Two Traditions Live on for Classes of 1971 By Zach Jones ’01
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turned up to 11. For its first eight years, the school was housed in the Dickinson-Boal Mansion in National City, with students and teachers crammed into its Queen Anne-style parlors, sitting rooms and wherever else they could hold classes. “My primary memory is the school itself, with its very small rooms,” says Vance Baker ’61. “It’s a very intimate thing to have a teacher just a few feet from you.” In those early days, Rev. Edwin Rossmaessler was not only the headmaster, but also the school bus driver and the Class of 1961 was small enough that they could all fit—perhaps not quite legally—in a single car. Even as teenagers, San Miguel’s students were aware that they were a part of something special. “I eventually graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, and it was not as profound an experience for me as graduating from San Miguel,” Vance says. “I knew it at the time—I doubted that I’d ever have an experience like that again.” Yet almost overnight, it all came to an end. Devon says he spent two decades as a man without a school. His old school had become Francis Parker School, and his “new” school was one he’d never attended. It wasn’t until he returned to La Jolla for his 20th anniversary that he
discovered what had happened to those San Miguel traditions from years ago. They were here. The school colors were San Miguel’s maroon and gold and the knight mascot was there too, with his suit of armor standing guard in the corner of the gym. Even the old San Miguel coat of arms, originally bestowed upon the school in 1953, was featured prominently around the Bishop’s campus and incorporated into the commencement and baccalaureate ceremonies. Last but not least, there were the ties. Dangling from the necks of the senior boys were maroon-and-gold striped ties that paid homage to the uniform of the old school. “I loved that tie, I really did,” Devon says, laughing. “I kept it for at least another 20 years (after graduation), and I bought another one when I was there for our 20th reunion.” Beyond the traditions, San Miguel lived on in people as well. Several popular teachers and coaches taught at San Miguel before moving to the La Jolla campus. The original plan for the merger had called for the schools to maintain their own identities—literally the “Bishop’s Schools”—but the reality became much more of a blending. Changed forever were the Bishop’s battles between Purples and Golds on T-Day as boys joined the hours of
13 Two Traditions Live on for Classes of 1971
half-century ago, the seniors of The San Miguel School for Boys and The Bishop’s School found themselves at the end of an era. Theirs were the final chapters in two separate books and after graduation day, things would never be the same. The changes that had reshaped Bishop’s over the previous few years would accelerate with the arrival of boys in the fall of 1971 and the girls would see a new, modern mode of campus life. But for the boys of San Miguel, this was no mere fork in the road. The road had literally come to an end for the place they called home. Their campus sold, those who stayed would merge with the all-girls school across town that was more than 40 years their elder. Of the traditions that had been forged during San Miguel’s 19 years of existence, a handful would make the move from the old Linda Vista Road address to La Jolla with the 26 boys. “There was a feeling of alienation,” says Devon Osborne ’71. “After the graduation, it was kind of like San Miguel no longer existed—that was it. I had to look to Bishop’s, but I had no roots there.” For generations, Bishop’s students have enjoyed an intimate educational experience, a special teacher-pupil bond nurtured within walls soaked in history. Before the merger of 1971, San Miguel was all of that, with the dial
