The
California Institute of Technology, commonly known as
Caltech, located in
Pasadena, California, is one of the premier schools of science and engineering in the
United States. Founded in
1891 as Throop University with just 31 students, Caltech now has a student body of about 900 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students.
Caltech operates the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA.
Caltech's school teams are called the Beavers. They participate in the NCAA's Division III Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
During the early
20th century, a Caltech committee visited several universities and decided to transform the undergraduate housing system from regular
fraternities to a unique
House (
http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/houses.html) System, combining the qualities of regular university
dormitory[?] and the college system similar to that of the universities of
Oxford and
Cambridge. Four (south) houses (or
hovses, so named for the inscription on the gates thereof) were built: Fleming, Dabney, Ricketts, and Blacker. In the late
20th century, three north houses were built: Lloyd, Ruddock, and Page. During the
1990s, an additional house, Avery, was built to accommodate those who feel the original seven houses were not suitable for them. Some students jocularly refer to the Undergraduate Computer Science Laboratory as another house, as a few often spend most of their times there.
Another unique feature of the Caltech community is the Honor Code, which states simply: "No member of the Caltech community shall take unfair advantage of any other member of the Caltech community." This is enforced by a Board of Control, consisting of members of the community.
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