August 25, 2020
Dear Members of the Pitzer Community:
At the start of the academic year, on behalf of the entire Pitzer College Board of Trustees, I want to express the Board’s profound appreciation for the remarkable efforts of the Pitzer community over the past six months to address the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
To our faculty: You have demonstrated incredible commitment and resilience in reimagining the Pitzer educational experience while adapting almost overnight to an online teaching environment. We recognize the time and energy you invested—even while also juggling the obligations in your personal lives. Your students have taken to heart your energy and enthusiasm, as evidenced by Pitzer’s outstanding enrollment numbers among both new and returning students. Thank you.
To our staff and administration: For the past six months, with competence and grace you have confronted a never-ending series of obstacles, many never before seen in higher education. In a landscape that shifts by the day, and under unrelenting pressure, you have piloted the College through an unprecedented storm that will no doubt continue into the months ahead. Thank you.
To our students: You are confronting a situation unlike any other in the College’s 57-year history. In March you were suddenly uprooted from the campus and plunged overnight into a radically different educational and social setting. You have met this test with energy and courage, and also the maturity to recognize that this moment of both physical and societal crisis brings with it a unique opportunity for learning and action. You inspire us. Thank you.
To our alumni and friends of Pitzer College: Your support—moral, physical, and financial—means the world to us. We know you are there for the College, and we hope you know the College is always here for you. Thank you.
Through all this, Pitzer College has adhered to its values and especially its commitment to do everything it can to help the most vulnerable members of our community. The true measure of a community’s commitment to its stated values is seen in times of adversity. In one way or another, every member of the Pitzer community has made substantial sacrifices to ensure that the College not only survives this test, but thrives.
The path forward is still long and uncertain, but thanks to your continued efforts, the Board is confident Pitzer College will emerge from this challenge a stronger institution.
Yours sincerely,
Harold A. Brown
Chair, Board of Trustees
