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Class of ’39 Relives Pomp, Circumstance

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Times Staff Writer

Helen Waters Bamber zipped up the flowing black gown, then adjusted her mortarboard.

Its silk tassel hung limply over her left ear. But, she wondered, inspecting herself in the mirror, was it supposed to hang to the right?

Sunday. Graduation Day, 1989.

Bamber and 22 of her classmates had crowded into a conference room at Chapman College’s Memorial Hall to dress for commencement.

From their nervous chatter (“This robe is hot!” “What do I do with the tassel?”) they sounded like typical graduating seniors.

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But Bamber and many of her classmates were 71 years old. Several were accompanied by their grandchildren. And all had originally graduated from Chapman in 1939.

Now, as part of their 50th reunion, they had met at the liberal arts college in Orange to “re-graduate”--to march in Chapman’s commencement and accept from college President James L. Doti a certificate that proclaimed them members of the “50 Year Club.”

Bamber called Sunday’s experience a little scary--although “not quite as scary as the first time.”

“It’s also a happy occasion,” she said. “A time to renew old friendships. That’s the best part.”

Agreed Helen Mills Jenkins, another ‘39er: “This is great. I’m just happy to have lived long enough to go through this.”

Later Sunday under pure blue skies, the class of ’39 marched across Chapman’s Sunken Lawn to accept their certificates. Graduating with them were 131 students who received master’s degrees and 310 who earned bachelor’s degrees.

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Chapman awarded an honorary degree, doctor of human letters, to film director Frank Capra. His grandson, Frank Capra III, accepted the degree on his grandfather’s behalf. English major Christie Price won the school’s highest award, the Cheverton Trophy, and presented the student address.

In baccalaureate ceremonies held just before commencement, Dr. James I. Spainhowever, president of the division of higher education for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), gave an address entitled “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” And Andrea L. Van de Kamp, president of the Independent Colleges of Southern California, gave a commencement address entitled “Pushing Back Horizons.”

The Class of ‘39, meanwhile, was concentrating less on horizons than on the good times past.

Chapman was very different in the old days--a small Christian school of 200 students located on the outskirts of Hollywood, the ‘39ers said.

When they started college during the Depression, nearly every student had to work part time to afford Chapman’s tuition-- $175 a year--remembered Donald C. Bridgman, a retired educator from Laguna Hills and president of the class of ’39.

“We were Depression kids,” Bridgman said, and the Depression shaped their lives. “We didn’t produce lawyers, engineers. We were teachers, social workers, ministers, professional church workers . . . members of the ‘helping profession.’ ”

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Retired schoolteacher Margaret Goodwall Silva agreed. “The college was dedicated to service of others,” she said. “The emphasis was not on money.”

At the same time, “we had a marvelous time,” Silva said. “There weren’t any panty raids but there were pranks; on special occasions, someone would get in your room and pull everything out of the drawers. . . . And the fellows would serenade us at night.”

An imposing woman named Freda Hatsfield ruled the girls’ dorm, maintaining a 10:30 p.m. curfew and “guarding the virtue of our ladies,” Bridgman recalled.

“I always felt that was unfair,” interrupted classmate Janet Parker. “The boys didn’t have any restrictions.”

But according to Silva, the curfew didn’t really cramp a girl’s style. “Some of us broke a good many rules,” she said with a smile. “But we all managed.”

All in all, it was a fine little college, said Los Angeles chiropractor Armour Guyer, who commuted to Chapman from his home in Silver Lake in a Ford Model A. Guyer said he always liked Chapman for “the small classes, the good professors.”

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Although Chapman is bigger and more expensive now--about 2,400 students are enrolled, paying tuition of $11,200 a year--Guyer said he’s still very proud of his alma mater. “I come out here quite a bit--to hear the economic forecast talks. You get more value from a small college than a big university like University of Southern California or (University of) Michigan. You don’t have that lost feeling.”

Also, Guyer said, “it’s nice to be graduating a second time.”

Bridgman agreed. “It’s great that the college acknowledges us after all these years,” he said. “This is the ultimate in recycling.”

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