Farewell to Sanborn (Summer 2008)

Make your gift online for the Commencement Plaza and Recreation Area now.

On Thursday, July 3, 2008 the demolition of a Pitzer landmark, Sanborn Hall, began. Sanborn, constructed in 1964, was a staple on the Pitzer campus and held many fond memories for members of our community.

On the first day of major demolition, Dean of Students Jim Marchant bid a special farewell to Sanborn Hall in a ceremony.

Memories from Alumni

"I met both my husband -- Steve Prime '83 -- and best friend -- Tiffany Carroll '85 on A1 in Sanborn. It was sad to see it torn down but we are really proud of the green direction that Pitzer is committing itself to. When I emailed Tiffany the link, she emailed back: 'Seems like they should have deemed it a historical site with all the significant events that took place there,' and that pretty much summed it up for us!"
-Natasha Goodwin Prime '85

"Can't believe it. It was the first dorm I stayed in when I arrived at the college. I will be watching and crying tomorrow. Thank you so much for informing me of this change at Pitzer. You are correct, there are many fond memories. "
-Anita Oei

"Although I lived in Holden for 3 of my 4 years at Pitzer, Sanborn was the only dorm I visited when I toured the campus in 1986, and got my first glimpse of after school life at Pitzer. I met my first lifelong friends during that orientation tour and it seemed that most of my friends started at Sanborn.

One of my best Sanborn memories (circa 1987-88) was the Wednesday night performances by students and/or faculty. My favorite, I think, was when my Calculus teacher (Gregg Thompson??), who was the rhythm guitarists for the punk band Angry Samoans, used a guitar and a vacuum cleaner to play songs from the '60 psychedelic band 13th Floor Elevators.

I also always looked forward to the weekly meetings Chris Freeberg held for SPAM -- Society for the Preservation of Acoustic Music."
-Stuart Pixley

"I have so many memories associated with Sanborn Hall... I don't know where to begin. Pitzer became home to me in a very powerful way because my mother died during my freshman year and the friends I met there really rallied around me and showed compassion during that difficult time. Sanborn was the building I lived in for 3 years and was the place where I was able to let my hair down among friends.

It was there that Cynthia Fernandez and I TP'd the room of our friends Cesar Gomez and Jeff King, and we made sure to include the plastic Tazmanian devil that perpetually graced the bathroom sink faucet. (Some of the folks from Intervarsity had a policy of leaving dorm rooms unlocked in order to welcome others, which of course facilitiated our easy entry)."
-Jennifer DaSilva Beyer '96

"I met my husband in Sanborn. I was a freshman, he was a sophomore. A curly, blonde sophomore with an accent. Someone said he was French, and I was fascinated. We happened to be across the hall from each other the next year, in Holden. It wasn't long before my fascination turned into friendship (and I learned that he's actually Belgian), and years later ... so much more. We have two children now, and we live in England. From that first terse "hello" to the family we have today is a long road. We have Sanborn to thank for the spark that lit a lifetime."
-Allison (Ray) Nyssens and Michel Nyssens

"Although I didn't live in Sanborn Hall, I remember being there for a Town Meeting when someone asked why Pitzer didn't accept boys (since that's what we called men back then). Not long after that Pitzer College became co-ed. Did it really start with that Town Meeting or would it have happened anyway? I've wondered about that."
-Elyse West Shoop

"Goodbye Sanborn Hall, You were a very special place to be. I will miss you."
-Larry Shulman

The passage of time always makes me happy/sad. This event was no exception!
-Betsy Brown Braun '70

"Sanborn was my first dorm...freshman year 1967. The southern half was rented out to graduate students...oh how exotic! So many girls (we were still a women's college then) were hanging around trying to meet, the men. So the very stong doors between the halves were bolted at curfew. We'll miss you, Sanborn, but looking forward to Pitzer's continued evolution!"
Pitzer College Alumna, '71

"I received your email regarding the demolition of Sanborn. I thought it might to fun to tell you something from my memory of that first day (or was it the second day?). We were all asked to gather by the lonely tree in the courtyard for a group photo to commemorate that special moment in Pitzer's "history." Dutifully, we complied.

A close look at that photo, which must be somewhere in Pitzer's archives, speaks volumes about that moment in time. In spite of the dreadful heat radiating up off the cement, we all wore skirts or dresses for that photo. What makes me think we also wore panty hose? A close look shows one young woman wearing white gloves. You guessed it, that was me! That dress was bright red, a tiny size 7. I can't remember the last time I wore gloves let alone fit into a dress so small! Perhaps that day was it!

