The Cal Poly Women’s Club can look back on 82 years of history.  First known as The Ladies’ Faculty Club, the group was formed in September 1924.  Cal Poly President’s wife Mrs. B.R. Crandall, served as the Club’s first president.  The 20 original members, all faculty wives, met in homes until 1928 when the ladies held their first meeting on campus in the newly completed Crandall Gym.

Faculty women joined the wives in 1929. By that time, meetings were moved from the gym. The gym was considered something of a sacred sanctum of the male athletes and not opened willingly to groups of the female persuasion.  The year 1929 also saw women students banned from classes not to return until 1956.

The Club drafted its first Bylaws in 1940 and changed its name to California Polytechnic Women’s Club (CPWC).  Membership eligibility was expanded to include all women connected with faculty and staff.  For a brief period between 1976 and 1979 the name was changed to California Polytechnic Wives’ Club in compliance with Title IX which stated “there must be no discrimination by sex.”

Campus lawyers felt the name change was proper and men employed as Poly faculty and staff were invited to join. With a relaxation in campus rulings, the name was reinstated in 1979 to California Polytechnic Women’s Club.

The Club held its first “function” in 1931, a Christmas party for children of Poly families. This became a tradition for a number of years.  Interest sections were formed in 1937 to provide cultural and social activities for members. The first section, Books, was soon followed by Home Economics in 1940 and Music in 1941. Over the years, there have been a wide variety of sections, including such specialized interests as folk dancing, choral, and travel.  The number and type of sections fluctuates yearly according to member interest.

During its 82 year history, CPWC has met in a number of places both on and off campus; however, a special bond developed between CPWC and the Music Department during Harold P. Davidson’s tenure at Cal Poly. Quarters were shared with the Music Department in three campus locations from 1936 to 1973 when Mr. Davidson retired.  

Our Club members were honored yearly by performances of the various student musical groups, the first such event being at the 1936 CPWC card party.  Just after the war the Men’s Glee Club was preparing for a fifteen day tour and each student needed one white shirt per day. A plea for old or outgrown shirts went out and CPWC donated seventy-five.  

For 25 years the Glee Club presented a dress rehearsal performance to our Club members before beginning its Spring Concert Tour. In 1971, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary performance, Mr. Davidson was made the CPWC’s first and only male honorary member.

The Club took on service to the university and students during “the Great Depression” when, in 1933, it established a Student Loan Fund. The ladies held card parties, style shows, bazaars and rummage sales and sold tickets to both the Poly and town communities. Various departments donated such prizes as eggs, cheese, chickens and flowers.  

One year the members were asked to earn a dollar for the Loan Fund and to relate how the money had been earned. The first of several special ways and means projects was held in 1954 at the now long-gone Elmo Theatre.  “Wedding Belles” was a glamorized show of wedding gowns and finery modeled by Club members. In 1956 an extravagant variety show, “Bustles and Beaux,” was presented at the Veterans’ Memorial Building. In 1957 the Foreign Fashion Festival was held for two evenings in the Veterans Memorial Building with student, faculty, families, and townspeople modeling 114 costumes from many foreign countries. A profit of $783 was turned over to the Student Loan Fund.  

In 1959 a melodrama, “The Land of the Dragon,” was produced in the former San Luis Obispo High School auditorium.  In 1964 a “hat sale” netted $1,340 for campus services.  Five hundred and twenty eight hats were sold on consignment and members appeared at the CPWC May Luncheon in their new finery.  Members of the Club worked enthusiastically for months on the many committees that were necessary to produce these ways and means projects.

Various types of loans have been offered to students over the years; i.e., the original long-term loans, short-term loans begun in 1940, and a Veterans Loan Fund in 1945. Since 1976, the Marie Van Asperen Loan Fund is offered through the Financial Aid Office at Cal Poly.  There is also a Cal Poly Women’s Club Scholarship. Any student is eligible to apply for this scholarship but special consideration is given to members of CPWC or their relatives.

There are several other ways, besides financial, that CPWC has served the University and its students. At one period, Cal Poly had a large foreign student enrollment. In 1956 CPWC established social ties lasting for many years between Club members and that year’s 157 foreign students representing thirty-seven countries. Host families dined and entertained students in their homes, provided refreshments in their campus lounge area, and organized a number of activities for the students. By 1959 the foreign student population had grown to 450. The mid-70s saw a decline in foreign student enrollment and service was discontinued in 1979.

In 1949 a member of CPWC was appointed to be the sponsor of the Student Wives’ Club, a very active organization for a number of years.  A Blood Bank Committee was organized in 1960. Soon after, a Hospital Auxiliary Committee was begun. Members worked as volunteers in the Student Health Center donating time and small items for the students and assisting confined patients by contacting faculty and gathering classroom assignments. This service was discontinued in 1987 when the Health Center no longer kept students overnight.

In 1963 a committee was formed to select two women students in each freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior class in recognition of their high scholarship record and above average participation in campus activities.  Recipient were given a gift of money and honored at our annual CPWC May Luncheon.

Today both male and female students are eligible for academic scholarships funded by the Club and selected by a University Scholarship Committee under the direction of the Financial Aids Office.  In 2005 the CPWC established a $10,000 endowment with the University Foundation to help fund student scholarships. Private donations to the endowment are encouraged.  The  endowment augments scholarship funds held at Financial Aid Office.

The Cal Poly campus accommodates a number of conferences during the summer months. In the early 1960’s CPWC hosted coffees for wives of high school agriculture teachers and P.E. coaches as well as the wives of those attending the Farm Bureau conferences.

In 1994 the Cal Poly Women’s Club donated $5,000 to help fund construction of the Performing Arts Center. Between 1996 and 2006, the Club has awarded, for children of needy student families, nearly $7,000 in financial aid for partial tuition at the Orfalea Family and ASI Children’s Center on the Cal Poly campus.

For the Club members themselves it is not “all work and no play.” The academic year begins with a social gathering to welcome returning and new members to Poly. Members gather mid-year usually for a holiday party with spouses and guests. General meetings keep members abreast of CPWC activities and, of course, entertainment is included. With shared pride in their accomplishments, the members meet in May for a luncheon, entertainment and installation of officers for the coming year. Farewells and wishes for happy summer holidays are shared at the June Coffee.

The purpose of the Cal Poly Women’s Club is stated in the first part of this Web site. May the Club continue to live up to its purpose!

- Updated 2006