Oct 03, 2011 - Claremont, Calif. -

Groundbreaking festivities for the new teaching and learning building, Oct. 1

Judy and Marvin Garrett

Trustee Wayne Drinkward '73

ASHMC President Margaret Brier '12

President Maria Klawe and representatives for faculty, alumni, students and trustees signal the beginning of construction of the teaching and learning building.

Saturday, Oct. 1, was an exciting day for Harvey Mudd College (HMC) as community members celebrated the groundbreaking of the first academic building to be constructed on campus since 1993. But the ceremonial hard hats and shovels were taken up only after many expressions of gratitude to the Garrett Family, who are among the key pioneers whose past efforts made the day’s events possible.

Garrett family members Marvin (son of founding Trustee Leroy Garrett) and Judy (Marvin’s spouse) joined HMC Board of Trustees, alumni, faculty, staff, students, architectural and construction staff, community members and friends, to celebrate the historic occasion in a tent adjacent to the construction site, where Thomas-Garrett Hall once stood. Speakers described how the 50-year-old academic building impacted the Mudd community and helped to inform the program of the new teaching and learning building that will be completed in 2013.

Jerry Van Hecke ’61, Donald A. Strauss Professor of Chemistry and associate dean of administration, spoke of the work of the benefactors who made possible Thomas-Garrett Hall, as well as many other aspects of HMC life. Leroy Garrett was the fourth founding trustee of the College and became vice chair of the HMC Board of Trustees in 1956. He served on the board until his death in 1963. His wife, Marian Thomas Garrett, became a trustee in 1963 and served for 27 years, after which she was named a life trustee. The couple funded Thomas-Garrett Hall and named it after their parents Mr. and Mrs. Ray Thomas, and Mr. and Mrs. Ray M. Garrett. Later, in her role as chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, Marian oversaw the Libra Project (1970-72), which resulted in multiple academic spaces: the Galileo halls, Sprague Library (now Sprague Center), the Parsons Engineering building, Keck and Jacobs.

The Garretts’ other contributions include the Ray Thomas Scholarship Fund (established in 1958), an endowment fund that supports the humanities and social sciences (including the “Lady Garrett Players”), and, the Garrett House, which has been home to all HMC presidents and their families. Van Hecke also recognized the Garretts’ involvement with the establishment of Saddle Rock, an annual meeting that brings together trustees with the HMC community.

“Their names are around [campus] because of a financial commitment, but the real commitment was of the heart,” said Marvin Garrett of his father and stepmother. “They were dedicated with the Mudd family to creating and being part of the creation of a science and engineering facility second to none in the world. That emotional dedication was equally as important as the financial commitment. Also, my father had great foresight and always looked ahead, and I think he would be very comfortable that the time had come to move to the next era in the College’s history.”

That the new teaching and learning building would continue and enhance this important community interaction was confirmed by subsequent speakers. Alumni Association Board of Governors President John Lulejian ’90 expressed how excited alumni are at the prospect of improved academic space and described their enthusiastic support of the new building through the “Wart Gift” program.

Kerry Karukstis, chair of the faculty and Joseph B. Platt Professor of Effective Teaching in Chemistry, described how Thomas-Garrett “fostered our vision of this exciting facility, and for that we owe the Garrett family an immense amount of gratitude.”

“Fostering cross-disciplinary interactions, preserving our special sense of community and blending our work and play—these are the integral values that shaped our design of the new teaching and learning building,” she said. “We certainly look forward to what the new building will offer: ample and flexible space, the design features that will continue to promote collaborative learning and bring the community closer together, and the technological sophistication that will enable modern instruction far into the future.”

The promise of interdisciplinary interactions continues to be one of the many appeals of HMC, remarked student body president Margaret Brier ’12. “It really does accurately reflect student life here at Harvey Mudd,” she said. “The students who come to Harvey Mudd come here to work in different disciplines—to be an engineering student who is friends with chemistry students who take extra computer science courses. The whole community is aware that this new building will facilitate that. “

The new teaching and learning building is also bringing to fruition a goal of the HMC strategic vision, said Wayne Drinkward ’73, president and CEO of Hoffman Construction Company and the trustee member who funded the new building’s programming efforts. “We have inherited a great vision; it’s time for us to step up and work on it,” he said.

That work will undoubtedly lead to a teaching and learning building that will be sustainable (LEED Gold certification or LEED Platinum) and will provide flexible and technologically advanced classrooms, lecture halls, faculty offices and public spaces to support the widest range of pedagogies and learning styles. These measures of success are certainly important. Yet true success for the new academic building, as envisioned by Boora Architects, is that it will be “the place where everyone will want to be.”

 

More about the teaching and learning building

View a time-lapse video of the demolition of Thomas-Garrett Hall

Contact: Judy Augsburger, senior director of communications
judy_augsburger@hmc.edu
909.607.7013