Deep Springs is a private, all-male, alternative college located in Deep Springs, California, in the United States. Deep Springs is located in Deep Springs Valley, near the larger Owens Valley and approximately forty miles away from the nearest towns: Bishop, California, and Dyer, Nevada. While the official name of the institution is just "Deep Springs," it is often referred to as Deep Springs College for purposes of accreditation and publicity. It was founded under the name "Deep Springs, Collegiate and Preparatory." Deep Springs, along with Hampden-Sydney College, Wabash College, and Morehouse College, are the only four remaining mainstream all-men's liberal arts colleges in the United States. In contrast, there are many more women's colleges. The date of establishment or date of founding of an institution is the date on which that institution chooses to claim as its starting point. ... Deep Springs may refer to: Deep Springs Valley, a valley in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California Deep Springs College, a nontraditional two-year institution located in Deep Springs Valley This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq. ... This page as shown in the aol 9. ... Private schools, or independent schools, are schools not administered by local or national government, which retain the right to select their student body and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students tuition rather than with public (state) funds. ... A men’s college is a college or university whose students are exclusively men. ... In education, the phrase alternative school usually refers to a school based on a non-traditional, new, or non-standard educational philosophy. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq. ... Deep Springs Valley is a high desert valley in the Inyo-White Mountains of Inyo County, California, in the eastern part of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. ... Owens Valley is the arid ranching valley of the Owens River in southeastern California in the United States. ... Bishop is a city located in Inyo County, California, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 3,575. ... A extremly small town in Esmeralda County,Nevada its population is 110. ... Generally, accreditation is the process by which a facility becomes officially certified as providing services of a reasonably good quality, so that the public can trust in the quality of its services. ... Hampden-Sydney College is a liberal arts college for men located in Hampden-Sydney, Virginia. ... Wabash College is a small private liberal arts college for men, located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. ... Morehouse College is a private, four-year, historically black liberal arts college for African-American men located on a 61 acre (247,000 m²) campus in Atlanta, Georgia. ... A men’s college is a college or university whose students are exclusively men. ... In higher education, particularly in the United States, a womens college is a college (that is, a primarily undergraduate, bachelors degree-granting institution) whose students are exclusively women. ...

Organization and philosophy

Deep Springs, a two-year college, is one of the most selective institutions for undergraduate students in the United States. Each year it admits between 10 and 15 students, and its acceptance rate is usually about 10 percent. The institution currently aims for a student body size of 26, but this number can vary sligthly from year to year. Aside from students, the college supports three administrators, eight or nine professors, and a staff of five. Teachers do not hold tenure at Deep Springs; three long-term professorships can be held for up to six years, while four short-term slots are filled generally for one or two terms of fourteen weeks each. For the Indian grade 11 and 12 schools, see Junior College A junior college is a two-year post-secondary school whose main purpose is to provide a method of obtaining academic, vocational and professional education. ... In some educational systems, an undergraduate is a post-secondary student pursuing a Bachelors degree. ... Tenure commonly refers to academic tenure systems, in which professors (at the university level)—and in some jurisdictions schoolteachers (at primary or secondary school levels)—are granted the right not to be dismissed without cause after an initial probationary period. ...

Deep Springs students and staff moving cattle.

Deep Springs is founded upon three principles, commonly called the "three pillars;" Academics, Labor, and Self-Governance. Image File history File links DeepSpringsCattleDrive. ... Image File history File links DeepSpringsCattleDrive. ...

Deep Springs is a work college. In addition to their studies, students work a minimum of 20 hours a week on the ranch farm attached to the college. Deep Springs maintains a cattle herd and an alfalfa hay farming operation. Students pay only for incidental expenses such as textbooks; tuition, room, and board are covered by scholarships for all students. After completing two years at Deep Springs students receive a nominal associate's degree. Most continue their studies at other universities (with most graduates going on to Harvard, Yale, the University of Chicago or Oxford, according to the official website). Two-thirds go on to earn a graduate degree, and over half eventually earn a doctorate. A work college is a type of institution of higher learning where student work is an integral and mandatory part of the educational process, as opposed to being an appended requirement. ... A Ranch is an area of land, including buildings and structures, given primarily to the grazing of livestock on rangeland. ... Binomial name Medicago sativa L. Subspecies subsp. ... An associates degree is a degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges and some bachelors degree-granting colleges and universities in Canada and the United States upon completion of a course of study equivalent to the first two years in a four-year college or university. ... Harvard University campus (old map) Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... Yale redirects here. ... The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ...

Self-governance is an important part of the Deep Springs philosophy. Students play a key role in decisions about admissions, curriculum, and faculty hiring.

History

Deep Springs was founded in 1917 by L. L. Nunn, an industrialist who made his fortune building alternating current power plants throughout the western United States. The plants required well-trained engineers capable of living under rough conditions. After failing to find suitable men from eastern schools, Nunn started Deep Springs and was active in its running till his death in 1926. Nunn also founded the Telluride Association [1], an educational trust based at Cornell University, in 1911. 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... In Lucien Lucius Nunn, an uncommonly high moral standard and diminutive physical stature met a demonic will to achieve. ... City lights viewed in a motion blurred exposure. ... The Telluride Association is a non-profit organization that creates and fosters educational communities that rely upon democratic participation. ... This is about the university. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ...

