Founded as Third College in 1970 amid the student activism of the period, TMC's original aim was to help students understand their own community through a critical examination of diversity and community in the United States. Marshall College's required writing program is called Dimensions of Culture (DOC), and is a 3 quarter (1 year) sequence that explores race, identity, imagination, tradition, and the law in the United States. During President Obama's administration, the White House honored UC San Diego and Marshall College's Public Service minor and charter school outreach as exemplary community service institutions serving the United States.