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Connecticut College receives $1 million gift to renovate residence hall common rooms throughout campus

May 27, 2008

NEW LONDON, Conn. - Connecticut College has received a $1 million gift from 1957 Connecticut College graduate Sylvia Pasternack Marx through the Virginia and Leonard Marx Foundation to renovate the common room spaces in residence halls and enhance residential education throughout campus.

Several common rooms - shared spaces in residence halls designed for studying, gathering and recreation - were remodeled last summer as part of the college's 10-year, $53 million campus renewal plan. This summer, the remaining 26 common rooms will be renovated as part of nearly $11 million of scheduled renewal projects.

All of the rooms will be painted and refurbished, and several of the common rooms will be equipped with additional lighting, bathrooms and special furniture that can be adapted to a teaching-learning environment so that they may be used as seminar spaces.

"The renovation work we're undertaking in our residence halls is a significant part of our broader initiative to enhance the extraordinary residential character of our campus by building an even more purposeful residential education program," Armando Bengochea, dean of the college community, said. "This program includes enhanced opportunities for academic discourse outside the classroom and new venues for both informal and more structured intellectual activities. These renovated common rooms are an important component of the college's initiative to rethink residential education and its relationship to the overall academic experience."

Marx, a former trustee and long-time supporter of the college, said that she and her family were looking to support an initiative that would enhance the quality of residential life at Connecticut College.

"I was a student at Connecticut College in the 1950s, and the common room was where my friends met every night before dinner to chat, study and play bridge," Marx said. "I think the renovated common rooms will provide a warm, cozy environment for students to gather, and for small lectures and discussions with professors. Enhancing these spaces will help to extend the students' education beyond the classroom, and encourage a close-knit sense of community."

This summer, Connecticut College will spend nearly $11 million restoring campus buildings and renovating the common rooms, classrooms and walkways. This summer also marks the start of construction on a new state-of-the-art fitness center, which is expected to be complete by the fall of 2009.

Among the most selective private liberal arts colleges in the nation, Connecticut College enrolls 1,900 men and women from 41 states, the District of Columbia and 71 countries. The college is known for putting the liberal arts into action through interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning. Founded in 1911, the college operates under an 86-year-old honor code. The college is located at 270 Mohegan Ave, New London, about two hours by car from Boston and New York. The 750-acre campus is an arboretum overlooking Long Island Sound. For more information, visit www.connecticutcollege.edu.

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For more information contact: Amy Martin (860) 439-2526; a.martin@conncoll.edu