[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 172 (Thursday, November 19, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2832-E2833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           CHATHAM UNIVERSITY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL F. DOYLE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 19, 2009

  Mr. DOYLE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to inform my colleagues of an 
upcoming landmark event in Pennsylvania's 14th Congressional District--
the 140th anniversary of Chatham University, one of the oldest women's 
colleges in the country.
  On December 11, 1869, the Pennsylvania Female College was founded in 
the City of Pittsburgh by the Reverend William Trimble Beatty, the 
founder and pastor of the Shady Side Presbyterian Church. The college 
was originally housed in the Berry mansion on Woodland Road in 
Pittsburgh's Shadyside neighborhood. The college's original mission was 
to provide educational opportunities for women of comparable quality to 
those available at that time at the best colleges for men.
  Chatham University is one of the outstanding institutions of higher 
learning that call the city of Pittsburgh home. For the past 140 years, 
this school has been committed to providing a high-quality education to 
young women. Chatham's motto is ``Filiae nostrae sicut antarii 
lapides''--``That our daughters may be as cornerstones, polished after 
the similitude of a palace''--and for well over a century, the faculty 
and staff of this respected institution have labored hard to live up to 
that standard. Graduates have gone on to leadership roles in business, 
government, and academia locally and across the country. Chatham's most 
famous graduate so far is probably Rachel Carson, of the class of 
1929--the individual almost single-handedly responsible for the birth 
of the environmental movement in this country.
  Over the last 140 years, a number of traditions have become an 
important part of the school's identity--the Opening Convocation, the 
passing of the class colors from graduating seniors to the incoming 
first years, the song contest, May Day activities, and the Closing 
Convocation, to name a few. Needless to say, many alumnae retain 
treasured memories of these traditions for the rest of their lives--and 
while many wonderful traditions have been established and preserved, 
the school has changed and grown as well.
  In 1890, the Pennsylvania Female College was renamed the Pennsylvania 
College for Women. Over the years, the student body grew and the school 
expanded into the buildings and grounds of several adjacent mansions, 
including those previously owned by Andrew Mellon, Edward Stanton 
Fickes, James Rea, and George M. Laughlin, Jr.
  In 1955, the Pennsylvania College for Women was renamed Chatham 
College, in honor of William Pitt, the Elder--the first Earl of 
Chatham, the statesman who led Great Britain to victory in the Seven 
Years' War, and the man for whom Pittsburgh was named.
  In 1992, Dr. Esther Barazzone became the school's 16th President, and 
under her leadership, the school has undergone substantial growth. New 
construction was undertaken, coeducational graduate programs were 
established, and the school's endowment was increased substantially.
  On April 23, 2007, the school was granted university status by the 
Pennsylvania Department of Education, and it officially changed its 
name to Chatham University a year later on May 1st, 2008.
  Today, the university is home to three colleges. Chatham College for 
Women continues the school's original mission of providing a high-
quality undergraduate education for women. The College for Continuing 
and Professional Studies offers a number of certificate, masters, and 
doctoral programs, and on-line degree programs were begun in 2005. The 
College for Graduate Studies offers masters' and doctoral programs for 
both women and men in more than 20 fields, including art, architecture, 
business, health sciences, teaching, and creative writing. In 2007, 
Chatham University's Creative Writing M.F.A. program was singled out by 
The Atlantic Monthly as one of the top five innovative and unique 
programs in the country. Today, Chatham has more than 2,200 students 
enrolled. The university is home to several outreach centers as well, 
including the Center for Women's Entrepreneurship, the Pennsylvania 
Center for Women, Politics, and Public Policy, the Rachel Carson 
Institute, and the Pittsburgh Teachers Institute.
  In 2008, Chatham University expanded dramatically to accommodate the 
growth in a number of academic programs.

[[Page E2833]]

  On May 1, 2008, the Eden Hall Foundation gave Chatham University the 
Eden Hall Farm in Gibsonia, a suburban municipality near the city of 
Pittsburgh in Allegheny County. This 400-acre farm had been the summer 
home of philanthropist and H.J. Heinz Company Vice President Sebastian 
Mueller in the early 1900s. At Mr. Mueller's death in 1938, his entire 
estate, including Eden Hall Farm, was committed in his will to 
benefiting women. For the next 70 years, it was operated as a vacation 
and respite destination for the H.J. Heinz Company's working women. The 
Eden Hall Foundation was established in 1983 to further Mr. Mueller's 
goals of supporting other charitable efforts.
  Chatham University's Eden Hall Farm Campus now is home to a number of 
educational, environmental, women's leadership, and community programs. 
It also provides a convenient campus for serving Chatham University 
certificate and degree program students who live in the suburban 
communities north of Pittsburgh as well as young participants in the 
school's Summer Music and Arts Day Camp.
  In September of 2008, Chatham purchased a building in Pittsburgh's 
East Liberty neighborhood to hold its architecture and health science 
programs. The new facility is less than a mile from the university's 
main campus in nearby Shady Side. Establishment of this new facility, 
named Chatham Eastside, both benefited from and contributed to 
community efforts to redevelop and revitalize East Liberty.
  Madam Speaker, Chatham University has grown from a college of 100 
undergraduate students 140 years ago to a university with more than 
2,000 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students today. It is a 
highly respected institution of higher learning that has faithfully 
carried out its mission of educating young women and promoting women's 
leadership for nearly 150 years. I want to congratulate the faculty, 
staff, students, alumnae, and friends and supporters of Chatham 
University on the 140th anniversary of its founding, to express the 
appreciation and deep respect that the residents of Pennsylvania have 
for this venerable local institution, and to wish Chatham University 
continued success in the years to come.

                          ____________________