Pitzer College

Pitzer College

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Motto	Provida Futuri
Motto in English	"Mindful of the Future"
Type	Private liberal arts college
Established	1963
Endowment	$134.3 million (2014)
President	Thomas Poon
Academic staff	116 (approx)
Undergraduates	1,025 (approx)
Postgraduates	0
Location	Claremont , California , USA
Campus	Suburban, 35 acres (14 ha)
Mascot	Cecil the Sagehen
Website	pitzer.edu

Pitzer College is a private residential liberal arts college located in Claremont, California, United States, a college town approximately 39 miles (63 km) east of downtown Los Angeles. Pitzer College is one of the Claremont Colleges.

With an acceptance rate of 12.9%, Pitzer has been recognized as one of the most selective liberal arts colleges in the United States. Despite Pitzer's relatively short history, the college has scored increasingly well in recent US college and university rankings. With an emphasis on social responsibility, intercultural understanding and the development of a critical approach to the traditional disciplines, Pitzer College is known to be the most liberal of the Claremont Colleges.

Pitzer College has a curricular emphasis on the social sciences, behavioral sciences, international programs, and media studies. As it is one of the Claremont Colleges, consortium resources (libraries, dining halls, etc.) are shared and students from the school are encouraged to take classes at the other four undergraduate Claremont Colleges as well as at Pitzer. Likewise, students from the other Claremont Colleges are permitted to take classes at Pitzer.

The only institution to score a perfect 10 on College Prowler’s list of the greenest colleges in the country, Pitzer is known for its efforts to promote sustainability and environmental education. In 2014, it became the first college in Southern California to commit to divesting its endowment of fossil fuel stocks. Pitzer is also home to the Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California, which works to promote environmental awareness and regional sustainability.

History

Pitzer was founded in 1963 as a women's college by Russell K. Pitzer (1878–1978), a California citrus magnate, philanthropist, and Pomona College alumnus. In April 1963, John W. Atherton, the dean of faculty and a professor of English at Claremont Men's Colllege (now Claremont McKenna College) was hired as Pitzer's first president, and over the next seventeen months he recruited students, faculty, and trustees and constructed Scott and Sanborn Halls just in time for the fall 1964 semester. During the College's first year, students and faculty created the curriculum and the school's system of governance. The College graduated its first class of students in 1965 and became co-educational in the fall of 1970. The first academic term in the fall of 1964 began with eleven professors and 153 students from sixteen states and five countries.

Pitzer College Presidents

• John W. Atherton, founding president (1963–1970)
• Robert H. Atwell, second president (1970–1978)
• Frank L. Ellsworth, third president (1979–1991)
• Marilyn Chapin Massey, fourth president (1992–2002)
• Laura Skandera Trombley, fifth president (2002-2015)
• Thomas Poon, interim president (2015-2016)
• Melvin L. Oliver, president-designate (2016)

Campus

The Pitzer College gates

Pitzer’s campus is located in Claremont, California, covering an area of approximately 35 acres (14 ha). The campus is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) west of LA/Ontario International Airport and Los Angeles can be accessed via Metrolink, with the station located approximately eight blocks southwest of campus. Access to campus is also provided via Interstate 10 and Interstate 210. The campus includes 16 buildings, including 5 residence halls. West and East Halls, which earned Platinum LEED certification, opened in fall 2012; three of the residence halls (Pitzer, Atherton and Sanborn) were built in 2007 and are Gold LEED-Certified.

The Pitzer College campus occupies the northeast corner of the Claremont Colleges property, which contains seven institutions of higher education coordinated through the Claremont University Consortium. The Claremont Colleges include Pomona College (founded in 1887), Claremont Graduate University (1925), Scripps College (1926), Claremont McKenna College (1946), Harvey Mudd College (1955), Pitzer College (1963), and Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences (1997). Currently, Foothill Boulevard/Historic Route 66 and Harvey Mudd College border the campus to the north, Claremont Boulevard to the east, Ninth Street to the south, and North Mills Avenue to the west. Possible future campus expansion into the Claremont University Consortium East Campus Property would extend the eastern boundary of campus towards Monte Vista Boulevard. At present, the campus is split approximately in half by Pitzer Road. Harvey Mudd College is adjacent to Pitzer’s north, Scripps to the west, and Claremont McKenna to the south.

