Students move onto Malibu campus
date Wednesday, September 6, 1972
location Malibu
A student moving into the new dorms on the Malibu campus, Sept. 6, 1972. Student moving into new Malibu dormitories, 1972, Sept. 1972, p. (Pepperdine University Archives Photograph Collection)
The dream of Pepperdine Malibu became a reality on September 6, 1972, the day students first descended on the 490-acre campus.1 The fall enrollment of about 850 included 475 freshmen, the largest class of first-year students in the school's history to that point. There was only room in the newly built dorms for 500 students.2
The campus they arrived to was only barely ready in time: just days earlier the campus had been connected to sewer service, and the gas wasn't turned on until after students began moving in.3 The main parking lot was paved the day before move-in, and lighting in the library was inadequate for at least the first month.2
The campus effectively remained a construction zone for some time. Stauffer Chapel, the Phillips Theme Tower, and Firestone Fieldhouse were all under construction (and would remain so for quite a while). More dorms were being put up as quickly as possible to accommodate the larger-than-expected incoming class.
Sources
- Pepperdine University Student Handbook, 1972-1973, 1972, p. 10 (Pepperdine University Archives Student Life Collection)
- The Graphic, 10/6/72, p. 1 (Pepperdine University Archives)
- Baird, 2016, p. 315 (Pepperdine University Press)