In 1997, Freeman College Union, built in 1928, was completely remodeled and refurbished to become the Johnson Student Center, while retaining the original name as part of the building.

J. Stanley Johnson and his wife, Mary Wig Johnson, major donors for the new structure, had been friends of Occidental College for more than forty years. Mr. Johnson was elected to the Board of Trustees in 1962, maintained an active interest in college affairs until his death, and was a generous supporter through the years. Born in Los Angeles in 1910, he received bachelor's and master's degrees from the California Institute of Technology, and had a long career as an industrialist. He was founder and president of Holly Manufacturing Company of Pasadena, co-founder and vice president of Arcadia Metal Products, Fullerton, and co-founder of A.S.D. Corporation, Pasadena. He and Mrs. Johnson, a graduate o f Scripps College and a Scripps trustee, were active in civic affairs and the educational and cultural life of Southern California.

Mr. Johnson died in 1994 and his wife in 2003. The couple had three sons. The Reverend Robert Freeman was elected to the Occidental Board of Trustees in 1914, the year after he became pastor of Pasadena Presbyterian Church. From 1926 to 1938 he was Board chairman, and following his death in 1940 the trustees voted to name the College Union in his honor and in appreciation of his many years of service to the College.

Dr. Freeman was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, who came to the United States at the age of eighteen and graduated from Allegheny College and Princeton Theological Seminary. His wife, Dr. Margery Freeman, a graduate of Vassar College, was on the Occidental faculty as an associate professor of religion from 1940 to 1954, and maintained a close relationship with the College until her death in 1960. The Freemans had three sons and two daughters. One son, Robert, graduated from Occidental.

By Jean Paule