Contemporary architecture characterizes the majority of Pitzer's buildings, several of which were designed by Gwathmey-Siegel following major donations from Eli Broad, a board member emeritus and former chair of the Pitzer College Board of Trustees. A notable exception is the Grove House, a California bungalow built in 1902 for a local citrus grower during the height of the Arts and Crafts movement. The building, a popular campus hangout, was purchased for $1.00 and moved to Pitzer in 1977 under the direction of Professor emeritus Barry Sanders. The Grove House is home to a cafe, the Women's Center, the Hinshaw Gallery and the EcoCenter.

The John R. Rodman Arboretum is part of the campus, and most landscaping follows principles of xeriscaping. Several varieties of citrus and other fruit are grown throughout campus and an organic community garden, dedicated grove and chicken coop are located north of Mead Hall.

The George C. S. Benson Auditorium opened in 2010 and is designed to accommodate classes, panel discussions, lectures, film screenings, dance and musical performances and more.

The Stephen L. Glass Commencement Plaza is located on the southwest edge of campus. Nearby beach volleyball and basketball courts opened in April 2010 and the first commencement was held on the new Commencement Plaza in May 2010.

The Keck Science Complex II is located on the southwest corner of the campus, formerly the Sanborn Parking Lot. Consisting of four modular units, the complex opened in fall 2011 and house science labs, classrooms and offices. In the future, a second Joint Science building will occupy this space.

A greenhouse, which houses the work of the Ferre/Marquet Vaccine Research Center at Pitzer College, is located northwest of the Grove House. It was completed in summer 2010 and work began there in fall 2010.

The main dining hall is in McConnell Center and features an award-winning executive chef, organic and local ingredients and vegan and vegetarian options. The Pit-Stop Cafe, opened in fall 2009, serves organic, fair-trade coffee and espresso drinks, plus sandwiches, salads and pastries. The Shakedown Cafe, located in the Gold Student Center, is student-run and features organic world cuisine.

Located directly northwest of the main campus, the Robert J. Bernard Biological Field Station, a resource of The Claremont Colleges, is an 86-acre (35 ha) nature preserve consisting of coastal sage scrub.

The Outback Preserve, located in the northeast section of campus, occupies just over three acres of the John Rodman Arboretum. The Preserve is home to one of the rarest ecosystems in the world: Alluvial Sage Scrub. Undergoing ecological restoration as part of the Outback Restoration Project, the Preserve is a living-learning laboratory. The project seeks to restore the Outback Preserve to a more intact alluvial sage scrub ecosystem, removing invasive plants and ensuring the success of native species. Each semester there are a small number of courses utilizing the Outback Preserve. Courses are open to all students at The Claremont Colleges.

The campus lies less than five miles (8 km) south of the San Gabriel Mountains, on top of the alluvial fans that come from nearby San Antonio Canyon. The campus is relatively flat, with a 4% uphill grade from southwest to northeast. Mount Baldy, officially called Mount San Antonio, is 15 miles (24 km) north of the College and is visible from the campus. The Mount Baldy Ski Lifts are a popular spot for students to ski in the winter. On clear days, the Chino Hills are visible to the south and San Bernardino Mountains to the east.

The Firestone Center for Restoration Ecology
Pitzer owns and operates a 145-acre (59 ha) field station on secondary growth rainforest, the Firestone Center for Restoration Ecology. The facility is located approximately two kilometers east of Playa Dominical, Costa Rica. The property borders the Hacienda Barú nature reserve. The Center is home to programs in Pitzer's science, language and international studies curricula.

Pitzer Study Abroad Programs
The College runs 58 study abroad programs, including 41 international exchanges and 6 domestic exchanges. Pitzer College also operates its own study abroad programs in Botswana, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Italy and Nepal.

