SHUHEI MATSU
Staff Writer
The 588-acre Soka University is to become parkland for Californians once again. Ending a 30-year quest, public officials of California announced the purchase of a school in the heart of the Santa Monica Mountains. The university will return to its historic name, King Gillette Ranch, after the remaining students graduate.
The $35-million deal closed after at least three previous attempts by public agencies to preserve the biologically rich and diverse property of the Buddhist university, which is located on Mulholland Highway near its intersection with Las Virgenes Road.
“I think it is a fair trade,” said Joseph Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. “Most of all, I truly appreciate the cooperation of Soka Univeristy because I believe the land in the heart of the Santa Monica Mountains belongs to people of California.”
Although the university has a three-year leaseback to phase out their operation, some of the land’s fire roads were open to the public immediately after the sale. After the incoming students of 2006 graduate in 2008, the entire campus will be public parkland.
Edminton also said the state will keep most of the buildings on the 12-acre university campus and use them as part of the parkland. Of all those buildings, Wisdom Hall will be used as the main entrance structure of the parkland.
Soka University of America Calabasas campus was established as a graduate school on Sept. 2, 1994, by a Japanese Buddhist man named Daisuke Ikeda. The main purpose for this graduate program is to provide English instruction for students from Japan. When the three-year leaseback period ends in 2008, the graduate program will be restarted at its sister campus in Aliso Viejo in Orange County.
“To be honest with you, I don’t appreciate it because I’m losing this job,” said Erika Uribe, one of the six security guards at the university. “This is my first job in the U.S. and more importantly, this is my life, everything!” she exclaimed with a Spanish accent.
Emigrating from Mexico, Uribe got her first job in the U.S. in 1998 and has been a security guard at Soka since then. In spite of her anger toward the news, she seemed happy to talk about the school.
Soka University has two types of students – graduate students and English as Second Language (ESL) students. There are about 20 students enrolled in the Master of Arts degree in Second and Foreign Language Education. The graduate students, representing seven different countries, learn how to teach English in their home countries. And all ESL students come from Japan to learn English.
The university now has only graduate students on campus. Megumi Oda, one of those 20 graduate students at Soka was rushing to her first class after lunch. “It’s good we are at least moving to Aliso Viejo,” Oda said. “The best thing about this program is that every student gets so much attention because there are only about 10 students in each class.”
A native of Japan, Oda graduated from Soka High School in Tokyo and graduated from Soka University’s undergraduate program in Aliso Viejo. Although she is excited to teach English after finishing the graduate program in three years, she seemed somewhat disappointed that the school she will graduate will cease to exist after her graduation.
When they were asked about their personal opinions on the sale of Soka University, staff members, like Erika Uribe and students, such as Megumi Oda, were candid. However, the faculty members were extra careful about their opinion about the subject. “I have no personal comment about this,” said Maryann Lucas of administrative office. “I mean, I could say something to you but someone might be hurt with the way what I say is written.”
Lucas, as well as other faculty members, seemed uncomfortable answering the question: personal opinion toward the sale of the university.
Unlike the perspective of Soka University, some Pepperdine students showed positive feelings toward the news. “I think a lot of people in this area will be glad that the environment will be protected,” said Christian Dimpfl, a sophomore from Seaver College. Although the Santa Monica native has personally “hoped that the university had taken better care of itself like Pepperdine has rather than the government stepping into it,” he believed that more people would be happy for the purchase.
Like Dimpfl, another student at Pepperdine showed an optimistic reaction about the sale of Soka University. “It’s good that we got the land back because it means we will protect the wildlife,” a Calabasas resident Gabe Jenkins said. As a Hawaiian native, Jenkins knew how important it is to protect natural environments.
Of the 588-acre property, the university campus takes up only 12 acres. Some of the buildings on campus are not even used because most classes meet in the main structure, Wisdom Hall. After visiting Wisdom Hall, the walk around the campus provided a great view of nature: there were more squirrels, rabbits and deer than people. It seemed the wildlife had already taken their land back.
Factbox:
What and who: Soka University of America was sold by California.
Where: Through Las Virgenes Rd. right off Mulholland Hwy.
When: April 2005 and will be a part of the state parkland in 2008.
How much: The deal was closed with $35 million.
12-15-2005