That wasn’t all in the building boom. Fall Semester 2006, the film school moved from its DeMille home two blocks west of campus along Palm Avenue, into the new, much ballyhooed media arts center, Marion Knott Studios. It’s about five times the old space. A variety of departments quickly gobbled up the empty classrooms and offices at DeMille. But there’s nothing serious that can’t be moved out if Chapman decides the wrecking ball is DeMille’s future.

If so, it wouldn’t be the first time.

Nearly a dozen years ago, Doti decided to shed Chapman of DeMille Hall because of much needed parking. But with less than 24 hours before the wrecking balls were scheduled to arrive, Bob Bassett, dean of the School of Film and Television, pleaded with Doti for the space. The film school had a growing future, Bassett told the president, and could fill the building about to be plowed under in a short amount of time.

“Bob doesn’t dream big just to be dreaming,” Doti said. “His dreams have a way of becoming reality.”

It wasn’t called DeMille then. It was Bassett who changed the name to Cecil B. DeMille Hall, after the great Hollywood director (“Ten Commandments,” “The Greatest Show on Earth.”) In part, it was to honor DeMille and inspire students with the name. But also, DeMille’s daughter, Cecilia, was a major contributor to film school endeavors at Chapman. It was in great part a thank you to her.

DeMille is not the oldest building on campus; Wilkinson Hall has that honor.

But it was here long before Chapman University (then Chapman College), moved to the Orange campus in 1954. Both Wilkinson Hall and DeMille were part of the old Orange High School (as was Memorial, Reeves, and Roosevelt halls.)

When Chapman College took over, the high school had been using DeMille as a manual arts building, according to Donald Booth, an economics professor who has taught at Chapman since 1959. Chapman rented out half of the building to the high school, which used it as a school bus repair shop. The front half of DeMille was used by Chapman as a student union and bookstore.