Claremont, Calif. (September 18, 2008)—Pitzer College received a silver medal for Individualized Special Events in the 2008 Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Circle of Excellence Awards Program.
The award recognizes institutions and professionals who excel in advancement programs and educational communications. The silver medal honored events held to celebrate the grand opening of Pitzer’s three new eco-friendly residence halls.
Festivities were held in the interior courtyard of the three new buildings, where environmentalists Robert Redford and Ed Begley, Jr. spoke to a crowd of Pitzer students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members. An organic and locally grown buffet was served, and the event’s cups, plates, napkins and utensils were biodegradable and later composed along with food waste.
Pitzer College President Laura Skandera Trombley, along with Gene Stein, chair of the Pitzer College Board of Trustees, Paul Faulstich ’79, professor of environmental studies, and Ben Kramer ’08, convener of the Student Senate. The new residence halls were named in honor of Flora Sanborn, wife of Pitzer’s founder Russell K. Pitzer, John W. and Virginia Atherton, Pitzer’s founding president and his wife, and Kenneth S. and Jean M. Pitzer, early college benefactors and son and daughter-in-law of Russell K. Pitzer. The event also honored three lead project donors: the Pitzer Family Foundation, Susan and Nicholas Pritzker P’93 and Peter and Gloria Gold P’74.
The event culminated in a laser light show of texture and color planned and executed by Marc Broidy ’95, trustee and alumnus, in collaboration with Vanessa Rundle ’08.