The current president of Deep Springs is F. Ross Peterson, a historian.

Alternate History (as the history I found above is relatively poor, though I will not delete it; perhaps the extension should be presented in a section entitled "founding").

In the 1870s, L.L. Nunn and Westinghouse were in competition with Thomas Edison to develop a viable technology for distance power transmission in the US. Edison was committed to the use of DC power, retrospectively, a poor choice, while Nunn and Westinghouse were committed to the use of AC, which had significantly less current loss over distance. Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices which greatly influenced life in the 20th century. ...

In the midst of this intense competition, Edison conducted a literal "dog and pony" show on the East Coast, subjecting dogs to potential electrocution by AC or DC current in front of gathered crowds. One dog would die-- and Edison would declare the result the danger of AC power. In fact, however, Edison had switched the wires under the covers, and the dog had been killed by DC power, generated by his apparatus.

In this way, Edison encited and enflamed public fear and distrust of the use of AC technology, and of both Nunn and Westinghouse. On [date,] an angry mob converged on the Westinghouse plant in (), New Jersey, threatening to burn it to the ground if Nunn's AC lab did not leave. In the face of such pressures, Nunn closed his laboratory.

Over the next months, Nunn sought to relocate his laboratory to another East Coast City, and then Chicago, but given the recent events and public fear of DC technology, received cold responses. In the end, Nunn chose to locate his laboratory at the American Frontier at that time-- in Telluride, Colorado, for reasons that were as much philosophical and religious as they were practical.

Nunn had found a new location for his lab-- but now he faced the much greater challenge, assembing a team that could turn the technical ideas of Westinghouse and Tesla, into a working technology that could distribute electic power, safely and affordable, across the United States, with a competitor such as Edison on his heels.

How could he possibly assemble such a dream team, a team capable of building a revolutionary technology that would transform the world? With half the engineers on the East Coast afraid of him, and Edison willing to simply hire the other half to keep them from aiding Nunn?

Nunn decided that rather than assemble his team from available men, that in order to build a new technology and world, he would build his team, that he would build men, men capable of this task, men capable of running the business empire he envisioned, and men capable of leading the world and preserving the American values Nunn had experienced on the frontier.

Nunn and Westinghouse then visited the headmasters New England's preparatory schools, explaining their project, and a unique proposition. Rather than a standard engineering project, Nunn proposed, he would establish a school at Telluride-- based on the school of Socrates. Its men would dedicate their lives to a triad of ideals-- continual self-improvement (education), self-governance (democracy), and practical work (service). They would spend their time at the Telluride Institute (as it was first called) educating themselves in the classics, engaged in the practical work of developing the technology for Alternating Current power transmissions, and in the devolopment of the structures of democratic self-governance and self-discipline necessary to achieve such a goal.

The rest is history. In a few short years, working under the direction of the junior engineers Nunn and Westinghouse could attract to Telluride, Nunn's bright young men learned the classics, disciplined themselves, solved the problems and developed the technology necessary to transmit electric power across the United States and world. Nunn gained a contract to develop the first major hydroelectric power generation facility at Niagra Falls, New York, and in the decades to come, the NorthEastern power grid, Utah Power & Light, and Pacific Gas & Electric, -- again primarily using men educated at his unique Institute.

By 1910, Nunn was the majority holder in the above concerns, and imagined more, turning his interests to the challenges facing the industry, leadership and history of the world. In Nunn's view, the East Coast cities had become too soft and "European" to produce the strong leaders and visionaries that the frontier had produced-- and the nation had become spiritually lost and apathetic. Telluride, Colo., was already no longer the frontier, and too close to human settlements and the corruption of modern civilization.

Nunn then sought to relocate his Institute, away from society, where young men could be separated for a few years from the distractions and corruption of society. In 1916, Nunn found and purchased the Deep Springs Ranch, in an isolated Valley in the California high desert, a location chosen so its young men could, like Jesus and Lincoln, convene with the voice of the desert and of "G-d," and begin to discover themselves and their souls in such isolation.

"The Voice of the Desert" remains among the primary tropes of the College's lore to this day, and in the College library, a room originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, a simple brass plaque proclaims a College Motto, "from those to whom much is given, much is expected."

It is rumoured that the United States' OSS and CIA were founded by a Deep Springs graduate, and that the low number of surviving alumni from the 50s a result of this purported fact. It is a matter of public fact that Bill Vollmann served as an operative in East Asia, and that some of novels recount the history of that service in allegorical form.

Bill Vollman's "You Bright and Risen Angels", one of the more underappreciated histories of technology, also recounts the history of the development and effects of electrical power transmission in American, in allegorical form. The title "You Bright and Risen Angels" would as well describe the efforts of Seymour Cray, Alan Walker at AutoDesk, and many other technologists, industrialists and entrepreneurs who followed in Nunn's footsteps.

