Santa Rosa Junior College

History

It was SRJC’s Larry Bertolini and Laurie Beard who planted the seed to organize an annual spring open house and community education fair at Santa Rosa Junior College. In collaboration with a number of visionary college staff, leaders, faculty, and alumni who recognized the value of inviting the community to campus for a free day of information and fun, Day Under the Oak’s first chairman Laurie Beard, assisted by Gene Canevari, launched Day Under the Oaks (DUO) in May 1978.

Day Under the Oaks was organized to open the doors of the college to Sonoma County residents to discover SRJC’s quality educational, student services, extracurricular, and cultural opportunities. The name “Day Under the Oaks” stems from a contest held in 1978 to name the event. Debbie Churchill submitted the winning name “Day Under the Oaks,” and was presented with a $25 prize. Although the first Day Under the Oaks was rained out, only one other DUO was cancelled in its nearly 30-year-history, in May 1990.

On the first Sunday in May, SRJC’s beautiful park like Santa Rosa Campus comes alive with activities for thousands of visitors from the community. Just look at some of the colorful activities that have continued to make Day Under the Oaks a favorite tradition!

Plant sales, pony rides, Native American dancing, live jazz and band music, educational presentations, foods sold by student clubs, dozens of craft vendors, robotics demonstrations, fencing, karate, swimming competitions …barbecues, cutting-edge hands-on computer lab activities, pottery demonstrations, campus tours, Ballet Folklorico, theater performances, planetarium and chemistry shows, model trains, horse and buggy rides, free blood pressure testing, fire and emergency equipment, an Asian Dragon troupe, foreign language labs…art gallery and Jesse Peter Museum, soccer, rugby, and la crosse events, career and college counseling, department program information, wheelchair basketball, special award presentations, a GED ceremony, floristry and fashion displays, student art shows, synchronized swimming, Pomo bead making, wild bird rescue, break dancing, a petting zoo and live bee display…this wonderful list of fun-filled and informative events and activities seems endless.

As Day Under the Oaks grew to today’s nearly 10,000 visitors, new activities were added, including reunion meetings of SRJC alumni and other college groups and a number of prestigious award ceremonies, including the Floyd P. Bailey Award, the Randolph Newman Scholarship Award, and the Roy G. Mikalson Scholarship Award.

The success of Day Under the Oaks is attributed to a dedicated, hard working, and talented group of college volunteers, the Day Under the Oaks Committee, and years of leadership until 2002 by SRJC’s former Public Relations Manager Kerry Campbell-Price. It is their combined creativity that has ensured that every Day Under the Oaks is a memorable experience.

Although the history of Day Under the Oaks is too long and too rich to include here, you are invited to contact SRJC’s Public Relations Office at (707)527-4266 for more information. Be sure to preview our DUO Photo Gallery on this Web site to see the happy faces of DUO participants. Better yet, plan to attend this year’s event to experience firsthand why Day Under the Oaks has become such an important community tradition and why Santa Rosa Junior College is truly the community’s college.

— Susan Bagby Matthews · Manager Public Relations