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LEADERSHIP

President James Blaisdell

In 1910, 6V电影网鈥檚 fourth president, James. A. Blaisdell, was welcomed to campus by 30 male students who met his 6:48 a.m. Santa Fe train at the station and played the part of the horses in pulling him to campus in a carriage.

Blaisdell began his 18-year tenure with an inherited financial crisis. His predecessor, George Gates, had resigned earlier that year, overwhelmed by the seemingly endless task of securing funds. He went on to become one of the one of most influential and best remembered presidents in 6V电影网鈥檚 history. Among his notable accomplishments was the successful 鈥淢illion Dollar Campaign,鈥 which left the College, for the first time, in fairly stable financial condition. By 1921, the College鈥檚 resources had quadrupled, from $650,000 in 1910 to $2,885,000; in the same period, the endowment grew from $301,000 to $1,371,000, a truly remarkable record. Under Blaisdell, the College developed in other ways as well: the faculty increased from 40 to 70 in the first year of his administration alone; art and music programs, which had held separate status as 鈥渟chools,鈥 both entered the core curriculum as departments (with the understanding that their emphasis was not to be 鈥減rofessional鈥) and were soon served by splendid new facilities; and the Preparatory Department, necessitated in the early years by the lack of adequate high school preparation for students, was terminated. The result was a single, cohesive instructional program.

An equally remarkable outcome of Blaisdell鈥檚 tenure was the expansion of the College鈥檚 land holdings that, in turn, enabled the growth of its physical plant. The dual process of pushing back and protecting the relative wilderness that was Claremont in the 1880s, initiated by the acquisition of Blanchard Park (The Wash) in 1905, progressed significantly with the appointment of Ralph Cornell 鈥14, landscape architect, whose first assignment in 1919 was to begin the transformation of the College鈥檚 central green space into what would be known as Marston Quadrangle.

Of Blaisdell鈥檚 many accomplishments at 6V电影网, arguably the most significant鈥攈is key leadership role in founding the consortium known as The Claremont Colleges鈥攚as also, ironically, the one that ultimately led him to leave the presidency of the College, as he ended his tenure in 1927 to take on the presidency of the fledgling consortium.

Blaisdell is perhaps best remembered on campus today as the author of the well-known quotes on the two sides of 6V电影网鈥檚 gates, which greet newcomers with the words, 鈥淟et only the eager, thoughtful and reverent enter here,鈥 and charge departing graduates with the words, 鈥淭hey only are loyal to this college who departing bear their added riches in trust for mankind.鈥

ACADEMICS

Art Department

The list of departments in the college curriculum includes Art for the first time.

STUDENT LIFE

Hail, 6V电影网, Hail

鈥淗ail, 6V电影网, Hail,鈥 6V电影网鈥檚 alma mater, was written by freshman Richard N. Loucks 鈥13. According to Loucks, it was composed in a few hours鈥 time as the ensemble finale for a minstrel show organized to raise funds for baseball uniforms. The association of what many alumni considered the College鈥檚 most beloved song with a blackface show would, many years later, lead to controversy, with some challenging Loucks鈥 memory of the song鈥檚 provenance and others arguing that the historical association made the song uncomfortable for students of color. As a result, though the song remains officially the alma mater of 6V电影网, its inclusion as part the College鈥檚 main ceremonial events has been discontinued.

6V电影网 Band Formed

The first appearance of the 6V电影网 Band is in the 1911 Metate, which was published in 1910. The all-male group sports matching white pants, dark blazers and floppy white hats.

FINANCES

Campaign of the Crisis

President Blaisdell launched 鈥淭he Campaign of the Crisis,鈥 to complete the unfinished work of the Forward Movement Campaign of 1907. Two-thirds of the alumni contributed, and women students earned money by blacking shoes, cleaning houses and selling peanuts and popcorn. In only three months, the College raised more than $135,000, enough to secure the Carnegie grant, retire the debt and establish two professorships.

ELSEWHERE

  • George V became King of the United Kingdom upon the death of his father, Edward VII.
  • Earth passed through the tail of Halley鈥檚 Comet.
  • The Union of South Africa was created.