CAMPUS

Holmes Hall Enlarged

Under President Gates, a new period of campus expansion began with a renovation and enlargement of Holmes Hall, expanding the size of the chapel and adding two music rooms.

STUDENT LIFE

Associated Students

The student government organization, Associated Students of Pomona College, was formed in 1904, and Frank Seaver 1905 was elected as its first president. Seaver would go on to become one of Pomona’s most important trustees and, arguably, the most influential donor in its history.

Prohibition League

The 1905 Metate (published by the junior class in 1904) includes the first appearance of the Pomona College Prohibition League, a student organization working to “prohibit the liquor traffic.” Part of the Intercollegiate Prohibition Association, the organization was an example of the growing influence of the Temperance Movement in the country at the time, which would ultimately result in the prohibition of alcohol with the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1919.

DIVERSITY

First Black Graduate

Winston M.C. Dickson 1904 of Houston, Texas, became the first African American to graduate from Pomona College. After studying law at Harvard Law School and Boston Law School, he returned to his hometown of Houston, where he would practice law until his death in 1959. Though his presence on campus seemed to indicate an openness to diversity, very few African American students would follow in his footsteps until the 1960s.

FINANCES

Carnegie Request

Inspired by Andrew Carnegie’s mammoth program of library building around the country (eventually he would provide funds for a total of 2,505 libraries), the Board of Trustees voted to ask Carnegie for $30,000 to $40,000 for a new library. Almost a year later, Carnegie offered the College $40,000, provided that the institution would raise an equal amount for building maintenance and endowment.

ATHLETICS

North Versus South

In spring 1904, Pomona’s track team participated in track meets with Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, the first such athletic meeting between schools from Northern and Southern California.

Greatest Margin of Victory

The football team recorded its largest margin of victory in a 95-2 win over St. Vincent's.

ELSEWHERE

The Entente Cordiale was signed between Britain and France.

Construction of the Panama Canal began.

In New York City, the first New Year's Eve celebration was held in Times Square.