1927

Ernest J. Jaqua, for whom Jaqua Quadrangle is named, is elected the first president of Scripps. Jaqua recruits an initial faculty dominated by men, even though women trustees had requested that one-half of the faculty be female. In the fall, Scripps College opens. The College consists of three small cottages: one for classes, one for the library, and one for miscellaneous use. Eleanor Joy Toll Hall opens as the first building and residence hall in the Kaufmann plan. Eleanor Joy Toll was one of the original trustees and prominent leader of women’s interests, such as education, music, and civic progress, in Southern California. Professor Hartley Burr Alexander, a versatile philosopher and anthropologist from the University of Nebraska, and the Board of Trustees develop a two-year core humanities program focusing on the history of Western Civilization, a program that soon develops into the capstone program, “The Humanities: History of Occidental Culture.” The women trustees focus on building a curriculum with a strong emphasis in art, psychology, literature, and the social sciences. The tradition of afternoon tea begins and continues today, each Wednesday afternoon, in Seal Court. The “two cookies only” rule, enforced in early days, when high tea was observed in individual residence halls, is generally ignored today.