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News and Events
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FEATURE STORY
05/01/08
Chatham University establishes largest campus in Allegheny County with gift of 400-acre Eden Hall Farm, from Eden Hall Foundation
By Paul A. Kovach, Vice President for University Communications
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Eden Hall Farm Campus of Chatham University |
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Pittsburgh, PA - (May 1, 2008) … Chatham University today accepted a gift unequaled in the institution’s 139-year history: the nearly 400-acre Eden Hall Farm in Richland Township, Pennsylvania from Eden Hall Foundation. The gift establishes the largest university campus in Allegheny County and enables Chatham to expand its academic and environmental programs for the University’s nearly 2,000 students and for the North Hills community at large.
“With the Eden Hall Foundation’s generous gift of the Eden Hall Farm, Chatham University will become one of the most unique university campuses in the country,” said Esther L. Barazzone, Ph.D., president of Chatham University. “Eden Hall Farm campus will be a living laboratory, where students will engage in a broad range of studies including programs aimed at improving the lives of women and addressing issues of environmental sustainability that will impact our lives,” she said.
At 388 acres, Eden Hall Farm is almost ten times the size of Chatham’s historic 39-acre Shadyside campus and was originally assembled by Sebastian Mueller, one of the first executives at the H.J. Heinz Company, who utilized the farm to benefit the working women of Pittsburgh. The gift and initial plans for Chatham’s new campus were announced this morning by George C. Greer, chairman and president of Eden Hall Foundation; Esther L. Barazzone, Ph.D., president of Chatham University; and S. Murray Rust III, chair of Chatham’s Board of Trustees, at Eden Hall Farm, north of Pittsburgh in the Pine Richland School District.
“Sebastian Mueller, with great foresight, created a retreat at his Richland Township summer home, Eden Hall Farm,” Mr. Greer said. “The Farm, following the direction of his will in 1938, became a place of respite and recreation for working women and a place to further their appreciation and enjoyment of the natural environment. Mr. Mueller directed that the scope of the Farm should broaden when the needs changed. Currently, the challenges of working women are often best met through educational opportunities. The Eden Hall Foundation is pleased that Mr. Mueller’s legacy will continue under the guidance of Chatham University, which has long shared his vision and devotion to enhance the lives of women through higher education.”
Chatham University has quadrupled its enrollment in recent years, increasing programs for young women and graduate students, enhancing its arboretum campus and launching online degree programs, and is recognized for its vibrant, innovative and highly involved approach to learning. The addition of Eden Hall Farm to its campus is, according to Dr. Barazzone, “an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue to realize our vision for the future of our school, our students and our campus.”
“This gift is a true ‘alignment of the stars’ for both Chatham University’s long-term growth and Eden Hall Farm’s mission,” Dr. Barazzone said. “Sebastian Mueller’s legacy of serving the working women of Pittsburgh and Chatham’s history of advancing the cause for women in western Pennsylvania and beyond are closely intertwined,” she said.
“As the alma mater of environmentalist Rachel Carson, we think that Eden Hall Farm will enable us to advance environmental education through specific additions to our curriculum,” Dr. Barazzone said. “Our undergraduate and graduate programs will play a key role in shaping our Eden Hall Farm offerings, both to our own students and to the North Hills community at large. The possibilities are almost endless and will enable us to establish a learning community unlike any other.”
About Sebastian Mueller and Eden Hall Farm
Sebastian Mueller (1860-1938) immigrated to Pittsburgh from his native Germany in 1884 at the age of 24 to work for his cousin Henry J. Heinz in his fledgling food processing operation. Mr. Mueller spent more than five decades working for what was then called “The House of Heinz.” He headed the company’s manufacturing operations, served on its board of directors and ran the organization during Mr. Heinz’ absence.
Mr. Mueller won the respect and gratitude of not only the company’s founder but also its legion of working women. He was generous in providing Heinz’ female employees with medical care and financial assistance – long before the existence of corporate health care plans or government programs. Having no heirs, Mr. Mueller willed his entire estate, including Eden Hall Farm, to serve as a vacation and respite destination for the working and retired women of the H.J. Heinz Company, as well as for women throughout the region.
The property – much of which is agricultural and forest land – includes the Mueller’s former home, a conference center with guest rooms and a dining facility, a barn and caretaker home, as well as several smaller structures.
