| OUR
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PAST |
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| 1901 |
Governor Henry Gage signs bill to establish the California Polytechnic School for men and women. |
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| First
Swiss-Italian student, Henry Pezzoni, enrolls in Cal Poly's first class. |
1903 |
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| 1903 |
First Woman Faculty: Gwendolyn Stewart, Household Arts | |||
| Sixty-two
students enrolled, including fourteen women. |
1904 | |||
| 1904 |
First Japanese-American Student: Eizo Kondo, Agriculture major; graduates in 1908. | |||
| First
women graduate with vocational diplomas: Laura & Irene Righetti, Lilian
Fox, and Katherine Twombly. |
1906 | |||
| 1907 |
First international exchange students: Jagot Bonohu Dev, Jogadish Goswami and Devendra Guha are sent by the Indian Government to study Agriculture. |
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| First
Latino-American students: Manuel Herrera from Morro Bay, Mechanics major;
Irene and Lily Guerra from Cambria, Household Arts. |
1908 | |||
| 1909 |
First Women's Basketball Team | |||
| First
female organization, the Amapola Club, founded with the help faculty member
Margaret Chase. |
1910 | |||
| 1912 |
First Filipino-American student: Alberto Concepcion, Mechanics major | |||
| First
exchange students from Mexico |
1912 | |||
| 1920s |
First Chinese-American students: Helen, Fred and Young Louis from a local San Luis Obispo merchant family | |||
| A
notation of Native American student enrolling in the post-war veterans'
education program |
1920s | |||
| 1921 |
An African-American Student enrolls in the postwar veterans' education program. | |||
| Female
students enroll in printing classes for the first time when budget cuts
eliminate Household Arts' program. |
1923 | |||
| 1927 |
School adds a two-year Junior College including studies in Engineering/Mechanics and Aeronautics. | |||
| Governor
Clement Calhoun Young approves legislative act to limit registration,
enrollment, and attendance to male students; legislative act proposed
due to funding shortage. |
1929 | |||
| 1930 |
Women students in attendance are no longer permitted to register, enroll, or attend Cal Poly after June 30. | |||
| Amelia
Earhart visits the campus to have her plane repaired. |
1936 | |||
| 1937 |
Governor Frank Merriam approves legislative act to repeal the act that limited the School to male students, but the repeal is not widely known. Cal Poly remains an all-male institution. | |||
| School
is authorized to grant Bachelor of Arts degree. |
1940 | |||
| 1940 |
Cal Poly implements war-preparedness training programs for men and women. | |||
| Twenty-four
Japanese-American students interned in relocation camps. Student Seirin
Ikeda sends letter from camp to agriculture instructor, Walter C. Patchett.
In his letter, Ikeda asks that copies of the student newspaper be sent
to him by the paper's advisor, Robert E. Kennedy. |
1942 | |||
| 1947 |
School renamed to California State Polytechnic College; Cal Poly also begins offering graduate programs in education. | |||
| Two
African-American male students join the Mustang Rally Committee, a student
spirit organization. |
1948 | |||
| 1951 |
African-American Frank Ross is one of four men to receive Cal Poly's first master's degrees at commencement. | |||
| State
Senator Alan A. Erhart lobbies President McPhee to readmit women. |
1954 | |||
| 1956 |
Female students are again admitted to Cal Poly. | |||
| First
Woman Receives BA degree: Elizabeth Hanlon, Education. |
1956 | |||
| 1956 |
First woman receives a Master's degree: Verna Rogers, Education | |||
| Women
make up 742 (16.5 percent) of the total 4,497 students enrolled in Fall
Quarter. |
1960 | |||
| 1960 |
Three African-American football team members—John Bell, Victor Hall and Curtis Hill—are killed along with 19 others when the plane carrying the Mustangs crashes on takeoff at the Toledo, Ohio, airport on October 29. | |||
| First
Woman Awarded Scholarship in Electronics: Linda R. Miller |
1961 | |||
| 1964 |
Foreign exchange student, Beatrice Lewanika of Kitwe, Zambia is a member of the Homecoming Court. | |||
| Sharon
Louise Granda becomes the first woman to receive an Industrial Engineering
degree. |
1965 |
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| 1966 |
Female student enrollment reaches 2,087 (27 percent) of 7740. | |||
| Cal
Poly 440 Relay Team (NCAA College Champions) includes three African-American
students: Ruben Smith, Cecil Turner and Jim Edmondson. |
1968 | |||
| 1972 |
MECHA (El Movimiento Estudantil Chicana Aztlan) is formed. | |||
| Society
of Black Engineers is formed. |
1978 |
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| 1978 |
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers is formed. |
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1978 |
First Chicano Commencement organized. | |||
| Society
of Women Engineers is formed. |
1979 | |||
| 1980s |
Multiple initiatives launched by the Colleges to increase minority enrollment include fellowships, scholarships, and outreach programs. | |||
| 1983 |
The Minority Engineering program established. | |||
| Society
of Black Engineers holds successful regional conference. |
1986 | |||
| 1987 |
Women's Engineering Program established. | |||
| Hall
of Fame established including first African-American man: Ozzie Smith,
Baseball ('74), and first woman: Karin Smith, Track & Field ('81). |
1987 | |||
| 1990 |
Ethnic Studies Program started by visiting scholar Robert Gish. | |||
| Chicano
Alumni Association holds first statewide meeting. |
1990 | |||
| 1991 |
American Indian Science and Engineering Society is formed. | |||
| Cal
Poly's Teacher Diversity Project creates diverse role models for students
to train minority students as teachers. |
1991 | |||
| 1992 |
HALP (Hispanic Agribusiness Leadership Program) is formed. | |||
| Cal
Poly professor assists effort to make San Luis Obispo home of the first
authentic Chinese garden in California to commemorate community contributions
of Chinese people. |
1992 | |||
| 1993 |
Mohinder Gill, Track & Field, ('68) from India is inducted into the Hall of Fame. | |||
| Ethnic
Studies Minor approved by the Academic Senate and endorsed by ASI. |
1994 | |||
| 1997 |
President Warren Baker establishes the first annual President's Diversity Award to acknowledge outstanding achievement in demonstrating the University's commitment to diversity. | |||
| Retention
and Outreach Center is funded by an ASI grant and President Baker to assist
with the retention of diverse student populations. |
1997 | |||
| 1999 |
First African-American woman is inducted into the Hall of Fame: Janet Benford, Track & Field ('74). | |||
| First
Blacks in Agriculture Awareness Day sponsored with the help of a San Luis
Obispo Chamber of Commerce Grant. |
2000 | |||
| 2000 |
Eduardo Labastida Ochoa from Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, Boxing (1950s) is inducted into the Hall of Fame. | |||
| The
Women's Engineering Program convenes its first Industry Advisory Council. |
2000 | |||
| 2000 |
Cal Poly ranks fourth nationwide in the number of engineering bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanics; the College of Engineering ranks first in California in numbers of Hispanic engineering and computer science grads. | |||
For questions and concerns about this site contact rrhenry@calpoly.edu
Last modified November 21, 2005