JANUARY 23, 1999
The Claremont Courier

GRANTS AID PITZER ON ISSUES

Pitzer College will receive a total of $1 million in grants to fund its Center 
for California Cultural and Social Issues. The money will come in $500,000 
donations from two foundations over the next few years.

The funds will be used to enhance the Pitzer programs involving students in 
social and cultural issues that relate to communities.

The W.M. Keck Foundaton, which was a major donor with the new Keck Graduate 
Institute, has promised the money over 4 years, while the James Irvine Foundation 
will give its money over the next 3 years.

The institute, according to Pitzer President Marilyn Chapin Massey, will 
"study cultural and social issues criticial to the state into the next century
and...contribute to their constructive solution." The program will produce 
research, develop curriculum, construct community-based partnerships and 
fellowships and will also offer a post-baccalaureate program for Pitzer 
graduates. However, Pitzer will not become involved in awarding advanced 
degrees. Plans are to have the center up and running by the fall of 1999.

The W.M. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 by the late William Myron 
Keck, founder of the Superior Oil Company. Its largest donation in history 
went to help establish the Keck Graduate Institute here in Claremont. The 
James Irvine Foundation was established in 1937 as a charitable trust by 
James Irvine, a California agriculturist.