About Chatham University
Chatham University now offers 23 masters level programs and four doctoral level programs, all applied degrees, for women and men. As Chatham College, the institution offered undergraduate degrees to women only until 1994, when it launched its first graduate program for women and men. Of Chatham’s 2,000 degree-seeking students, more than 800 are graduate students. Along with 440 full- and part-time faculty and staff, the University’s campus population was quickly outgrowing its landlocked 39-acre Shadyside campus, and so the addition of Eden Hall Farms provides a new opportunity for growth.
Chatham University offers undergraduate liberal arts degrees for women through Chatham College for Women, its historic residential women’s college. The College for Graduate Studies offers master’s- and doctoral-level programs for women and men; and the College for Continuing and Professional Studies provides online and hybrid degree programs, and community programs including the 52-year-old Summer Music and Arts Day Camp.
Founded in 1869 as Pennsylvania Female College and today housing one of the oldest women’s undergraduate colleges in the United States, Chatham also today celebrated its first year as a University, which was granted on April 24, 2007 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and announced on May 1. The Eden Hall Farm gift marks yet another remarkable milestone in almost 15 years of growth.
“Eden Hall Farm has served so many individuals since Sebastian Mueller began his first summer program for women in 1935. Because of Chatham University’s historic commitment to women and the environment, Sebastian Mueller’s legacy will live on to serve even more than he could have imagined,” Mr. Greer said. “Today we witness the evolution of one man’s dream into what I believe will become a unique learning community for people from around the world.”
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FEATURE STORY
04/29/08
Chatham hosts American Red Cross Aquatic School
By Amanda Kennedy, Senior Public Relations Specialist
Pittsburgh, PA - (April 29, 2008) ... The American Red Cross Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter will hold its Aquatic School May15-18 and May 22-25 at Chatham University. Swimmers who successfully complete the Aquatic School will be certified to apply for professional lifeguard jobs. Also, lifeguards who are currently certified can take a review course during the training to extend their certification.
Classes will be held at Chatham’s Sigo Falk Natatorium in the Athletic and Fitness Center, located on Woodland Road in Pittsburgh. To gain certification, students must attend at all four classes in one of the two following sessions:
Session A
• Thursday, May 15, 6-10 p.m.
• Friday, May 16, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
• Saturday, May 17, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Sunday, May 18, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Session B
• Thursday, May 22, 6-10 p.m.
• Friday, May 23, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
• Saturday, May 24, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Sunday, May 25, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Cost of the training is $200 for new lifeguards. For the lifeguarding review program, cost is $175 and attendance is required only at the May 16-18 or May 23-25 sessions. All proceeds benefit the local disaster relief efforts of the Red Cross.
To qualify for entry, you must be at least 15 years of age and be able to swim 300 yards continuously using the following strokes: front crawl (100 yards); breaststroke (100 yards); and 100 yards of either the front crawl or breaststroke or a combination of the two. Additionally, you must be able to surface dive 7-10 feet, retrieve a 10-pound object and return to starting position within 1 minute and 40 seconds. Registration is required; walk-ins will not be accepted.
Classes include training in water first aid, CPR, Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and additional lifesaving techniques. In addition to lifeguard training, CPR/AED for the professional rescuer and lifeguard training instructor classes will be offered during the Aquatic School.
To register or for more information, visit swpa.redcross.org or call 412-263-3128 registration deadline is noon on the Wednesday prior to each session.
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FEATURE STORY
04/28/08
Memorial set for Dr. Donald Adam
By Paul A. Kovach, Vice President for University Communications
Pittsburgh, PA - A Memorial Service for Dr. Donald G. Adam will be held Welker Room of the James Laughlin Music Hall on Saturday, June 7th at 3:00 pm.
Dr. Adam was a graduate of Harvard College (A.B.) and the University of Rochester (Ph.D.). He taught English during his 36 years (1966-2002) at Chatham and chaired the department at various times. After his retirement in 2002, he continued to teach Chatham's international students part-time during the summer months.
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FEATURE STORY
03/28/08
Kathy Ayres' Up, Down, and Around honored as 2008 selection for Pennsylvania's early literacy program
By Paul A. Kovach, Vice President for University Communications
Pittsburgh, PA - (March 28, 2008) ... Up, Down, and Around, written by Pennsylvania author and Chatham University Lecturer Katherine Ayres and illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott, has been named the 2008 selection of the third annual Pennsylvania One Book, Every Young Child early literacy program.