I remember feeling so very young and strong and fit! I was frightened, but excited and hopeful in the face of an adventure offering few creature comforts-- no grass, no dining hall, and only two bleak, green cinderblock buildings to call "home." The smog was absolutely oppressive (1964 was before unleaded gas), and very shortly, the reality of what was to come hit home: from the "vegetable free zone" of the CMC dining hall committed to serving "mystery meat," to the everpresent oppressive smog, to all manner of romantic pursuit from unknown suitors. There was one phone booth at the end of the hall with one pay phone. It seems impossible that all we brought with us was a dictionary, a manual typewriter, a suitcase, and perhaps a steamer trunk of clothing. We had little heating elements that we would stuck into coffee mugs of water to heat for instant coffee or bullion cubes of "soup."

We were unusual, or brave, or just naive. We were expected to blaze a trail into unknown territory, react creatively in an environment filled with new ideas and carry a full academic load of five courses, not four. Somehow or another we survived without computers, spellcheck, cell phones or Starbucks. Yes, those were the days! Happy Demolition!"
Louisa (Francis) Martin '68

Sanborn will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the only dorm I lived in during my time at Pitzer. I first met my husband in the Sanborn parking lot, we first held hands walking around the dorm, and we had such fun times in the Sanborn garden - there was a bench we were sitting on and he made me laugh so hard with one of his silly stories that I actually fell off the bench, backwards and hit my head on the grass! He couldn't stop laughing at me but to this day 15 years later, the incident brings a smile to our faces. I realize that the old has to make way for the new, and the new Sanborn Hall is certainly gorgeous... but we'll always have fond memories of the old Sanborn. Hope all goes well at the demolition!
-Olivia Loh-Ing (Olivia Loh '97)

"I grew up in Sanborn. I vividly remember my first day at Pitzer; terrifying newness to a frightened adolescent who had never lived away from home. I recall how important it was for me to make the room on A2 my home: safe, familiar, nurturing both intellectually and emotionally. I remember the houseplant my mother gave me as a "dorm-warming" present, and how I placed it in the dotted sunlight that lazily filtered its way through my Nixon era aluminum windows. I remember the low-flow shower head in the bathroom that not so much cleansed the skin as it did sandblast it. I recall my roommate and suitemates; how I quickly promoted them from the ranks of stranger to friend. Long-standing, enduring bonds born out of fear, anticipation, daring and eventually community. And finally how gradually, without my noticing it, Sanborn became my home.

I spent my entire four years at Pitzer in Sanborn Hall: A2, and then A1 (the infamous A1 Food Co-op). Sometimes, when life is especially stressful, I go back to visit in my mind. There I am standing once again in my first home, surrounded by my first true adult friends, and I am shrouded in warmth. I suspect we all - the Sanborn 'kids' who became adults - visit her from time to time through the lens of experience. And so as I Web-watch the demolition crew permanently erase the physical manifestation of Sanborn Hall, I know that she will always stand - forever as I left her - in my memory."
-Colin Swenson, M.D., Class of 1994

"I lived in Sanborn Hall as an A-1 Food Co-op member my last two years at Pitzer. Those were the best of times. Colin Swenson, Alicia Lopez and I transformed the A-1 Food Co-op (at least for the years we were members) from a hall that everyone considered a health hazard to a member of the student council. We hosted faculty dinners, where we got to learn even more about our professors and their teaching philosophies. We hosted Passover Seder dinners and learned to appreciate other religious traditions. We hosted mid-term breaks in our dining room, and had a blast. We had great times talking about class lectures at midnight over a Nutella & peanut butter sandwich. We lived as a quasi-family, and just like a family, we didn't get along ALL the time (Kevin, it's your turn to wash those dishes!!), but we were still a family of sorts. In a small way, the A-1 Food Co-op is exactly the kind of hall Pitzer should have had, because it embodied the social responsibility that Pitzer promoted - it taught us to be responsible to each other (and not just ourselves). I've made life-long friends because of my times at Pitzer, and especially at Sanborn Hall. I'm not sure how much longer the food co-op existed after we left. In fact, I haven't heard much about it since we left, but my memories at Sanborn Hall and A-1 will last forever."
- Elba Alonso de Ortega, Class of '94

"In the summer of 1967, after my freshman year, I lived with three other young women in two rooms at Sanborn. One of the girls was my twin sister, Karen Waldron, (now Karen Hiatt). We were working at Pitzer during the summer mostly because our family had broken up and we had no where else to go. Pitzer very generously allowed us to rent a room in Sanborn for $45 a month, with kitchen privileges but no air conditioning! The other two young women were foreign and couldn't go home for the summer. It was quite an experience working at Pitzer in the summer. My favorite memory was the entire staff and faculty submitting entries for the Longest Book in the World and the Shortest Book in the World contests. One great entry was "400 Years of German Humor" as the shortest book. Werner Warmbrunn supposedly said 'I don't get it!'"
-Jean Waldron Miller '70

