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===The Early Stages of the Polytechnic in Los Angeles County: Kellogg, Voorhis, and McPhee=== |
===The Early Stages of the Polytechnic in Los Angeles County: Kellogg, Voorhis, and McPhee=== |
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[[:Image:WkPortrait 01.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Will Keith Kellogg made generous donations to the California State University which prompted the eventual foundation of Cal Poly Pomona]] |
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In 1925 industrialist and food manufacturer [[Will Keith Kellogg]], known for pioneering the process of making baked [[cereal]], purchased {{convert|377|acre|km2}} of land in [[Pomona, California|Pomona]] for $250,000<ref name="CPP History">{{cite web | title= History of Cal Poly Pomona | url= http://www.csupomona.edu/cpp_history.php|format=HTML| work= [[California State Polytechnic University, Pomona|Cal Poly Pomona]] | accessdate=2008-11-14}}</ref> and turned it into a world-renowned horse ranch to start an [[Arabian horse]] breeding program, which today remains the oldest in the United States and the fifth largest in the country.<ref>{{cite web | title= Best Colleges | url= http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/items/1144|format=HTML| work= U.S. News and World Report | accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Kellogg's ranch eventually became so well-known around the area that even some [[Hollywood]] stars took time to frequent it.<ref> Roeder, Walter H. [http://www.csupomona.edu/~library/specialcollections/history/jadaan.html "Jadaan, The Sheik, and the Cereal Baron" Originally published in ''The Cal Poly Scholar,'' vol.1, (fall 1988) p.99-103]</ref> The first building erected contained the horse stables and it used to be located where the university plaza currently stands. |
In 1925 industrialist and food manufacturer [[Will Keith Kellogg]], known for pioneering the process of making baked [[cereal]], purchased {{convert|377|acre|km2}} of land in [[Pomona, California|Pomona]] for $250,000<ref name="CPP History">{{cite web | title= History of Cal Poly Pomona | url= http://www.csupomona.edu/cpp_history.php|format=HTML| work= [[California State Polytechnic University, Pomona|Cal Poly Pomona]] | accessdate=2008-11-14}}</ref> and turned it into a world-renowned horse ranch to start an [[Arabian horse]] breeding program, which today remains the oldest in the United States and the fifth largest in the country.<ref>{{cite web | title= Best Colleges | url= http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/items/1144|format=HTML| work= U.S. News and World Report | accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Kellogg's ranch eventually became so well-known around the area that even some [[Hollywood]] stars took time to frequent it.<ref> Roeder, Walter H. [http://www.csupomona.edu/~library/specialcollections/history/jadaan.html "Jadaan, The Sheik, and the Cereal Baron" Originally published in ''The Cal Poly Scholar,'' vol.1, (fall 1988) p.99-103]</ref> The first building erected contained the horse stables and it used to be located where the university plaza currently stands. |
Revision as of 03:10, 15 November 2008
History
The Origin of Polytechnic Schools in California
The history of the university dates back to the origin of the first campus in San Luis Obispo, California. On March 8, 1901, California Governor Henry Gage signed the California Polytechnic School Bill that established the polytechnic institution today is known as the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo).[1] The school's initial premise was to furnish "to young people of both sexes mental and manual training in the arts and sciences, including agriculture, mechanics, engineering, business methods, domestic economy and other branches as will fit the students for non-professional walks of life". Two years later, on September 30, 1903, the school started offering high school-level classes to its first class of 20 all-male students. In 1924 full institutional control was shifted to the California State Board of Education and in 1933 the institution’s academical level was changed to that of a two-year technical or vocational college. Five years after the academic objectives were redrawn, the campus received its first million-dollar gift from Charles and Jerry Voorhis when they donated their Southern California ranch for use as a horticultural training center.[2] In 1942, the scholastic focus was again modified and the campus started offering to a Bachelor’s-level programs. After long period of financial struggles due the upheavals brought by the events that occurred during World War II the college increased its enrollment, in significant part, due to the passage of the [Servicemen's Readjustment Act (USA)|GI Bill]] of 1944 which set in motion a rise in college enrollments that necessitated an expansion of the state university system in California. In 1947 the campus changed its name to California State Polytechnic College to better reflect its educational offerings.[3]
The Early Stages of the Polytechnic in Los Angeles County: Kellogg, Voorhis, and McPhee
In 1925 industrialist and food manufacturer Will Keith Kellogg, known for pioneering the process of making baked cereal, purchased 377 acres (1.53 km2) of land in Pomona for $250,000[4] and turned it into a world-renowned horse ranch to start an Arabian horse breeding program, which today remains the oldest in the United States and the fifth largest in the country.[5] Kellogg's ranch eventually became so well-known around the area that even some Hollywood stars took time to frequent it.[6] The first building erected contained the horse stables and it used to be located where the university plaza currently stands. On May 17, 1932 a crowd of more that 20,000 spectators converged on the ranch to witness Kellogg’s donation of his Arabian Horse Ranch, which had grown to 750 acres (3.0 km2), which even included 87 horses, to the California State University system. In return for the generous grant, the University agreed to keep the Arabian horses and to continue the Sunday Horse shows. During World War II, on October 28, 1943 the ranch was taken over by the U.S. War Department and was known as the Pomona Quartermaster Depot (Remount).[7]
In 1928, a retired automotive executive named Chales B. Voorhis founded a college specializing in educating young, underprivileged male students in San Dimas, California. He was known for having donated over $3 million to various charitable institutions. It operated until 1938 when the Voorhis School for Boys was acquired by the state of California and later became part of the California Polytechnic School in San Luis Obispo, and in 1949, Kellogg's ranch was acquired as well.[8]
In 1933, Julian McPhee, assumed the presidency of the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. McPhee was known for his firm fiscal policy and he is often credited for saving the University during the years of the great depression. After those bleak years, McPhee's vision of expanding Cal Poly to Southern California came close to reality.[9]
The Polytechnic Expands to Southern California
Plagued with financial problems, Voorhis was forced to close his doors only ten years after he had opened his facility. The demise of the facility gave McPhee the opportunity to expand Cal Poly Pomona. In August 1938, Charles Voorhis donated his facility as a gift to what is today the California State University System. In the same year, McPhee’s request for the land was approved and the entire horticulture program was moved from San Luis Obispo to the new Southern California campus.[10]
Further expansion was halted by the onset of World War II. The southern Cal Poly campus was closed when the majority of its students were called into active duty and the former Kellogg ranch was transformed into an Army remount station. After the war, the ranch faced an uncertain future, but in 1949 the 813-acre (3.29 km2) W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Ranch was deeded to the state, a proposal to which Kellogg foundation agreed, provided the Sunday horse shows returned.