Rankings

The U.S. News & World Report College and University rankings 2016 edition ranks Pitzer College as the 36th best national liberal arts college overall, #6 (3-way tie) Most Students Studying Abroad, #18 in High School Counselors' Picks and #24 Best College for Veterans. Pitzer College is the youngest school represented in the top 40. In 2015, Pitzer was recognized nationally as the 8th most selective liberal arts college; 20th most selective among all college and universities; 44th in best freshmen retention rate and 55th for highest proportion of classes with fewer than 20 students.

Pitzer is listed in Princeton Review’s Best 380 Colleges 2016 Edition and is also ranked #8 for Students Most Engaged in Community Service, #15 LGBTQ-Friendly and #19 Best Financial Aid.

Pitzer earned an A for Campus Food from Niche.com and a Perfect 10 for Greenest College in the Country from College Prowler. College Raptor ranked Pitzer as the “Hidden Gem” among small colleges in California.

The Business Insider listed Pitzer as one of The 20 Most Exclusive Colleges In America for 2012.

Pitzer was listed among Unigo.com's Top 10 Schools Where Students Follow the Beltway as Closely as Their Studies, and on Parade magazine's "College A-List."

In fall 2010, Newsweek named Pitzer a Most Service Minded School, and Pitzer was in the top ten in the service category in Washington Monthly's 2010 College Guide. Pitzer was among Kiplinger's 2010 Best Values in Private Colleges. Additionally, the 2011 Princeton Review named Pitzer a Best Western College.

Newsweek ranked Pitzer College #11 nationally in "Most Service-Oriented Schools" in its College Rankings 2011. In addition, Pitzer ranked #2 in "Best Food," #5 in "Top Schools for Activists," #6 in "Happiest Students" and #7 in "Free-Spirited Students."

In the most recent data reported by the National Science Foundation, Pitzer College ranked 8th in the number of alumni who pursued a Ph.D. in psychology, 29th in the number of alumni who pursued a Ph.D. in anthropology, and 38th in the number of alumni who pursued a Ph.D. in sociology, compared with 153 other private colleges and universities.

The Princeton Review named Pitzer College as one of 81 schools to be included in its publication, Colleges with a Conscience: 81 Schools with Great Community Involvement and Pitzer College was selected by The Carnegie Foundation for their new elective Community Engagement Classification in 2007.

Academics

As a member of The Claremont College Consortium, Pitzer students have access to nearly all facilities available to students enrolled at the other colleges, in addition to all facilities administered by the Claremont College Consortium. Any student attending Pitzer can enroll in classes at the other four colleges, and can complete an off-campus major if the major is not offered by Pitzer.

From 2010-2015, The Chronicle of Higher Education listed Pitzer first in Fulbright Fellowships among all undergraduate institutions nationwide. In 11 of the past 12 years, Pitzer received more Fulbright Fellowships per capita, than any other college or university nationwide.

In 2015, Pitzer students and alums were awarded 21 Fulbrights. In its history, Pitzer students and alums have been awarded 217 Fulbright Scholarships 31 Watson Fellowships 47 Teach for America Corps 15 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships 16 McNair Scholarships 9 Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarships 12 Kemper Scholarships 12 Coro Fellowships 6 Udall Scholarships 4 American Sociological Association Minority Fellowships 3 Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Fellowships 3 Princeton in Asia Teaching Fellowships 2 Freeman Foundation Asia Fellowships 1 Princeton in Africa 1 Truman Fellowship 1 Rhodes Scholarship

Pitzer offers over 40 majors, many of them cross-disciplinary, and each student is assigned a faculty advisor upon his/her arrival on campus. The College expects students to take an active part in planning that course of study, and has few distribution requirements.

The student/faculty ratio is 10:1, and 100% of Pitzer's tenure-track faculty hold a PhD or the terminal degree in their field.

W.M. Keck Science Center is shared by Pitzer College, Claremont McKenna College and Scripps College.

In contrast with religious studies major at some universities, Pitzer offers a Secularism major.

Admission

During the last five years the number of applications has grown by over 65%. Pitzer received 4,300 applications in 2015 for acceptance into the class of 2019. Pitzer offered admission to 12.9% of the applicant pool with an average 3.93 GPA. The combined (optional) SATs were 1,337, or roughly 93% percentile. 59.7% of the class entering in Fall 2015 are from outside California and students from outside the United States compose 8.2% The major geographic areas outside California represented, in order, are New York, Illinois, Washington, Massachusetts and Oregon.

