Simpson's second home: San Francisco

By: Cody Kirch

Posted: 3/13/09

Editor's Note: This is the second
article of a three part series about
Simpson's history.

In the summer of 1955, Simpson
Bible Institute in Seattle, Wash., moved
its campus to the foggy banks of the San
Francisco bay area for many reasons, including the fact that they wanted a more
centrally located west coast campus and
larger buildings to accommodate the
growing college.

On a steep hill in the southern part
of San Francisco, the new bay area
Simpson campus was born. The campus
sat on roughly 5.5 acres on the top
of what was commonly referred to as
"University Hill," which overlooked a
virtual maze of off-ramps and on-ramps
in an intersection of Interstate 208 and
Highway 101.

"During my first six weeks, I never
found my way to the college the same
way twice," said Alan Rose, assistant
professor of English.

The campus consisted of a mere
four buildings. The main building, a
converted Salvation Army officer training
center, looked like a five-pronged
"E" and was built mostly of brick. It
held the chapel, cafeteria, dorms and
the administration/faculty offices. The
other buildings on campus consisted of
a small house that served as the president's home, a garage and a gymnasium
a little further down the hill behind the main building.

Besides just being physically
smaller than our current Redding campus the San Francisco campus also consisted of a much smaller community of individuals, with a student body that hovered between 150-300 students and a full-time faculty averaging only about 15-20 professors and instructors.

"The atmosphere was more like
a family rather than a business," said
Rose, as he tried to put into words the
general feel of the relatively small and
often cozy San Francisco campus.

Student life was also quite a bit different
on the San Francisco campus. Morning chapels consisted of organ music and other accompanying string or wind instruments and were mandatory five days a week. Skits, choral groups and visiting speakers made up most of the chapel activities.

When asked about the San Francisco
campus's student life, Adjunct Professor
of History Donald Claspill said, "Music
was a big deal there. Most of the students
who could sing at all would try out for
the Simpson chorale."

According to Professor Glenn Schafer,
Frances P. Owen distinguished professor
of Old Testament emeritus, another
integral part of the San Francisco campus
was its prominent cultural variety.

"We lost ethnic diversity…typically
a dozen different languages would be
spoken at any one time on [the San
Francisco] campus," he said.

Students at the San Francisco campus
always had something to do out in
the surrounding area. Pier 39, Fisherman's
Wharf, Golden Gate Park, Bud's Ice Cream and the beach were just a few of the favorite hangout spots for Simpson students at the time.

Simpson University also had a strong
hand in developing the emerging leaders of Jews for Jesus- an evangelistic organization based in San Francisco committed to the conversion of Jews to Christianity.

"They were quite a dynamic group of individuals…changed the whole feel of the student body," said Stuart Compton, archivist in residence, in reference to the Jews for Jesus' impact on the San Francisco campus.

For nearly 34 years ranging from
1955-1989, Simpson's campus rested
in the eclectic and diverse city of San
Francisco. Now, a large and flourishing
Chinese church resides in the main building that once served as the Simpson home.

Although the heart of Simpson is
no longer in San Francisco, the college's
legacy continues to impact the
city through the lives and work of its
former students.