Sources: I have briefly edited the entries on the wireless rural relay line, hydro- and other operations to more accurately reflect their state when I was at DS. The majority of the history above is drawn from the Withrow memoirs, primary materials in the archives of the Deep Springs library, other primary materials provided to me by Brad Edmonson during his seminar on Deep Springs History, personal conversation with Brad Edmonson, materials recounting the history of DS available online (which will have better dates that I recall immediately), and the published materials of William Vollman.

Isolation

Deep Springs is located a one hour drive from Bishop, the nearest town in California's Owens Valley, and is isolated by high mountain passes on both sides. During the winter, it is not uncommon that the college is inaccessible for several days while the passes are cleared.

While isolation exists naturally at Deep Springs, it also plays a central role in the philosophy of college, a role that is reconsidered on an annual basis by the Student Body.

During the 1980s or earlier, the aging direct telephone line that crossed the White Mountains was replaced by a wireless radio link connecting to the Bishop central office. Because the signal is relayed across such a substantial mountain range, the system was subject to outages caused by high winds and inclement weather. The college has been on the California power grid since {?), but receives a substantial portion of its electricity from a newly built solar power array and a hydroelectric power station proposed and designed by students and build in the late 1980s. During peak period, the College also sells power from solar and hydro operations to PG&E, reducing operating costs. The White Mountains along the east side of the Owens Valley The White Mountains of California are a small mountain range that runs along the eastern side of the upper Owens Valley, just across from the Sierra Nevada. ... Bishop is a city located in Inyo County, California, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 3,575. ... In the field of telecommunications, a central office or telephone exchange houses equipment that is commonly known as simply a switch, which is a piece of equipment that connects phone calls. ... Transmission towers Transmission lines in Lund, Sweden Electric power transmission, or more accurately Electrical energy transmission, is the second process in the delivery of electricity to consumers. ... Solar power describes a number of methods of harnessing energy from the light of the sun. ...

Alumni

Many alumni have been awarded Rhodes and Truman Scholarships, and two Deep Springs graduates have been awarded MacArthur Fellowships: geophysicist Raymond Jeanloz and sinologist Erik Mueggler. By virtue of its small enrollment, the number of alumni that Deep Springs has produced in its entire history is matched by most other colleges in a single year. That said, other prominent alumni include: Rhodes House in Oxford The Rhodes Scholarships were created by Cecil Rhodes and have been awarded to applicants annually since 1902 by the Oxford-based Rhodes Trust on the basis of academic qualities, as well as those of character. ... The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship (sometimes nicknamed the genius grant) is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation each year to typically 20 to 40 citizens or residents of the US, of any age and working in any field, who show exceptional merit... Raymond Jeanloz is a professor of earth and planetary science and of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. ...

• Julian Steward, anthropologist
• Herbert Reich, electrical engineer and inventor
• Robert B. Aird, neurologist
• Charles Collingwood, CBS journalist
• Barney Childs, composer
• Norton Dodge, economist
• William vanden Heuvel, diplomat
• Philip Hanawalt, biologist
• Robert Sproull, physicist and educator
• Glen Fukushima, businessman and public servant
• Silas Warner, computer programmer
• Nathaniel Borenstein, computer scientist
• William T. Vollmann, novelist
• Walter Isaacson, journalist
• David Hitz, computer engineer
• Peter Rock, novelist
• Benjamin Kunkel, novelist

This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Herbert Reich (1901?-2000?) was a pioneering figure in electrical engineering. ... Robert B. Aird (1903-2000), an American educator and physician, was the founder of the department of neurology at the University of California at San Francisco. ... Charles Collingwood (June 4, 1917 - October 3, 1985) was a CBS television newscaster. ... CBS (formerly an acronym for Columbia Broadcasting System, the former legal name of the network) is one of the largest television networks, and formerly one of the largest radio networks, in the United States. ... Barney Childs (February 13, 1926–January 11, 2000) taught and composed avant-garde music and literature at universities in the United States and United Kingdom. ... Founder of the Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Soviet Nonconformist Art, Norton Townshend Dodge was born in Oklahoma City in 1927. ... William vanden Heuvel, a prominent New York attorney and diplomat, has served as United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations and as Ambassador to the European office of the United Nations in Geneva. ... Philip Hanawalt is Howard H. and Jessie T. Watkins University Professor in the biological sciences department and professor of dermatology at Stanford University. ... Robert Sproull, a former president of the University of Rochester, is a distinguished physicist and business figure. ... Glen Fukushima (b. ... Silas Warner (18 August 1949 – 3 March 2004) was a game programmer and one of the founders of Muse Software. ... Nathaniel Borenstein is one of the original designers of the MIME protocol for sending multimedia Internet electronic mail. ... William Tanner Vollmann (born July 28, 1959 in Los Angeles, California) is an American novelist, journalist, short story writer and essayist. ... Walter Isaacson Walter Isaacson is the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute. ... David Hitz is founder and executive vice president of Network Appliance, a company that specializes in storage of data. ... Peter Rock is an American novelist born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. ... Benjamin Kunkel is an American novelist. ...

External links

• Official website
• NAD83 datum coordinates: 37°22′26″N, 117°58′48″W.