In 1956, the first classes were held on the campus in the present-day science building. Six programs in agriculture, leading to four Bachelor of Science degrees, were offered. In the class of 1957, 57 agricultural majors were the first graduates of Cal Poly Pomona. By 1959, the curricula of the college included six degree programs in the arts and sciences and four in their nationally recognized engineering program.
Independence from the polytechnic school in San Luis Obispo
Cal Poly Pomona broke off from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1966, becoming a separate campus of the California State University system.[11] The independent campus becomes the "California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg-Voorhis", and the 16th campus in the CSU system.[4]
Profound Changes Occur
Many changes occurred in 1961 which affected Cal Poly Pomona radically. One of the changes included in the Master Plan for Higher Education established the California State College System with its own Board of Trustees, and 329 women enrolled at the University for the first time.[4] In that same year, the Legislature enacted Education Code Section 22606, which identified the primary function of the State College as “...the provision of instruction for undergraduate students and graduate students, through the master’s degree, in the liberal arts and sciences, in applied fields and in the professions, including the teaching profession.”[12]
The Legislature recognized the special responsibility of this institution as a “polytechnic college” by adding Education Code 40051 which authorized the college to emphasize “...the applied fields of agriculture, business, home economics, and other occupational and professional fields.”
In 1966, the California State Polytechnic College, Kellogg-Voorhis, was established as a separate institution from the San Luis Obispo school. Both campuses were awarded full university status in 1972. On June 1, 1972, the campus name was officially changed to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. In 1982, The California State University and Colleges became The California State University.
The college has gone through tremendous growth in the last fifty years, with the construction of the CLA Building and new College of Engineering facilities and the addition of innovative programs such as the Center for Regenerative Studies and the I-Poly High School. Cal Poly Pomona's biggest project, as of 2008, is a $58.5 million library expansion dubbed “Phase 1 – The Next Chapter”. This phase will add 101,853 ft (31,045 m)2 and will provide interior renovation to the first three floors of the existing six-story building as well as a 24-hour research lab and a full-service Starbucks coffeehouse.[13] According to university spokesperson Uyen Mai, "At this time the university is focused on the renovation of buildings 1 and 3 to create more classroom space. We're also in the early phase of design for new student housing to accommodate another 800 students as well as a new building for one of our biggest colleges, the College of Business." In addition, the school just completed its first parking structure adding 2,378 new parking spaces.[14] Currently, Cal Poly Pomona is a nationally and internationally recognized institution with approximately 19,800 students and 2,640 faculty and staff members.
- ^ "F.A. Hihn an the founding of California Polytechnic School at San Luis Obispo" (PDF). F. A. Hihn and the Founding of California Polytechnic School at San Luis Obispo. p. 27. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
- ^ http://www.lib.calpoly.edu/universityarchives/history/timeline/
- ^ "University History" (HTML). Alumni Association at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
- ^ a b c "History of Cal Poly Pomona" (HTML). Cal Poly Pomona. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
- ^ "Best Colleges" (HTML). U.S. News and World Report. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
- ^ Roeder, Walter H. "Jadaan, The Sheik, and the Cereal Baron" Originally published in The Cal Poly Scholar, vol.1, (fall 1988) p.99-103
- ^ "Highlights of Cal Poly Pomona History" (HTML). Windt im Wald Farm. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
- ^ "Explore Campuses - Cal Poly Pomona" (HTML). CSU Mentor. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
- ^ "Faculty Resources Guide" (PDF). Faculty Ceter for Professional Development at Cal Poly Pomona. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Campus History
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Historic Milestones" (HTML). California State University Public Affairs. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
- ^ "California State Polytechnic University, Pomona" (PDF). University Administration at Cal Poly Pomona. p. 15. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
- ^ "Project Impacts". University Library at Cal Poly Pomona. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ^ "New 750,000-square-foot (70,000 m2) Parking Structure Opens". PolyCentric. April 29, 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-01.