Crown College
Crown College seeks to provide our students with a living and learning environment in which they can positively develop intellectually and socially. Crown is traditionally viewed as the “science college,” and the majority of our affiliated faculty fellows teach in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields. However, half of our students major in the social sciences, arts, and humanities.
Crown is located on a hilltop surrounded by a redwood forest. The core buildings consist of an administration office, dining commons, lounge spaces, study spaces, faculty offices, and classrooms built around a large patio and central fountain. The award-winning architecture with its white walls and high-pitched tiled roofs suggests a hillside Mediterranean village. The college’s residential facilities house approximately 800 students. The facilities at Crown College were built through a partnership of public funds and a gift from the Crown Zellerbach Foundation.
Academic Emphases
From the time of its founding in 1967, issues pertaining to the role of science and technology in society have been a focus of special interest at Crown College. We approach these issues from an interdisciplinary perspective that recognizes the influence of social and cultural factors on the scientific enterprise, as well as the ways in which science and technology influence our society.
More recently, Crown is adding an entrepreneurship and innovation component through its partnership with the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development (CIED). This partnership includes co-sponsoring talks and slams as well as a summer class in entrepreneurship.
Additional information about Crown College academics, including Core Course requirements and other academic programs, is available here.
College Community and Facilities
Crown sponsors a wide variety of co-curricular events spanning cultural, educational, and social areas of interest. One popular series is the Science/Public Affairs Tables, informal dinners at the Provost House offering students an opportunity to socialize with a faculty member outside the classroom and learn about their research interests.
Students become involved in Crown life by both initiating and participating in a wide range of activities. Social activities vary each year according to the interests of students. Typical events include College Nights, themed dinners with special menus and entertainment that are open only to the Crown community; dances, including the Glow Dance and the Crown/Merrill Semi-Formal; and study breaks and stress relievers. Unique to Crown, and a collaboration between student and academic life, the Social Fiction Conference examines issues of social justice in the ever-changing context of science fiction, fantasy, gaming, and anime.
Outdoor activities organized by the student senate, the College Programs Office, or residential staff range from whale watching on the Monterey Bay to visiting the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and from backpacking to stargazing.
Crown Student Senate (CSS), the elected student government at Crown, holds open weekly meetings to determine funding allocations for student activities and to discuss issues of concern to students and the college. CSS also sponsors events to entertain, including the very popular Casino Night.
At Crown College, we believe that the experience of living in our on-campus residence halls and apartments offers students not only support for their academic experiences, but also unique opportunities for learning about the concept of community. When college students feel connected to a community during their studies, they experience a smoother transition to university life, greater academic success, and higher satisfaction with their college experience. The Crown Residential Education team understands community not as a product we can deliver to our students, but as an experience that they are responsible for creating for and with each other. Even so, we do not ask our students to undertake this weighty task on their own. The Residential Education team partners with students, striving to be “good companions” on their journey by facilitating experiences that help them to cultivate and apply the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to create, participate in, and lead caring and socially just communities.
Crown offers two types of residential facilities: residence halls and apartments. Eight traditional residence halls each house approximately 80 students in single and triple rooms in a coed environment (single-gender bedrooms with all gender bathrooms) or on a few all-female floors. For students interested in living and learning in a special-interest environment, Crown provides the Gaming House, Outdoor Pursuits House, and College Scholars and Science Learning Communities.
The college also has apartments for approximately 270 continuing students. Like the residence halls, the apartments are built on a small scale. Each three-story building has two or three apartments per floor that house four to six students in a combination of single, double, and triple rooms and include a kitchen, living room, dining room, bathroom, and outside deck.
Other facilities in the college include the Crown Library study space; a computer laboratory with Mac workstations, which provides students with access to several kinds of systems and an array of applications and instructional software selected to support academic coursework; the Fireside Lounge with a piano and a television; and the Music Practice Room. The Crown-Merrill Community Room, with a television, pool table, foosball, and ping-pong table, provides an informal place to study or just visit with friends. Dining facilities boast continuous dining and Banana Joe’s take-out and quick mart.
For general information, call the College Office at (831) 459-2665 or visit the Crown College website. For residential information, call the Housing and Residential Education Office at (831) 459-5689.
Crown Fellows and Staff
Crown College faculty fellows are listed on the college's faculty directory.
Crown College staff are listed on the college's staff page.