F E A T U R E:
$1.7 Million Bequest to Fund Professorships
Kenneth Pitzer, a nationally recognized chemist, academician and son of founding trustee Russell K. Pitzer, was former president of Stanford and Rice universities and former dean of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He gained a national reputation as a researcher in the fields of physical and theoretical chemistry.
Pitzer joined the College's board of trustees in 1966 and became a life trustee in 1983. He provided generous and continuing support for a number of programs, scholarships and endowed chairs over 31 years.
The professorships, which recognize academic excellence, will be awarded to existing faculty members. The Kenneth S. Pitzer Professorship favors a faculty person who uses mathematics in an academic field, preferably in the sciences. The Jean M. Pitzer Professorship favors a faculty person in an area related generally to archeology or anthropology.
Pitzer junior Agaarn Johnson spent the summer as an intern at the
Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., doing specialized
research on hate groups for the Intelligence Project, according to the
center's September newsletter, SPLC Report.
Along with fellow intern Jocelyn Benson, a senior at Wellesley College
in Massachusetts, Johnson developed and wrote profiles of leaders in the
hate group movement. "Their pieces on Virgil Griffin and Horace King,
leaders of the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, were used by
center lawyers in preparation for the Macedonia Baptist Church arson
trial," the newsletter reported. "The center has extensive files on
hate groups and their activities, but the interns' project was the first
time detailed portraits of hate group leaders were compiled."
The five-day trial resulted in the biggest punitive judgment ever
awarded against a hate group. On July 24, a jury ordered the Christian
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, its state leader and four other Klansmen to
pay $37.8 million for their roles in a conspiracy to burn a black
church.
"It was a vitally important project," said Mark Potok, director of
publications for the Intelligence Project, in SPLC Report. "We have a
lot of information scattered around about these people. Jocelyn and
Agaarn's collecting this and putting it into one document was extremely
valuable to us."
Johnson grew up in California, where his mother is a lawyer and his
father a state appeals court judge. In 1997, he was a White House
intern, and in 1994, he worked on Kathleen Brown's campaign for
governor. Seeing the 1993 television documentary "Hate on Trial"
prompted his interest in the center's work. FACULTY & STAFF N E W S
The Claremont Mellon Project invites proposals for support of faculty
work that uses technology to improve teaching and learning. Proposals
are due Oct. 23. "This is the last year of funding for the project, but
we aren't broke yet and hope to allocate on the order of $200,000 during
the two funding rounds in October and March," said Jim Pinter-Lucke of
CMC's math department. A description of the program, proposal
guidelines and funded proposals is at
http://www.mckenna.edu/mellon/fac_grants/Grants_default.html.
Additionally, Pinter-Lucke will lead a workshop discussion on Thursday
from 11 a.m. to noon in the Founders Room of Honnold/Mudd Library.
Please RSVP to lucke@mckenna.edu if you plan to attend.
The Claremont Mellon Project offers "Introduction to Digital and Web
Photography," a hands-on workshop on working with various digital
imaging equipment, formats and software, on Friday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
in room 5 of Steele Hall, Scripps. To enroll, contact Steve Axelrad at
steve_axelrad@claremont.edu.
The Libraries of The Claremont Colleges offer another session on using
Web resources in teaching and research on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 11:30
a.m. in the Learning Room of Honnold/Mudd Library. If you'd like to
participate, call Gale Burrow, coordinator of library instruction, at
x73987 or e-mail gburrow@rocky.claremont.edu.
The Mt. Baldy United Way office is looking for a volunteer to chair the
Pitzer College campaign. For more information, contact Darlene
Holmquist in the president's office at darelene_holmquist@pitzer.edu.
Sophomore Gabriel Garcia and his work with the Early Academic Outreach
program are featured in a news story in the "Beating the Odds" segment
of KNBC Channel 4's 5 p.m. Los Angeles newscast on Thursday, with repeat
broadcasts on Saturday and Sunday. The story will focus on Gabriel's
overcoming personal difficulties, including a period of homelessness, to
make it through high school and, with the help of Leeshawn C. Moore,
associate dean of students, to attend Pitzer. He now volunteers with
Early Academic Outreach to help students in similar straits learn how
they can attend college too. The public information office is making
tapes and transcripts of the story, which it will make available free of
charge to anyone who wants one. Call Carol Faubus at x18219.
Did you happen to admire those snazzy navy-and-white Pitzer tee shirts
some student workers were wearing during Welcome Week? Now one (or
more) can be yours for just $13 (S, M, L, XL) or $15 (XXL, XXXL). All
proceeds benefit Student Leadership Programs. Place your order by
Thursday with Rosie Furois at rosie_furois@pitzer.edu.
The Palestinian Awareness Organization will host weekly teach-ins
covering various aspects of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict every
Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on the mounds. For details, to suggest topics and
speakers, or to sign up for the group's mailing list, contact Rudy
Babouder at rbaboude@scrippscol.edu or Bill Pluecker at
William_Pluecker@pitzer.edu.
P R O F I L E:
Agaarn Johnson '99 Helps Expose KKK Leaders
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