In 2004 Pitzer became the first college on the West Coast to join the SAT-Optional Movement by making the SAT optional for applicants with a cumulative unweighted high school GPA of 3.50 or higher.

Student body

Overview

Pitzer College enrolls approximately 1000 students, making it the third largest of the five undergraduate Claremont Colleges (Claremont McKenna and Pomona have larger student bodies, while Harvey Mudd and Scripps are smaller). Pitzer College ranks 25th nationwide among all Baccalaureate Colleges for percentage of its students who study abroad, and Pitzer has the highest rate of study abroad among the Claremont Colleges. Students of color constitute over 30% of the total student body and Pitzer enrolls the largest number of international students of any school within the Claremont Consortium.

Community Involvement

The Pitzer College community is especially known for its involvement outside of the classroom. Its students, faculty and staff donate over 100,000 hours to community service annually. The College has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll seven times. This distinction recognizes students, faculty, and staff for helping to build a culture of service and civic engagement.

Much of Pitzer's community engagement occurs under the auspices of the Community Engagement Center (CEC), which strives to root community-based pedagogy more deeply into the College's curricular and research agendas. By providing financial, technical and logistical support to develop innovative community-based projects as well as an institutional infrastructure to sustain and evaluate them, the Center engages international, national and local resources in a cooperative network aimed at defining and realizing the goals of various community partners.

The CEC runs the Pitzer in Ontario Program, a comprehensive semester-long service learning and cultural immersion program with a strong theoretical foundation in the human sciences informed by the best practices in the field of experiential education. The program integrates extensive internship experiences in city, private or non-profit organizations with interdisciplinary coursework that provides the theoretical framework from which social and urban issues can be effectively evaluated. Through living in Ontario, students have the opportunity to engage firsthand the diversity of voices, perspectives, and agendas that are driving those demands, and to come to a better understanding of the many layers of engaged citizenship.

At the Campus Compact 20/20 Visioning Summit on October 17, 2006, the Corporation for National and Community Service recognized Pitzer as one of 28 California campuses distinguished for community service and Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Pitzer College received Mother Jones Magazine 2006 Campus Activism for Thinking Outside of the Box.

Pitzer College students including former Speaker of the California State Assembly Fabian Nunez ‘97 were instrumental in founding the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center. Through the Community Engagement Center, dozens of Pitzer students volunteer each semester with programs at Camp Afflerbaugh and California Youth Authority Chino.

Athletics

Pitzer College joins with Pomona College to field the Sagehen sports teams in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Sagehen teams include soccer, basketball, football, baseball, track & field, golf, tennis, water polo, swimming and diving. Pitzer students also participate in the Claremont Colleges club sports programs that compete nationally. There is a cross-campus rivalry between the Sagehens and the Stags, fielded by Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd and Scripps Colleges.

Cecil the Sagehen is the school mascot, who often leads the crowd in the fight song, “When Cecil the Sagehen Chirps,” which includes the lyric “Our foes are filled with dread/Whenever Cecil the Sagehen flies overhead!” He also travels the world in support of Pitzer.

Some recent Sagehen accomplishments include:

• The women’s water polo team has won four straight SCIAC championships.
• Alyssa Woodward ’15 was named the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches Division III Women's Water Polo Player of the Year in 2015.
• The women’s soccer team won the 2015 SCIAC Tournament championship.
• The women’s lacrosse team won the 2015 SCIAC Tournament championship game.
• The men’s soccer team won the 2014 SCIAC Tournament championship.

Events and Traditions

Kohoutek Music and Arts Festival began in 1974 and is a student-run multi-day outdoor music and arts festival held each spring on the Pitzer campus. The event, which is free and open to all Claremont Colleges community members, is named after Comet Kohoutek, discovered by Czech astronomer Lubos Kohoutek. Past groups that have headlined Kohoutek include: O.A.R, Blackalicious, The Roots, Tea Leaf Green, Breakestra, Zolar X, Lyrics Born, Akron/Family, Zion I and Toubab Krewe. Last year's headliners were Matt & Kim, Blu and Mr. Lif and featured a performance by special guests Mandrill. The festival generally includes a number of non-music components including off-campus and student vendors, fire performances, a farmers market, and other activities.

