College Timeline

Scripps and Pitzer Colleges celebrate the groundbreaking of the new science center on May 13. On July 1, Suzanne Keen begins her term as the 10th president of Scripps College.

A variety of sustainability efforts were implemented, including: solar panel installation on the Lang Arts building roof, the addition of smart meters on every building, LED retrofits in all residence halls’ browsing rooms, and upgrading life-cycled boilers with low-emission replacements. The College celebrated the 50th anniversaries of Chicano Latino Student Affairs..Read More

The College’s new strategic plan, the Scripps Centennial Plan, is developed. The campaign for Scripps College: More Scripps is the most successful campaign in Scripps’ history, raising $179M.

Lara Tiedens is appointed the College’s 9th president by a unanimous vote of the Board of Trustees. Scripps’ tenth residence hall, NEW Hall, opens to new and returning students.

The Katharine Howard Miller ’55 Wing of the Bette Cree Edwards ’49 Humanities Building opens during the summer break.

Scripps College Academy celebrates 10 years of successful year-round programming for middle and high school young women.

Scripps College Academy receives National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the highest recognition given to youth programs, in a White House ceremony. Elizabeth Turk ’83 wins MacArthur “Genius” Award.

The Sallie Tiernan Field House opens its doors to students, faculty, and staff.

Sallie Tiernan Field House, a state-of-the-art recreational and athletic facility to be located next to the swimming pool on the east side of campus. The Board of Trustees approves the strategic plan, “Scripps College in the Next Decade: Leading with Excellence,” which focuses on academic excellence and women’s leadership.

The most ambitious fundraising campaign in Scripps history surpasses its original $85 million goal with gifts and pledges totaling over $101 million. Over 87% of Scripps alumnae contributed to the Campaign for the Scripps Woman, which began its public phase in 1999 and concluded June 30, 2004. Scripps College Landscape..Read More

Scripps celebrates its 75th Anniversary with yearlong events: the Bradford Blaine Faculty Lecture Series; a Distinguished Speaker Series that includes Dr. Susan Love, financial guru Susie Orman, renowned author Sandra Cisneros, political commentator Molly Ivins, and pioneering architect Norma Sklarek; and the Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Inaugural Lecture featuring former President of..Read More

Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Hall opens to students. Named for alumna Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler ’72, who provided key guidance to architects on this project in addition to supporting student scholarship programs, an endowed faculty chair in contemporary European studies, a lecture series at the European Union Center of California, as well as other..Read More

Quotes of famous women in the arts, letters, and sciences are chosen by a committee of students, faculty, and alumnae to line “Inscription Walk,” a pathway connecting the W.M. Keck Science Center to Scripps’ east side of campus. The walk features quotes by scientists Maxine Singer, Rachel Carson, Maria Mitchell..Read More

Nancy Y. Bekavac, graduate of Swarthmore College and Yale Law School, begins her term as Scripps College president, becoming the first woman fully appointed to this position.

Buildings and gardens at the center of Scripps campus are selected for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

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.

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. Architect John Carl Warneke combines modern forms with the traditional Mediterranean style of..Read More

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, and kitchenette apartments)..Read More

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.

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. The Caster Music Library..Read More

Alfredo Ramos Martinez, the “Father of the Mexican Mural Movement of the 20th Century,” is commissioned to create the Margaret Fowler Garden, “The Flower Vendors.” The entire composition is sketched on the plaster wall, which is over 100 feet long, and begins work on several panels. He falls ill and passes..Read More

With American involvement in World War II, the search for a new president of Scripps is temporarily halted and an interim female president is appointed: Mary Kimberly Shirk. Shirk, who was asked by the Board to “serve for a month or two,” remains in the position until the War concludes.

The President’s House is built, following Gordon Kaufmann’s design. The first six presidents of Scripps resided in this structure during their respective tenures. The 16 American elms that comprise Elm Tree Lawn and flank the walkway between the President’s House and Balch Auditorium are planted. Mrs. Denison donates the 21..Read More

In the summer, the central quadrangle is grassed, primarily due to the energy of two Grace Scripps Clark Hall residents from the class of 1936: Cynthia Criley Williams and Helen Ely Brill. In their sophomore year, the two women began an adamant “Grass Before We Graduate” campaign. For two years,..Read More

Mrs. Charles Stinchfield and a bequest from Mrs. Eldridge M. Fowler funds the donation of the Oratory, which features selections from Mrs. Fowler’s collection of antique Italian furniture and fine textiles. This Oratory later becomes a key part of Margaret Fowler Garden. Architect Gordon Kaufmann designs Margaret Fowler Garden, an..Read More

In June, the first class graduates from Scripps College on Bowling Green.

Designed by architect Sumner Hunt of Los Angeles, Janet Jacks Balch Hall is completed in fall and becomes the primary academic facility. The building is a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch of Los Angeles, and named in honor of trustee Janet Jacks Balch. Today Balch Hall is..Read More

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:..Read More

James A. Blaisdell, president of Pomona College, writes to Ellen Browning Scripps, of La Jolla, his hopes for a “group of institutions divided into small colleges—somewhat on the Oxford type.” Ellen Browning Scripps becomes one of the founders of a new corporation, named The Claremont Colleges. Indigenous Peoples The first..Read More