Bomb threat at Appleby Center dedication
date Sunday, April 9, 1972
location Malibu
The Appleby Center c. 1973, before the construction of the Weisman Museum or the CAC. Appleby Center for American Studies on Pepperdine University's Malibu campus, circa 1973, 1973, p. (Pepperdine University Archives Photograph Collection)
A bomb threat didn't disturb the crowd of 1,000 that gathered for the dedication of the Jerene Appleby Harnish Center for American Studies, which would serve as the headquarters for the social sciences division on the new Malibu campus.1 The 25,000-square-foot building, which was only about 60% finished, was funded by a million-dollar donation from Harnish, a newspaper publisher.1 Authorities were notified of a bomb-threat called in by "some creep" who probably "didn't like Dr. S. I. Hayakawa or the conservatively-oriented Pepperdine,"2 but the event proceeded without interruption.
The ceremony featured a speech by Hayakawa, the controversial president of San Francisco State College, titled, "American Tradition in Higher Education." Music was provided by the Agoura High School band.3
The dedication ceremony took place on April 9,1 not April 24, as Baird says.4
Sources
- The Graphic, 4/6/72, p. 1 (Pepperdine University Archives)
- The Malibu Times, 4/14/72, p. 2 (Pepperdine University Archives)
- The Malibu Times, 4/14/72, p. 1 (Pepperdine University Archives)
- Baird, 2016, p. 295 (Pepperdine University Press)