Groove at the Grove: generally refers to those concerts or other performances held on Thursday nights at the Grove House, but the term may be used at other times as well. The event represents Pitzer's most consistent contribution to the weeknight arts and music scene at the Claremont Colleges. Acts set up on the front steps of the Grove House with the audience standing immediately in front of the structure. Numerous student and professional groups have performed at the event, including We Are Scientists.

Hammocks on The Mounds: refers to the hanging of hammocks on the Pitzer Mounds, the uneven grassy area located directly north of McConnell Center. The hammocks are generally donated by students and/or alumni, or purchased by the student government. The College declared November 2 to 9, 1998 Pitzer College Hammock Week, stating that community members are encouraged to "bring a hammock to the mounds, string it up and just hang around." It has since become an annual tradition at the College.

Orientation Adventure or OA is the College's pre-Welcome Week program for incoming First-Year, Transfer, and New Resource students. The program offers multi-day thematic trips throughout California, led by student leaders. Over the program's history themes have included backpacking, sustainability, coastal biking, grassroots movements, surfing, and Los Angeles arts & music. Trips generally vary in length from three to four days and destinations of past trips have included: Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, Chávez National Center, San Gabriel River Trail, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, San Onofre, community gardens, and San Diego.

Murals provide unique visual atmosphere to Pitzer college. Murals are painted by students, staff, and guests artists on the interiors and exteriors of campus buildings. Diverse themes include portraits, politics, literature, and purely whimsical imagery.

Snackie Snack occurs weekly, and is a free late-night snack served by the Pitzer Activities (PAct) Programming Board. During exam periods, Snackie Snack is served by the president and members of the cabinet.

"Reggae Fest" began in 2003 as a fall concert event. Sometimes referred to as "BobFest", the event occurs during the first weekend in November and features Reggae, Dancehall, Afrobeat, and World music. The festival runs over the course of a single day and features 5-9 live, professional bands, free food and beverages. The event has been hosted by California reggae personality Junor Francis each year since its inception.

Student Government

Main article: Pitzer College Student Senate

The Pitzer College Student Senate is the central governing body for the students at the college. In total, Student Senate is composed of 65 members: including the Executive Board (President, Vice President, Secretary, Communications Secretary, and Treasurer); Legislature (50 senators); and the Judicial Council (10 justices). All positions on Student Senate are either elected by the Student Body or appointed by the Executive Board. Student Senate meets weekly during the academic year at 7 pm in the Gold Student Health and Wellness Center (GSC) Multipurpose Room.

Pitzer College is unique in the extent to which students are involved in college governance. Almost all members of the Student Senate are assigned to serve on a specific college committee, of which they are full voting members. Committees are generally composed of a mixture of students, staff, and faculty. Student Senators serve on the following committees:

• Academic Planning Committee
• Academic Standards Committee
• Aesthetics Committee
• Appointments, Promotion and Tenure
• Campus Life Committee
• Curriculum Committee
• Diversity Committee
• External Studies
• Faculty Executive Committee
• Student Affairs Committee
• Student Alumni Relations Committee
• Teaching and Learning Committee

Student life

Residence halls

The majority of Pitzer students live on campus in one of five residence halls: Atherton Hall, East Hall, West Hall, Mead Hall, Pitzer Hall and Sanborn Hall. Each hall is equipped with laundry rooms, common rooms for meetings or social gatherings, study rooms, full kitchens and has a full-time in-residence hall director. All Pitzer residence halls, balconies included, are non-smoking.

Through the Faculty in Residence Program, each year two members of the Pitzer faculty live in one of the two faculty apartments in the residence halls on campus, and design and run events for students. The assistant dean of students also lives on campus.

First- and second-year students are not permitted to bring cars to campus, although exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis.

