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PitzerPresidentOuitsCLAREMONT—-Dr. John W. Atherton, founding president of Pitzer College, has resigned effectivein June, 1970.He announced his decision at the meeting of the executive committee of the Pitzer board oftrustees Tuesday, a spokesman said today.Atherton gave several reasons for his decision:When he took the position in 1963, the year of the college’s founding, he said then that he did not want to remain in office more than seven years.Pitzer, newest of the Claremont Colleges, has already completed its first phase of building a campus, a faculty, and a student body of 650. Atherton said it was time for “fresh leadership to take over for the next phase of development.”Negotiations between the six presidents and the Black Students Union of the colleges for a Black Studies Center have ended in an agreement to form an intercollegiate committee to implement plans for the center. The committee has been formedand is now at work, and his own part in the project has been played.Atherton said he wants to return to college teaching, “where my basic interests have always been.”In his formal letter to trustees Chairman Odell S. McConnell, he said, “I feel that one of the most important functions a board of trustees can perform is to have a part in selecting a president. In the Pitzer tradition, a presidential search committee of trustees, faculty, and students should now be formed. I trust this will be an important process and a unifying force for all of you.”Atherton was not available for comment today. He is in New York with Black Students Union leaders Danny Wilks and John Payton to discuss funding of the Black Studies Center with the Rockefeller Foundation.James B. Jamieson, vice president for administration at Pitzer, reported his personal distress at Atherton’s resignation. “I have worked with President Atherton for four years,” he said, “and it hasbeen a great experience to work with him.”Jamieson noted that AJherton would most likelynot remain in Claremont^He added that Atherfbn had told the trustees he would not consider an extra year. His decision toleave in June, 1970 was final, he said. The trustees had urged him to bHay on as president.An editoriajktn the Claremont Collegian student ney/spapor iroted that, “Of all the presidents, Ath-erfoh alone seemed to be in favor of the Black Studies Center from the beginning.”Atherton was dean of faculty at Claremont Men’s College when he was selected to head Pitzer College. A graduate of Amherst with a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, his field is English and he is a published poet. He came to CMC as a professor of English in 1949.During Pitzer’s first six years, a physical plant of three dormitories, a dining center, a mall and four academic buildings have been completed. The faculty has grown from 13 to more than 50 and the student body from 150 to 650 women. Its emphasis is in the social and behavioral sciences.The college is named for Russell K. Pitzer, Pomona philanthropist, and father of Kenneth S. Pitzer, president of Stanford University and a Pitzer trustee.IDlt;fen:toldSovbasrattDR. JOHN W. ATHERTONtheSforintlt;corSaikmnattanrocmg1SIS)aremegotintsprmeNamedriIsotjuttiothetoAnthethebolessatarbudehabomiantsvs
Newspaper Details
Pomona Progress Bulletin
Pomona, California, US
Thu, Mar 20, 1969
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USA 23 Oct 2021
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