The feature “On this day in Stanford history” details events that occurred on the same date in past years at Stanford.
According to The Stanford Daily’s archives, on May 17 in…
1893: The constitution and bylaws of The Stanford Daily were published. It was originally named the “Daily Palo Alto” and published by the Associated Students of the Leland Stanford Jr. University.
1922: The Daily published an announcement for a Ku Klux Klan meeting, which stated “‘Hist! We ride tonight, men! Bring the sheets to the graveyard at 8 [pm]. Shovels will be provided.”
1946: A picture of a small Greek boy was published on the front page of The Daily under the headline “Fill His Cup First.” The captain urged students eating in the dining halls to reduce their consumption of wheat by 40 percent and fats by 20 percent to support children in Europe facing starvation during the Second World War.
1965: Students on campus voted on whether the ASSU should be allowed to take positions not pertaining to student matters on Stanford campus or to express its consensus on any issue of deep concern to the student body.
1972: A Stanford professor and graduate student were arrested in Washington D.C. after holding a peace vigil in the Capitol building and sitting in the office of Representative Charles Gubser. They spent a night in jail.
1985: The University announced a bomb threat after an anonymous caller threatened the Palo Alto Police Department and the University Treasurer’s Office, saying, “You have two hours to find the bomb at Stanford.” He added, “Remember Berkeley, remember San Francisco,” referring to two bomb explosions that occurred previously that week at San Francisco State University and University of California, Berkeley. The Treasurer’s office was evacuated and searched for unusual objects, but nothing was found.
1990: The Daily reported the results of a student survey, which stated that 20 percent of Stanford sorority members had experienced attempted or actual sexual coercion at a sorority or fraternity social event. The survey found that about 90 percent of the respondents said they had been pressured into consuming alcohol at Greek events, and that 25 percent had been pressured to engage in “regrettable sexual activity.”
2000: There was campus-wide anxiety after the University informed students that those eating at Wilbur, Florence Moore and Lagunita dining halls may have been exposed to a batch of contaminated frozen strawberries linked to a Hepatitis A outbreak in Massachusetts. Dining Services took extreme measures to lessen students’ worry. “At Lakeside they won’t even sell strawberry Snapple anymore,” said then-freshman Lihi Rosenthal. “They’re afraid people will be afraid of it.”
2010: There were major changes to the English major with the creation of a new team-taught, three-quarter-long course to provide students with a historical narrative of English literature since the middle ages. The major was also expanded to require fourteen courses, increasing opportunities for elective courses within the major.
Contact Felicia Hou at fhou ‘at’ stanford.edu.