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Breaking ground, December 9, 1970 Entrance to the Mayflower Hotel (Fall, 1971) One of two experimental classrooms where hexagonal platforms could be arranged in any order or height (1977) Harvey Kesselman working the numbers (1977) B-wing gallery (1976) Using an IBM 1130 (1977) Aerial view of the College (c. 1980))

When President Herman J. Saatkamp approached the editors to write this book he gave us a difficult charge:  the book should be attractive and should be something that we could share with anyone who has had a connection with the college, or whom we may want to come to us in the future--as an administrator, faculty or staff member, student, or potential donor.  It should also be scholarly in nature and ask the important questions about what the college has undertaken and accomplished over the years.  It should also--and here the President was emphatic--be willing to incorporate differences of opinion about the college and its history.  This ought not to be a rubber stamp of the college or a puff piece. 

The editors believe that we have met this charge.   In this volume the college is studied with a seriousness of purpose that we believe matches the seriousness with which it saw itself at the time of its founding and at present.  There is also considerable difference of opinion and this has been true to the spirit of the place, with its lively debate echoing down the halls or along email chains throughout its history.  We also hope that we have met the charge in terms of the design of the book.  With the presence of images from some of the artists at the college over the years, the poems of Stephen Dunn, and the photographs of former provost, David Carr, we are confident that the reader will find the volume an attractive one.

This website will let you preview each chapter of the book, starting with The Stockton Idea. Each chapter preview provides photos from Stockton's past and present as well as a complete listing of the essays contained within each chapter. From time to time we release an essay for free, so check back often.