Atherton Hall is a four story building adjacent to the Gold Student Center. Atherton accommodates 62 students. Rooms are double occupancy with two rooms sharing an adjoining vanity, bathroom and shower. Common areas include a living room, six study rooms, and laundry facilities. The basement level of Atherton Hall is home to the mailroom, a music practice room, the Lenzner Family Gallery, art studio with classroom, and the Writing Center.

Pitzer Hall is a four-story building southeast of the Gold Student Center that houses 78 students. Rooms are double occupancy, with two rooms sharing an adjoining vanity, bathroom and shower. Common areas include a living room, eight study rooms, and laundry facilities. The first floor houses the Office of Admission. One of the two Faculty in Residence apartments is also in Pitzer Hall.

Sanborn Hall is a two-part three story building east of the Gold Student Center. Sanborn houses 178 students. Rooms are double occupancy with two rooms sharing an adjoining vanity, bathroom and shower. Common areas include a living room, nine study rooms, laundry facilities and a kitchen. One of the two Faculty in Residence apartments is also in Sanborn.

West and East Halls are made up of four buildings that house 300 sophomores, juniors and seniors in suite-style living. Opened in fall 2012, West and East Halls are the newest residential living areas on Pitzer’s campus. Living in W.E. Halls is an incredible living experience; set on the northwest part of campus, it boasts not only beautiful facilities but an unobstructed view of the San Gabriel mountain range. W.E. Hall has 67 suites that have two double-occupancy rooms with a shared bathroom. In addition, there are also ten suites that have four single rooms with a shared bathroom and common room. Only junior and seniors are eligible to live in single rooms.)

Mead Hall is a three story, six-tower complex which houses 225 students. Each suite shares a common living room with four or eight residents in each unit. Common areas include a community kitchen, laundry facilities and a television lounge. Mead is home to Career Services, Center for Asian Pacific American Students, The Rabbit Hole (substance abuse education and outreach program), the Marquis Library, and the Writing Center. This hall offers a Substance Free Tower and a Community Involvement Tower that exemplifies one of the College’s educational objectives: awareness of the social and ethical implications of action. Residence life in the Involvement Tower is generally self-governed within the parameters of Pitzer’s residential life policies, subject to amendment by Pitzer College Student Senate. Students are required to attend Tower meetings and participate in Pitzer’s community or the community at large.

Residential Life Project

Pitzer is currently engaged in a multi-year, multi-million dollar Residential Life Project to significantly expand the facilities of the College.

The Residential Life Project is expected to be completed in three phases over the next 10 to 15 years. Phase I, which included Sanborn, Pitzer, and Atherton Halls, was completed and inaugurated in September 2007 and received LEED Gold recognition from the United States Green Building Council in 2008. Robert Redford and Ed Begley, Jr. were the keynote speakers at the dedication ceremony of the Residential Life Project. The College broke ground on Phase II, which incorporates four new residence halls, a demonstration kitchen, an archive, a board room and program/faculty offices, in December 2010. It was completed in 2012 and earned LEED platinum certification.

When Pitzer's Residential Life Project is complete, the College expects to become the first college in the nation to have all Gold or Platinum LEED certified residence halls.

Student Clubs and Organizations

Pitzer boasts more than 50 student clubs and organizations on campus, in addition to over 100 others within the Claremont Colleges consortium.

Notable amongst these is the Green Bike Program (GBP), a student run bicycle collective that maintains a full service shop, as well as fleet of recovered and reused bicycles that are raffled off free of charge each semester for student use. The GBP works to provide an alternative mode of transportation to combat the predominant and destructive car culture in Southern California, as well as to reduce consumption and consumerism while increasing the practical use of recycled and reused materials. The GBP maintains a strong DIY ethic, and has become a social hub for both student and community activism.

