What a difference a century makes for Berkeley’s graduating seniors
As the class of 2014 prepares to walk the commencement stage, we look back at what life on campus was like for the class of 1914. Take a journey through images from a century ago, all from Berkeley’s Blue and Gold yearbooks.
May 13, 2014
As the class of 2014 prepares to walk the commencement stage, we look back at what life on campus was like for the class of 1914. Take a journey through images from a century ago, all from Berkeley’s Blue and Gold yearbooks.
Although a post-graduation road trip was not yet a tradition, students could take a steam ship trip along the West Coast.
Cartoonist Rube Goldberg captured student concerns about finding work in their degree fields.
The Commencement ceremony on May 13, 1914 in the Greek Theater was packed. The University Medal was awarded to Clotilde Grunsky.
Graduating students celebrated "Senior Week" with events including banquets, speeches, garden parties, and a pilgrimage across campus to North Hall.
Students had creative ideas about possible uses for the new tower.
The iron framework for Sather Tower, also known as the Campanile, was completed in 1914.
Seniors put on an annual "Extravaganza" show, and juniors put on an annual "Farce."
The mandolin was such a popular instrument in 1914 that a student club was formed around it.
The University Cadet Band was the predecessor to the present day Cal Band. After the ROTC absorbed the Cadets, the Band members asked the ASUC to sponsor a student band, which first performed in November 1923.
Beginning in the Big Game of 1914, students used colored cards to spell out messages in the rooting sections. These became more and more elaborate, eventually with an invisible pen writing "Cal" in the Cal script.
Athletic uniforms looked different in 1914. "Football" players wore no helmets or protective padding, and the sport they played was actually rugby.
Each class had an annual formal dance named in its honor.
Originally Sather Gate was the southern entrance to campus, at the end of Telegraph Avenue.
A bird's eye view of campus and the Berkeley hills reveals a sparse population by today's standards.