The History of
Chapman University

The Early Years
Global Outreach
Building on Excellence

Chapman University is one of the oldest, most prestigious private universities in California, and the largest independent university in Orange County. Known for its blend of liberal arts and professional programs, Chapman offers a breadth of fields typically reserved for much larger institutions. Today, the university comprises seven distinguished schools and colleges, including an ABA- and AALS-accredited law school and a state-of-the-art film school.

The Early Years
Chapman University was founded as Hesperian College in Woodland, Calif., on March 4, 1861. The institution's founders were members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), who believed in equal education for males and females of all races. Unfortunately, around the turn of the century, as California started offering free public education, many private schools were forced to close, including Hesperian in 1895. The following year, the Disciples founded the Berkeley Bible Seminary at UC Berkeley, which incorporated the assets of Hesperian. But by 1912, the seminary's population had dwindled to 35 students, so the church decided to transfer its remaining assets to a new Disciples college in Los Angeles. The principal benefactor for the school was Charles Clarke Chapman, an Illinois native who found great success in Southern California as a real estate investor, producer and marketer of Valencia oranges, as well as a politician and avid supporter of the Disciples.

By 1920, Mr. Chapman had raised more than $825,000 for the new college (donating $400,000 himself), which incorporated under the name California Christian College. Mr. Chapman's continued philanthropic efforts with the L.A.-based college through the Great Depression led its Board of Trustees to officially change the institution’s name to Chapman College at the 1934 commencement. Mr. Chapman later wrote: "Every time my eyes fall upon the printed words—Chapman College—or my ears hear the announcement over the radio or I hear the name spoken by anyone, I experience a thrill. At times, this honor seems only a dream."

However, the Depression left Chapman College financially insolvent and World War II devastated its student body, leaving only 80 part-time students by the spring of 1942. In an effort to turn things around, the Board dismissed the college’s faculty and appointed alumnus George Reeves '27 as president of Chapman. President Reeves immediately moved Chapman’s classes to facilities at Whittier College for the next three years while Chapman earned income to help pay off the college's debts by renting its campus to the U.S. Navy.

After the war, Chapman's student population increased, and the college began looking for additional space. When the Orange Unified School District announced plans to build a new high school, Chapman purchased the old Orange Union High School campus located at Glassell and Palm, the current location of the university. Chapman moved from Los Angeles to the city of Orange in 1954, becoming the first accredited four-year college in Orange County. (Built in 1904, the old high school facility is one of the few remaining examples of neoclassical architecture in Southern California. Currently, five of Chapman's buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places; excluding renovation and earthquake retrofitting, the west end of the campus remains much the same as it was nearly a century ago.)

Global Outreach
Two innovative programs brought worldwide attention to Chapman and helped initiate the concept of global education, which is still a major emphasis of the university today. The first of these programs began in 1958 when Chapman professors started teaching at the nearby El Toro Marine Base to meet the needs of military personnel. It wasn’t long before other military facilities were asking for classes, and Chapman’s Residence Education Center Program expanded by adding civilian centers, as well as offering educational opportunities in other states, in Japan and on naval ships. These academic centers were consolidated in the 1990s under the College of Lifelong Learning, which was headquartered on the Orange campus. Then in 2001, the program became Chapman University College, which currently comprises 26 satellite campuses throughout California and Washington state.

The other program, World Campus Afloat, began in the fall of 1965 as the Seven Seas Program. Chapman kept the program running for a decade by renting a commercial ship that took students on study tours, some of them around the world. Now, thanks to educational partnerships with universities around the globe, Chapman students can choose to study almost anywhere in the world, including Africa, Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Europe and Latin America. Over the years, Chapman has also made a concerted effort to bring top-notch international students and professors to campus.

Building on Excellence
Chapman’s School of Business and Management (now the George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics) was created in 1977. The annual economic forecasts produced by the school's A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research are still used by business and government agencies throughout California and the U.S. as a financial gauge for the upcoming year.

In the spring of 1991, Chapman College officially changed its name to Chapman University, reflecting Chapman's tremendous academic development since the 1960s. The new university's various disciplines were then grouped into schools or colleges. This change also launched the university's meteoric growth during the 1990s, with many new buildings added to the campus and the return of football to Chapman after a 62-year absence.

Chapman's newest school, the School of Law, opened its doors in the fall of 1995 with 211 students and 10 full-time faculty members. It received full approval from the American Bar Association (ABA) in 2002 and accreditation from the prestigious American Association of Law Schools (AALS) in 2006. Now housed within the Donald P. Kennedy Hall, the 10th anniversary of the law school was celebrated in 2005 with a visit from U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.

Then in 1999, Chapman launched its largest fundraising effort—a $200 million comprehensive campaign for facilities, programs and endowments—which surpassed its goal and drew in $214 million by the time it ended in May 2002. The funds raised helped make 2004 a milestone year for the university, bringing four new buildings to campus: the Leatherby Libraries, the Fish Interfaith Center, Oliphant Hall (for the College of Performing Art's Conservatory of Music) and the Glass Residence Hall. Additionally, philanthropist Marion Knott donated $5 million to help fund the 76,000-square-foot Marion Knott Studios, which opened in the fall of 2006 as the home of the Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, following a significant $20 million gift from the Dodges. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger even participated in groundbreaking ceremonies for the new film school building in 2005. The university also recently completed the Erin J. Lastinger Athletics Complex, which was made possible with a generous $6 million gift from alumna Erin J. Lastinger ’88. The complex features an aquatics center with an Olympic-sized pool, new stadiums, an athletics pavilion and much more. The first part of the complex, the Holly and David Wilson Field, opened in the fall of 2006 atop the university’s new two-story subterranean parking facility.

Since becoming a university in 1991, enrollment at Chapman has grown by more than 40 percent, yet Chapman still maintains a full-time faculty-to-undergraduate student ratio of 15:1 at its Orange campus. But no matter how much Chapman continues to grow, it will always stay true to its mission of providing a personalized education that builds global citizens.