New College of California was a college founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971 by former Gonzaga University President John Leary. It ceased operations in early 2008. New College's main campus was housed in several buildings in the Mission District in San Francisco. The offices at 777 Valencia, and companion buildings across the street, were home to its Humanities-based programs, including the Humanities BA, Mathematics, Poetics, Writing and Consciousness, Media Studies, Graduate Psychology, Experimental Performance Institute, Women’s Spirituality MA, Humanities and Leadership, Activism and Social Change, the Teacher Credential Program, as well as a broadcast studio and administration offices. New College of California School of Law was located at 50 Fell Street in the city's Civic Center. The North Bay Campus in Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community was housed in Santa Rosa, California, in a building owned by the Arlene Francis Foundation, a private foundation run by Peter Gabel, former president of New College and Arlene Francis's son. The Science and Math Institute classes were initially held at the building at 50 Fell Street then morphed online to Southern California University of Health Sciences in Whittier, California, within of downtown Los Angeles. History The college was founded in 1971 by John Leary, who previously served as the president of Gonzaga University. A year earlier, while serving as the Vice President for University Relations at Santa Clara University, Leary first proposed the idea for an experimental college centered around Socratic Seminars. The idea was rejected by Santa Clara's administration, but served as the foundation for the New College of California, which Leary established with departing Santa Clara professor Bob Raines. The New College began with approximately a dozen students enrolling in classes held in Leary's living room in Sausalito. Leary convinced various acquaintances of his to help fund this endeavor, and used this money to hire faculty. The following year, Leary moved the school's classes to a warehouse he purchased in Sausalito. By 1973, a tuition strike had engulfed the school, creating a deficit, and causing the school's trustees to pressure Leary for administrative and financial reform. Instead, Leary resigned in 1974, and was replaced by Les Carr. The college moved to 777 Valencia in San Francisco in 1975. The college was accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) in 1976. In 1978, local newspapers uncovered that Carr had been selling Honorary PhD degrees for $25,000,