Anderson Hall

This 1939 yearbook photo shows the construction of Anders Hall's north wing, which now houses the President's Office. It was built as a space for student clubs.

A Space for Student Clubs

Anderson Hall, named for W. C. and Margaret M. Anderson who donated the funds for its construction, was one of the original buildings on the Stockton campus. Mrs. Anderson, as well as several Anderson children and grandchildren, attended University of the Pacific.

Few people know that the wing currently housing the President's Office was originally built as a student space.  The Andersons donated money to build the northern wing in 1939 as the Student Christian Association (SCA) Hall.  

The SCA's yearbook page in 1939 showcased a diverse membership 325 students strong.

Gwenn Browne, a philosophy professor, remembers the commitment of Anderson Y students to the Stockton community in the 1960s. (Narrated by J. Helgren.)

Student Christian Association (SCA) members held a fundraising dance to support the Far Eastern Student Service Fund. Such projects, as well as the club's diverse membership, underscore the club's progressive and internationalist vision.

The SCA / Anderson Y

The SCA (later known as the Anderson Y) was the name for the combined YWCA and YMCA.  Nationwide, these two organizations spread on college campuses in the 1920s and remained mainstays of student social service through the 1960s. Though mainstream, they addressed complex social issues head-on. They were also consistent with the aims of Pacific's original Methodist founders who, consistent with the larger American Protestant higher education movement, established a Christian liberal arts college committed to developing individuals who served humanity through the professions. (Pacific remains Methodist-affiliated but has no official relationship with the United Methodist Church, and students of all faiths are supported.)

The SCA was student-centered, internationalist, and progressive. One yearbook cited the organization's purpose as developing a "citizenry trained in democratic principles and dedicated to the furthering of a Christian way of life." This included dismantling discrimination. In 1937, a race relations committee was formed in the SCA with Japanese American student participants. And in 1945, a Peace Parliament sponsored by the SCA adopted a set of resolutions for an international policy toward securing world peace.

The SCA worked closely with other student clubs on campus. Its members held a fundraising dance to support the Far Eastern Student Service Fund. Such projects and the diverse members of the SCA underscore the club's progressive and internationalist vision.

By the 1960s, the Anderson Y was well known for its off-campus involvement and service to Stockton.  Philosophy Professor Gwenn Browne recalls:

"Well, one of the things I think I’d like to say at the beginning is that one of the valuable pieces of our contact with students was the Anderson Life Center. . . . [T]hose were very special students. . . . Because they were interested in the community, that was one piece of it, because, I think you will recall, in the 60’s, well, okay. When the kids were interested in peace movements, they were more focused on the campus, though they did meet some people in the community. But the Anderson Y kids were always interested in the community. And, well, when they had the shooting over at the Cleveland School, it was the Anderson Life kids who had met those kids through tutoring, who were able – and of course, we heard the shots on the campus – and it was our kids that could do more with those traumatized elementary school kids, more than even the professionals that were supposedly brought in to deal with them. Because they knew them before, and they continued to work with them."

The International Club sought international understanding. The club hosted President Tully Knoles at its first meeting in 1939. He spoke about "The Russian Enigma."

Anderson Hall's club spaces included a Catholic Club as well as the protestant YWCA and YMCA combo.

Other Clubs Met at the New Anderson Hall

The University of the Pacific was home to many student clubs that represented the diversity of the student population. 

Even before the Anderson-Y was built, Pacific hosted a Cosmopolitan Club. Gurdial Singh, an international student from India, was president in 1934 and Nisei student Isamu Sato was an officer in 1932. Its mission was to foster “better understanding and friendlier relations among the various nationalities represented in the student body membership of Pacific,” and the club worked closely with the YWCA and YMCA. By the early 1940s, the club had changed its name to the International Affairs Club. It continued to support programming around issues of international understanding.

Pacific was also home to a Chinese Club, which consisted of international students in the 1920s and 1930s. A Filipino Club and a Japanese Club included members who were primarily the children of immigrants to Stockton and California's agricultural Central Valley.

The SCA was primarily a protestant organization, but Catholic groups also met in the new wing of Anderson Hall.

The Japanese Club posed for their yearbook photo in Anderson Hall shortly before Executive Order 9066 disrupted their education.

Grayce Kaneda Uyehara was able to finish her degree in absentia from the Stockton Assembly Center where she was incarcerated along with other Stockton area Japanese Americans during World War II.

The Japanese Club at Anderson Hall

In the early 1940s, the University of the Pacific was home to 852 undergraduates. Juniors and seniors attended the College of the Pacific, while first and second-year students enrolled at San Joaquin College (now Delta College). Over 50 of Pacific's undergraduates in 1941, when the U.S. entered World War II, were Nisei. They found a home in the Japanese Club that met in Anderson Hall. President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, leading to their confinement, the suspension of their educations, and uncertain futures.