"I met my wife, Mary Sullivan '76, during my first minutes on the Pitzer campus in the Fall of 1975 when I was a visiting student. I was with Andy Havens '76 and he took me to a window on the side of Sanborn to check on some of his friends. The window was a short cut from Mary's suite to the center of campus, so Mary, and many others, used the window as an exit instead of walking around through Sanborn's main entrance. While Andy and I were walking up to the window, it opened and my first sight of Mary was one leg and then another in a graceful, two step movement through the window. It is a beautiful, vivid memory. In large part due to that Sanborn window and what came through it, I obtained my undergraduate degree from Pitzer."
- Tom Deacy

"Sanborn was my first dormitory my freshman year in 1980. It was the end of a scorching summer. I drove down from Oregon with my sister in a Toyota with no air conditioning. traight from orientation in Avery Auditorium to Sanborn I was to meet my roommate from Long Island, NY. We were as different as day and night. I was the best man at his wedding and we are friends to this day. Life goes by rather quickly now. We remember flashes of our past that evoke emotions of earlier times. Sanborn, its dated carpets, speckled marble...A-1: the earthy crowd...D-2:the cute girls...A-2: well, that was our hall. Deep sigh...still fresh in my mind. Great memories.
I hope all of you have these kinds of memories from Pitzer."
-Bruce Locke '84

"I recall walking through the backdoor of Sanborn Hall on the first day with my luggage and boxes. Seeing the grand piano in the living room was my first welcome. Then it was a left turn to the Arts Corridor where each resident had some special artistic talent. We often gathered in the Rec. Room to show our talents and otherwise creative silliness. Bob was a potter, and so was Deborah-- Deb in those days-- who was and continues to be a talented musician. I was a dancer and there was a saxophonist. These were our initial bonds. My roommate was doing a project on graffiti and rolled out a large paper for us to scrawl on. We did and I remember being embarrassed... a little! There was a phone at the end of the hall in those days, the site of various dramas among us. Rarely did I go to the dining hall alone. Our social lives spiraled out from the Arts Corridor of Sanborn Hall and have not stopped spiraling for the lucky ones whose friendships were lasting. I am a lucky one.

There was a Women's Center in Sanborn. It seemed like a place of power for me at age 19. I remember taking workshops to learn more about my body. Our Bodies Ourselves had just come out and we felt that we were at the cusp of an important movement. Actually, we were. For some of us, it opened our minds to ways of being that were different from our mothers' generation. Since then, those differences seemed less important as we all changed and grew together.

The living room of Sanborn was also the place for poetry and play readings. I remember reading a major part in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, by the playwright Stoppard. That must have been in 1977. About 20 years later, Pitzer hosted a Sakyadhita conference on Women in Buddhism. I drove down the freeway from my home in LA to coordinate part of the conference, the meditations led by teachers from different traditions. Where? In Sanborn Hall, of course. And I remembered then sitting cross-legged on our beds in Sanborn Hall in the mid-70's and silently breathing our TM mantras. Come to think of it, we wore tie-dyed t-shirts and chanted "om" in the Rec. Room with our arms interlaced. Those memories are dear!"
-Janice Tolman '77

"I spent my freshman year (1966) in Sanborn Hall on C-2. Its where I got my nickname. Our sponsor, June Reed, said Margaret was too long a name for me, so I should have a nickname. Since I'd always wanted to have a different name - I associated the name with the character of that name in the "Dennis the Menace" cartoon strip - I was happy to fulfill her request and became "Margy" forever.

One of my other fond memories of C-2 was being Katie Howell's roommate in the spring semester of my freshman year. One night we were really hungry and after much searching located a box of Girl Scout Cookies - they saved our lives. We were so grateful for the cookies, we wrote to the Burry Biscuit Co. and explained how the Chocolate Thin Mints had saved us. Several weeks later we got a box from the Burry Biscuit Co. full of cookies and thanking us for our letter of appreciation! Thanks for the memories!"
- Margy Winden '70

"Wow, Sanborn Hall is coming down. Makes me feel pretty dated myself. I remember doing a project on graffiti while I lived in Sanborn Hall. I posted huge sheets of white paper along the dorm walls (with permission), and invited my dorm mates to write whatever they wanted to. There was an amazing outpouring of jokes, drawings. stories, rhymes, etc., all of which got turned in as part of the project. Definitely higher caliber graffiti than one sees in the average restroom (well, maybe not all of it...). It was a fun project, and I got an A."
- Deborah Sandler, '77

Make your gift online for the Commencement Plaza and Recreation Area now.

Contact Us
Tel: 909.621.8130
Toll-free: 877.357.7479
Fax: 909.621.8539
giving@pitzer.edu