In this article—part one of a two-part series in the Daily Cal—reporter Charles Burress tracks the UC’s designs on the site of the Schools for the Deaf and Blind back to former UC President Robert Gordon Sproul in the late-1950s.

Burress noted that although the use for the site is not concrete in the early stages, top UC Berkeley administrators have long eyed the site. As early as 1922, UC President David Barrows wrote State Superintendent Will C. Wood on the possibilities for a site change for the Deaf and Blind Schools.

Although Barrows eventually left the institution long before the physical planning of the site take over,

Robert Gordon Sproul holds onto the idea of a site takeover during his own tenure as UC President.  Sproul expanded his opportunities to take over the Deaf/Blind site, appointing a secret group within administration to determine any possibilities, exploring ideas to create a satellite campus. Although Sproul became determined to gain control over the site, members of his committee strongly warned over the public relations nightmare it will unfold.