Snapshots in Focus: The Consortium’s History Brought to Life

The athletic nickname “Sage Hen” first appeared in a November 29, 1913, issue of The Student Life newspaper. From 1914, the nicknames, “Hun” and “Hen” were used interchangeably for Pomona athletics teams, with several stories identifying the origin of the nickname. One mentioned that a reporter, while intending to refer to the Pomona athletic teams as “sage [wise] Huns,” accidentally typed “hens” instead. Another theory proposes that the name “Huns” went out of favor because of its derogatory use during World War I and “Hens” was chosen as a cost-saving measure for uniform replacements. Ultimately, “Sagehen” won out, and by 1918 the name was adopted as Pomona-Claremont, and later, Pomona-Pitzer’s mascot.

This letterman sweater belonged to Larry Wormser, Claremont Men’s College (CMC) Class of 1958. (Note: Claremont Men’s College would later become Claremont McKenna College.) The sweater includes a patch with the “Stags” logo, the mascot adopted by the Claremont-Mudd athletic program. As CMC became coeducational, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps athletics department was founded in 1976, and women’s sports were added to the program. Men continued to compete under the “Stags” name, while the women’s teams competed under the “Athenas” moniker.

The commemorative Harvey Mudd College (HMC) plate shown here was created by the Wallace China company and the ceremonial mace was used by Professor J. Arthur Campbell as the marshal of early HMC commencement exercises. The ribbons mark the school colors of HMC – although the black has since faded to a brownish hue, it still reflects the energy and excitement of the many students it helped usher into the next exciting chapter in their lives.

This photograph by Robert C. Frampton depicts the Honnold Library nearing completion. At its dedication ceremony later in the year on October 23, 1952, Honnold Library became the Claremont Colleges’ first central library facility, bringing to life a vision that was initially outlined by Dr. James A. Blaisdell during the founding of The Claremont Colleges consortium. The Library has since expanded and, today, is known as The Claremont Colleges Library.