With memories of living on a womenless campus to working for wages under a dollar, graduates from 1955 and prior returned to Cal Poly this weekend for the Homecoming 2005 Grand Reunion.
Budget cuts in 1923 restricted female students from all studies except printing classes and seven years later were excluded entirely, according to university archives. This placed the class of 1955 in an era of Cal Poly history marked by all-male enrollment as women were not admitted back until one year later, in 1956.
Invited by the Alumni Association, about 75 classmates traveled from across the country to their alma mater accompanied by their wives and friends, said Rosey Parks, associate director of Alumni Relations. Nearly 20 of them are part of the Golden Anniversary Class of 1955.
Reunioners, some possibly dating back to the class of 1937, rekindled old friendships and were excited to see the changes that have taken place on campus, Parks said.
Garald “Gary” Pettersen, a 1950 husbandry graduate from Gridley, Calif., said the campus layout was not the same as he remembered.
“Everything is different,” he said. “There’s hardly a building left and the streets aren’t even the same.”
Pettersen said some of his favorite memories were out on the football field, supporting Cal Poly’s team as the 1948 “head yell leader,” on the Mustang Rally Committee, which livened the crowds with school spirit.
“Being here is bringing back great memories for them,” Parks said. “They have lots of good stories to share with one another.”
Prior to attending the reunion, the Alumni Association gathered short biographies of alumni so reunioners could do some background homework on their classmates and read what others have been up to over the years, Parks said.
Richard Canzoneri, a 1954 math engineering and math graduate of Bradbury, Calif. said in his biography that “being dormed at Camp San Luis Obispo was a kick.”
James Coleman, a 1948 ornamental horticulture graduate of Sunnyvale, Calif. watched the World War II veterans return to campus to pursue education and settle back into normal life, according to his biography. “Few bad war stories were told, even from prisoners of war – everyone was eager about their studies.” He also said in the biography with a post-war student population of about 1800 men, “it was rumored women would return to campus only when proper separate facilities could be constructed with high barbed wire fence surrounding the structure!”
Dinner for $1, part-time wages of 80 cents per hour and visiting Hearst Castle before it opened were memories David Paradise, a 1952 mechanical engineering graduate from Prescott, Ariz. held dear in his biography.
Other fond accounts included picnicking with past university president Julian McPhee, moonlight bonfires on Morro Strand, singing and traveling with Glee Club, playing in the band, “The Collegians,” and recruiting ladies from Santa Barbara to attend dances with, according to other biographical passages.
From Thursday to Sunday, classmates were bussed around town and took part in evening receptions marked by each college, the annual tailgate barbeque and wine tasting, “Back to Class” sessions that included tours of current engineering facilities, KCPR and CPTV studios, a class discussion on Freakonomics ” How economics can be applied to address real world issues, and ended with an all-alumni breakfast, featuring a special tribute to the Grand Reunion classmates, Parks said.
The first Homecoming weekend was publicized in the 1924 edition of Mustang Daily, then called PolyGram, according to university archives. The headline read, “Homecoming Day: Large Attendance is Looked For and An Enjoyable Time Assured.”