Claremont, Calif. (Jan. 27, 2003) — Pitzer College will mark the inauguration of its fifth president, Laura Skandera Trombley, with a weeklong celebration taking place Feb. 10-16, 2003. The focal point of the week’s events will be the installation ceremony, which will take place at 10 a.m. Feb. 15 on the Brant Clock Tower Lawn.
On Monday, Feb. 10 Inauguration Week will be kicked off with a raffle to determine the student winner of “President for a Day.” On Wednesday, Feb. 12 Skandera Trombley will swap places with the student from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
On Tuesday, Feb. 11 there will be a Marquis Library Fireside Chat with emeriti faculty at 8 p.m.
On Friday, Feb. 14 an inaugural symposium titled “The Search for Social Justice” will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. in Avery Auditorium. The keynote session will be “Just War Doctrine in the Age of Terror,” from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Princeton Professor Richard A. Falk will lead the panel of well-known experts. Other sessions will be “From the Ground Up: Living Justice on Campus,” from 10:30 a.m. to noon, and “Issues in Social Justice: Student Projects & Papers from the First-Year Seminars,” from 4 to 5:15 p.m.
On Saturday, Feb. 15 the 10 a.m. inaugural installation will feature an original play titled “A Welcome” by novelist Jim Krusoe (“Iceland”). The ceremony will be followed by a commemorative photo and brunch.
On Sunday, Feb. 16 there will be a Community Work Day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the John R. Rodman Arboretum.
The inaugural celebration also marks the beginning of a yearlong celebration of Pitzer’s 40th anniversary. A “Pitzer at 40” campus-wide exhibit will open Wednesday, Feb. 12.
Skandera Trombley, 42, succeeded Pitzer College President Marilyn Chapin Massey in July 2002. She came to Claremont from Coe College, a private liberal arts college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she served as the chief academic officer. While there, she instituted the nationally recognized Coe Plan, a distinctive co-curricular graduation requirement that puts emphasis on technology, leadership and academic practica.
Prior to joining Coe, Skandera Trombley held several posts at the State University of New York at Potsdam, including assistant English professor and assistant provost.
Also a noted Mark Twain scholar, Skandera Trombley has published four books, including “Mark Twain in the Company of Women” (1994). She appeared in Ken Burns’ 2002 documentary on Twain.
Skandera Trombley holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from Pepperdine University and a Ph.D. degree in English from the University of Southern California. She is married to artist Nelson Edmond Trombley. The couple has one child, Nelson Edmond Trombley Jr., 6.
