Centennial Scripps Archives | Page 4 of 6

April 23, 2025

1976

John H. Chandler is appointed president of Scripps College, serving until 1989. The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference begins sponsorship of women’s sports. The existing Claremont Men’s College/Harvey Mudd competitive athletics program expands to include students from Scripps. The new program, CMS, chooses the team names the Athenas (women’s teams).

1975

In spring, Scripps’ student-run campus coffeehouse, The Motley to the View, opens its doors for business. Over the years, the Motley has changed venues from Balch Hall to the basement of Old Lang to the Frankel-Routt complex, and finally to its current location in Malott Commons.

1972

Scripps honors its first president, Ernest J. Jaqua, by renaming the central grassed area Jaqua Court and Quadrangle. The primary green remains a gathering place for residents and visitors alike, and it is the site for several annual College events during Fall Orientation, Family Weekend, and Commencement, among others.

1970

Bette Cree Edwards Humanities Building opens to serve as the principal classroom facility for the campus and the interdisciplinary Humanities Program. It is named for Bette Cree Edwards ’49, a former member of the Board of Trustees.

1969

During the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, Claremont feels the explosion of two bombs, one in Balch Hall and the other in Pomona College’s Carnegie Hall. The bombings happen concurrent with teach-ins regarding the development of a Black Student Union on campus.

1966

To accommodate 200 new students, two new residence halls are built on the east side of campus, Frankel and Routt. Originally conceived as a single facility with three wings by architects Criley and McDowell, the structure was reconfigured to offer a greater variety of room arrangements (singles, doubles, triples, suites,..Read More

1964

Mark H. Curtis becomes Scripps’ president, serving from 1964 to 1976.

1963

Garrison Theater opens to provide a facility for all the Claremont Colleges to use for theatrical productions, concerts, movies, lectures, and other events. Longtime Scripps trustee Robert H. Garrison and his wife, Catherine Garrison, who graduated from Pomona College and Claremont Graduate University, provide the initial funding.

April 22, 2025

1960

Scripps’ fifth residence hall, Mary Kimberly Residence Hall, opens to students. The hall is funded in part by gifts from friends and trustees of Harvey Mudd College, whose female students are housed in Kimberly from 1960-1980.

1958

Designed by Smith and Williams of Pasadena, the Music Building opens with a recital hall seating 150, a music library, classrooms, practice rooms, and faculty offices. The hall is named in honor of pianist Lee Pattison, or “Mr. Pat” to students, a Scripps professor of music.