Pitzer College
Pitzer College is a small, private liberal arts college located in Claremont, California, USA. Pitzer College is the fifth of seven institutions of higher learning known as the Claremont Colleges and coordinated through the Claremont University Consortium.
Ranked among the top liberal arts colleges in the country, Pitzer is selective -- the college is one of roughly 40 liberal arts institutions to admit fewer that 50% of applicants. Pitzer College is expensive. In 2003, a year of tuition, room, board and textbooks cost about $37,500. As of 2004, 48% of Pitzer students received financial assistance of some type. 100% of a student's financial need is covered by the college in the form of loans, work-study, scholarships, and grants.
Pitzer's current president is renowned Mark Twain scholar, Laura Skandara Trombley.
The college's official motto is "Providia Futuri", Latin meaning "mindful of the future"
History
Pitzer was founded in 1963 as a women's college by Russell K. Pitzer (1878-1978), a California citrus magnate and philanthropist. John W. Atherton served as the school's first president. The College became co-educational in 1970. Pitzer's son, Kenneth Sanborn Pitzer (1914-1997) was a theoretical chemist who presided over Rice University (1961-1968) and Stanford University (1969-1971) before returning to teach at the University of California, Berkeley.
Demography
Pitzer College has the third smallest enrollment of the Claremont Colleges with a student body of about 950. Student body diversity is emphasized at Pitzer College; U.S. News and World Report in 2005 named Pitzer the fifth most diverse private, secular, co-ed, liberal arts college in the United States.
Residential life
The vast majority of Pitzer students live on campus. Pitzer has three residence halls: Mead, Holden, and Sanborn. Holden and Sanborn halls are identical: two floors with four different wings (A, B, C, and D for Sanborn and J, K, L, and M for Holden). Rooms in these dorms are primarily double-occupancy and each is connected to another double-occupancy room by way of a shared bathroom. In contrast, Mead Hall is designed to have six separate towers interconnected by walkways. The six towers are W, X, Little X (LX), Y, Little Y (LY), and Z. Each tower has three levels and is organized into suites which typically accommodate eight occupants divided into four single-occupancy and two double-occupancy rooms, two bathrooms, a common living room, and (in most cases) a small patio or balcony. Additionally, suites in Z tower include a small kitchenette in each living room. LX and LY also include half-suites which accommodate only four occupants and are divided into 2 single-occupancy and one double-occupancy rooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a patio or balcony. There are no large community bathrooms at Pitzer College; the rate of on-campus student per bathroom is 4:1. Each residence hall is equipped with shared laundry rooms, common rooms, study rooms, and kitchens.
Typically, most of Sanborn Hall is reserved for first-years with the remaining first-years placed into Holden Hall. In order to help first-years adjust to college life, first-years are assigned to a mentor, each mentor having about twelve to fifteen mentees. Mentees are typically assigned to live in the same wing of the same floor. Mead Hall, which has an older resident population than Holden and Sanborn, is known by some as the "party hall" and is often very lively, especially on weekends. Holden is considered by some to be a "hybrid" between Mead and Sanborn, having some freshmen, some upper classmen. For every wing in Holden and Sanborn or every tower of Mead, there is a resident assistant who are responsible for the well being of the residents. Every hall also has a live-in hall director.
There are also several thematic residence halls available at Pitzer. For example, M2 is called "HUSH", which stands for Holden Ultimate Study Hall, advertizes 24 hour quiet hours, although some residents claim that this policy is not strictly enforced. K2 and LX are both substance-free halls; residents must sign a contract promising not to use drugs or alcohol before they are granted residency. Because it houses primarily freshmen, Sanborn is also considered a substance free dormitory. LY is the "Involvement Tower", a self-governing tower which selects its residents on the basis of their social involvement and engages in tower activities to encourage social and civic involvement on campus.
Academics
Pitzer describes its academic approach as linking "intellectual inquiry with interdisciplinary studies, cultural immersion, social responsibility and community connectivity". Pitzer prides itself upon being the most "flexible" of the Claremont Colleges, most notably in its policy for allowing self-designed majors and encouraging study abroad.