The book is billed as a “rollicking celebration of things that grow,” featuring children learning about a garden teeming with life, producing a variety of edible plants, such as corn that grows up, onions that grow down, and tomato vines that twine all around.
The program will kick off with a reception at the Pennsylvania State Capitol, April 1, 4-6 p.m. Members of the Pennsylvania Library Association, legislators and other community leaders will join the author to promote the development of early literacy skills through interactive experiences with books and stories.
The Capitol launch event is a prelude to Ayres’ 20 days of visits across the state that start April 3, 11 a.m., at the New Cumberland Public Library (Foundation Hall), 1 Benjamin Plaza, New Cumberland. A full listing of her visits will continually be updated on the Web site www.paonebook.org.
More than a half million Pennsylvania children ages 3-6 are reached annually through the One Book, Every Young Child program which stresses the importance of reading early and often to young children and how that impacts their future lives.
In its commitment to unlock the promise of literacy, a $40,000 grant from Verizon Foundation will provide a copy of Up, Down, and Around to more than 15,000 Pennsylvania childcare facilities, licensed preschools, Head Start programs and family literacy programs.
“Verizon is proud to partner with the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Office of Commonwealth Libraries in this program that empowers young children and their families with the skills and passion to pursue a life of learning,” said William B. Petersen, president of Verizon Pennsylvania. “Verizon believes we must assure that people gain the complex literacy skills needed across the lifespan, from early childhood through adulthood, to participate and compete in the 21st Century.”
The beauty of the One Book, Every Young Child program goes far beyond asking parents and caregivers to read to preschoolers. It emphasizes ways that adults can engage children in activities such as talking about a book’s cover and illustrations, discussing the action in the book and favorite parts and making up pretend play games related to the story.
“I’m humbled and honored to have my book selected,” said Ayres. “In some ways I’m really a poster child for early literacy. I was read to constantly as a child, and it was natural for me to start writing stories of my own. I’m delighted and excited about the chance to travel the state and have an effect on children’s connections with books and literacy.”
Up, Down, and Around is an excellent choice for the program, with language that is extremely simple and rhythmical. “It’s a very easy book on the ear. Children have a better recall of books when there is that rhythmical language and patterning,” said Ayres.
On the first level, Up, Down, and Around is about vegetables. But it’s also about plants in general and growing things. “The insects add an entirely different dimension,” said Ayres. “There is so much going on because of the wonderful illustrations. I couldn’t have been happier with the choice of the illustrator. Her illustrations make the book sing.”
The book is also about directionality, and those reading the book to children can engage them in conversation about directions and locations, helping to stretch their vocabulary with words such as in front of, behind, underneath and more.
In its inaugural year, 2006, the One Book, Every Young Child program won a coveted national John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award for its comprehensive approach to early literacy.
“The One Book, Every Young Child program is another example of Governor Rendell’s tremendous commitment to early education of Pennsylvania’s youngest children,” said Secretary of Education Gerald L. Zahorchak. “Thanks to Governor Rendell’s vision and the legislature’s leadership, the Commonwealth has made historic investments in early childhood education, and those investments are making a real difference in raising student achievement.”
“For a child, a book can spark a love of reading that will last a lifetime,” said Public Welfare Secretary Estelle B. Richman. “Through this initiative, we’re providing children and their families with the opportunity to learn and grow together as they develop the skills they need to succeed in school and in life.”
Across the nation, just under half of children between birth and five years (47.8%) are read to every day by their parents or other family members, according to the study, “Reading Across the Nation: A Chartbook” released Nov. 1, 2007, for Reach Out and Read by UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities. This is the first report to track state by state daily rates of reading to young children.
The study provides both national and state by state information about whether parents are meeting the recommendation of reading aloud to their children ages 0-5. The percentage of families reading to their children every day varies by state and by race/ethnicity and family income within states.
In Pennsylvania, 56.7% of children ages 0-5 are read to every day, above the national average; however only 36% of students are at or above “proficient” in reading by grade 4.
The One Book, Every Young Child reading initiative hopes to help change these statistics. The program includes author visits across the state to libraries, children’s museums, preschools, Head Start centers and family literacy programs.