Other clubs at Pitzer College include:

• A Cleaner Tomorrow (ACT)
• Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC)
• Black Student Union at Pitzer College
• Bowling and Making Friends (BAMF)
• Table Tennis Professionals (Ping-Pong Club)
• The Peel
• Pitzer Outdoor Adventure (POA)
• Terracycle Club
• Latinx Student Union

Cost and financial aid

For the 2015-16 academic year, tuition is $48,400, a double room is $8,770, the 16-per-week meal plan is $6,440. About thirty-seven percent of Pitzer students receive financial assistance in loans, work study, scholarships, and/or institutional grants. Pitzer utilizes the Federal FAFSA and the CSS Profile to determine financial need, and Pitzer has stated a commitment to meeting 100% of every student's demonstrated financial need. The average financial aid package at Pitzer is $40,250. Since 2004, the College has significantly reduced the average amount of indebtedness of its students to $19,422, well below the national average of more than $35,000. Pitzer's Office of Admission states a commitment to building a student body that "reflects a wide range of economic, ethnic, racial and geographic representation."

Notable alumni

• Kevin de León '03, President of the California State Senate
• Fabian Núñez, former Speaker of the California State Assembly
• Susan Feniger '76, celebrity chef and restaurateur
• J.Lately '09, Rapper
• Matthew Karatz '94, deputy mayor of Los Angeles
• Debra Wong Yang '81, former United States Attorney for Central District of California; first Asian-American woman US attorney
• David Bloom '85, anchor, NBC News
• Michael Simpson '86, Grammy-Award winning producer/composer; one half of the Dust Brothers
• John Darnielle '95, Novelist and lead singer of The Mountain Goats
• John Landgraf '84, FX Network President
• Sandra Mitchell '73, award-winning author, professor and philosopher of science
• Susan Patron '69, children's author and winner of the 2007 Newberry Medal for The Higher Power of Lucky
• Bridget Baker 82, long-time former executive of NBC Universal
• Lauren Dolgen '97, head of reality programming and executive vice president of series development at MTV
• Matt Nathanson '95, singer-songwriter and musician

Commencement speakers

2015: Janet Mock
2014: Van Jones
2013: Jon Lovett
2012: Angela Davis
2011: Max Brooks
2010: Cory Booker
2009: David Feldman (comedian)
2008: Samantha Power
2007: Eric Schlosser
2006: Fabian Núñez
2005: Sarah Weddington
2004: Bernardine Dohrn
2003: Naomi Wolf

Notable professors

• Nigel Boyle, Political Studies – Expert in comparative politics, European social policy, labor market policy, Irish politics, soccer and politics. Recognized by the Fulbright Scholarship Board as the top Fulbright adviser.
• Halford Fairchild, Psychology and Black Studies
• Stephen L. Glass, John A. McCarthy Professor Emeritus of Classics, longest-serving faculty member of the College from 1964-2011.
• Judith Grabiner, Mathematics, history of mathematics and science. Awarded the 2014 Beckenback Book Prize for her book A Historian Looks Back: The Calculus as Algebra and Selected Writings (MAA Spectrum, 2010); Inaugural member of the 2012 Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
• Carmen Fought, Linguistics – Expert in phonology, bilingual language acquisition, sociolinguistics. Has frequently discussed linguistic issues on multiple media outlets.
• David Moore, Psychology, Director of the Claremont Infant Study Center and winner of the American Psychological Association’s 2016 Maccoby Book Award for The Developing Genome: An Introduction to Behavioral Epigenetics (2015)
• Adrian Pantoja, Political Studies and Chicano Studies – his research has appeared in numerous books and academic journals and works as a consltant to the National Association of Latino Elected Officials. His is also a senior analyst with Latino Decisions, a political polling firm surveying and analyzing the Latino electorate
• Dana Ward, Emeritus Professor of Political Studies - Founder of the Anarchy Archives, Executive Director of the International Society of Political Psychology (1998–2004)
• Kathleen Yep, Asian American Studies and Chair, Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies at The Claremont Colleges. Honored in 2015 for promoting literacy in the Los Angeles Community.
• Phil Zuckerman, Sociology and Secular Studies; expert in secularity, atheism, apostasy, and Scandanavian culture. Author of several books including Living the Secular Life (2014). Frequent contributor to the Huffington Post  and sought after commentator for discussions on secularism by multiple media outlets.

External links

• Official website
• Official Pitzer College athletics website
• Pitzer College at National Center for Education Statistics: College Navigator