Pitzer currently offers 40 majors and 20 minors, the requirements of which are determined by a field group rather than a department. Majors not offered at Pitzer, but offered at one of the other colleges, may be adopted by Pitzer students pending approval of the appropriate college committees.
Majors as of 2005-2006:
- American Studies
- Anthropology
- Art
- Art History
- Asian American Studies
- Biology-Chemistry
- Biology
- Black Studies
- Chemistry
- Chicano Studies
- Classics
- Dance
- Economics
- English and World Literature
- Environmental Science
- Environmental Studies
- French
- Gender & Feminist Studies
- History
- Human Biology
- International and Intercultural Studies
- Asian Studies
- European Studies
- Latin American and Caribbean Studies
- Third World Studies
- Linguistics
- Mathematical Economics
- Mathematics
- Media Studies
- Music
- Neuroscience
- Organismal Biology and Ecology
- Organizational Studies
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Political Economy
- Political Studies
- Psychology
- Religious Studies
- Science and Management
- Science, Technology, and Society
- Sociology
- Spanish
- Theater
Example Self-Designed Majors:
- Ethnic Psychology
- Queer Studies
- Third World Feminism
- Physical Anthropology
- Political Sociology
- Islamic Society and Culture
- European Labor Movements
Minors as of 2005-2006:
- Anthropology
- Art
- Art History
- Asian American Studies
- Biology
- Black Studies
- Classics
- Economics
- English/World Literature
- Environmental Studies
- French
- History
- Gender and Feminist Studies
- Linguistics
- Mathematics
- Media Studies
- Philosophy
- Science, Technology and Society
- Sociology
- Spanish
Pitzer has five primary guidelines for graduation:
- Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Exploration
- Each student must take three classes which address a particular topic of interest. The classes must represent at least two disciplines and more than one cultural perspective.
- Social Responsibility and the Ethical Implications of Knowledge and Action
- Credit Options include participation in certain External Studies programs or completion of a class with a community service component.
- Non-credit options include 45 hours of community service in a single semester or participation in certain school programs such as school governance, Resident Assistants, volunteering at the Ecology Center, or writing for Pitzer's literary magazine The OtherSide.
- Breadth of Knowledge
- Two courses in the humanities and fine arts
- Two courses in the social and behavioral sciences
- One course in the natural sciences
- One course in mathematics/formal reasoning
- Written Expression
- The completion of a first-year seminar fulfills this requirement.
- Alternately, transfer students may take a writing intensive course to fulfill this requirement.
- Completion of a Major
Pitzer, Claremont McKenna College, and Scripps College share a science program known as the Joint Science Department that is located at the Keck Science Center.
Pitzer College shares an athletic program with Pomona College called the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens.
In addition, the College offers the following programs for advanced students:
- A combined bachelors/medical degree Program in conjunction with the Western University of Health Sciences. Upon completion of the seven-year program, students will receive the title Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.), and be certified to perform osteopathic medicine. Although not required, many students enrolled in the program choose to major in Human Biology while at Pitzer.
- A joint bachelors/masters programs with Claremont Graduate University in the fields of Community Education, Economics, Information Science, Mathemathics, Psychology, and Public Policy.
Academic achievement
Pitzer College is the only highly selective national liberal arts college to have 100% student participation in its social responsibility requirement; to be ranked the 5th most diverse private coed national liberal arts college by US News and World Report; to have eight international student programs and 25 exchange programs; to be ranked 35th for academic reputation by US News; and to have 10 undergraduate students awarded Fulbright Fellowships in 2005 – the highest number awarded per capita in the country.
Pitzer College granted admission to less than 39% of the student applicant pool. Pitzer is among a small number of liberal arts colleges (fewer than 30) with admit rates less than 50%.
Notable alumni
- Anne Archer, Actress
- David Bloom, NBC News Anchor (deceased)
- Fabian Nunez, California State House Speaker
- Debra Wong Yang, United States Attorney