There will be library and museum programming for families and activities for parents, early care providers and educators – all to promote the value and benefits of reading early and often to preschoolers and to encourage family bonding through books and reading. Many of these ideas can be found on the program’s Web site at www.paonebook.org.
There also will be 65 traveling trunks developed by museum educators to help expand upon the concepts of Up, Down, and Around. Each trunk is filled with fun book-related puppets, games and manipulatives for young children, as well as a guide for librarians and educators that encourages use of the trunk contents in activities that are aligned with the Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards.
Additionally, about 100 legislators and VIP readers from the Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Public Welfare will be traveling the state to read to children in various settings.
The Pennsylvania Library Association through its member libraries will support the One Book, Every Young Child reading initiative throughout the year. Ayres will speak at its Early Learning Forum at the Hilton Harrisburg on April 2, 2008, and assist in recognizing best practice winning libraries across the state.
One Book, Every Young Child is made possible through a collaboration of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Please Touch Museum, State Museum of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Library Association, Pennsylvania Public Television Network, Pennsylvania Center for the Book, Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children, The Pennsylvania Child Care Association, PennSERVE, HSLC/Access PA and Verizon. This program was supported in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by Pennsylvania’s Office of Commonwealth Libraries.
Page 4- One Book Release
Information about One Book, Every Young Child may be obtained by visiting www.paonebook.org which also includes a schedule of the author’s visits around the state.
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FEATURE STORY
12/18/07
Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing program begins August 2008
By Amanda Kennedy, Senior Public Relations Specialist
Pittsburgh, PA - (December 18, 2007) … Chatham University’s nationally-recognized MFA in Creative Writing program will soon expand to include a new low-residency degree program, according to the University’s Office of Academic Affairs. Enrolling now for August 2008, the Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing will be a 39-credit online program with two ten-day summer residencies on the University’s Pittsburgh campus.
According to MFA Program Director Sheryl St. Germain, Ph.D., low-residency students will participate in online mentorships with a publishing writer each term, rather than in classroom writing workshops. Writing mentors will include distinguished writers from Chatham’s current MFA program: Sally Alexander, Peter Oresick, Marc Nieson, Michael Simms, and Karen Williams, as well as two new award-winning nature writers, Christopher Cokinos (Hope Is the Thing with Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds) and Ann Fisher-Wirth (Five Terraces and Blue Window). A writer of national and international prominence will be featured each year as both a mentor and teacher during one of the residencies. The 2008-2009 writer will be announced early in 2008.
Students must complete two ten-day residencies in their first and second summers on the Chatham University campus with the first residency in August 2009.
“The Low-Residency MFA will include the same innovative focus on nature, environment and travel writing as our Residency MFA in Creative Writing, but will provide students the flexibility of studying at home, regardless of where they live,” Dr. St. Germain said. “What’s more, they will still experience our emphasis on place-based writing both at home and on our arboretum campus for a ten-day period each year.”
The residencies – with housing provided on campus - will consist of intensive workshops, craft lectures, panels and readings with well-known creative writers. Low-residency students will have the option to participate in creative writing field seminars with MFA residency students in lieu of one of the summer residencies, although the field seminar is not a requirement. Field seminars include additional fees, including travel and lodging, and will vary depending on the location of the field seminar.
Chatham’s MFA in Creative Writing allows students to focus on tracks in creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, screenwriting, and writing for children, and encourages them to explore two tracks simultaneously. The program hosts guest authors and poets from around the country, and students and faculty publish their own national literary journal, “The Fourth River.” Students take innovative creative writing field seminars that include travel to such places as Costa Rica, Ecuador, India and Germany. Poets & Writers named the MFA one of “Nine Distinctive Programs” in November 2007 and The Atlantic Monthly named it one of five Innovative/Unique Programs in the country in summer 2007. Chatham University also offers an undergraduate BFA in Creative Writing and an online Master of Professional Writing.
Chatham University provides its 1,900 students with a solid education built upon strong academics, public leadership and global perspectives. Chatham’s graduate programs, continuing education and certification programs provide women and men with advanced education for professional careers. Founded in 1869, the University includes Chatham College for Women; the College of Graduate Studies; and the College for Continuing and Professional Studies. The 35-acre arboretum campus is located on historic Woodland Road in the Shadyside section of Pittsburgh. For more information call 800-837-1290 or visit www.chatham.edu.
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