Tustin) criticized Langsdorf for approving tenure for Professor Edwin Duerr, who allowed students in one of his classes to stage the play.
[8] This appearance drew a substantial number of protestors to the campus, and Reagan's speech was interrupted several times by hecklers.
[9] Arrest warrants for disturbing the peace were issued for two of the hecklers, Bruce Church and Dave MacKowiak, who coincidentally were leaders of SDS and SMC.
Eventually the number of students arrested either for heckling Reagan or for participating in the March 3rd confrontation with police totaled 37.
The inside of the dust jacket for the book showed a graphic picture of several people protesting in the nude.
[1] This led to further arrests.,[12] and to the occupation of the Performing Arts Building by a group that included both anti-war activists and members of the counter-culture.
It was found that this group included many individuals who were under the influence of drugs, and that significant damage to door locks and musical instruments had taken place.