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The history department will officially open the doors to Ramer History House Oct. 20 with a dedication ceremony and public open house.
The dedication will begin with a welcome from Alan R. Griffith ’64, chair of the Board of Trustees, at 5 p.m. Remarks will be made by President Daniel Weiss; Provost Anthony Cummings; Deborah Rosen, professor and head of history; and Marquis Scholar Christian Dato ’07(Poway, Calif.), a history and government & law double major. Lawrence J. Ramer ’50 Hon.D. ’92, the building’s namesake, will also speak about what the new facility brings to campus.
Following the dedication, history department students and faculty will be on hand to provide tours of the state-of-the-art facility until 7 p.m. The building will also be open for tours during Homecoming 2006 festivities 10 a.m. Oct. 21.
The department’s newly-renovated, 7,840-square-foot home has been in use for classes since the beginning of the semester. Renovations on the former Theta Delta Chi fraternity house on Sullivan Lane began last December and staff and faculty moved from their previous location at Fretz House on Cattell Street over the summer.
Designed by KSS Architects LLP of Philadelphia, Ramer History House provides a dynamic 21st-century learning environment integrated into a building that maintains its distinctive Georgian style. The first floor features a classroom and two seminar rooms, all with state-of-the-art projection capabilities, and an attractive entry lobby. The second and third floors contain faculty and staff offices, a workroom, and a kitchenette.
“Many of our faculty use the most advanced technology possible for lecture, as well as student presentations, so we will make full use of the building’s capabilities,” says Rosen. “We not only have nice spaces for our scholarly endeavors, but we also have space set aside for one-on-one research and we are now centrally-located on campus. Good work space really makes a difference and we are now well equipped for all the different aspects of what we do.”
The building is named for Lawrenceand Ina Lee Ramer in appreciation for their dedication to academic excellence at Lafayette. This is the second campus building named in honor of the Ramers, who are sustaining members of the Marquis Society and members of the Societe d’Honneur. Ramer Hall, a student residence, opened in 1991.
Larry Ramer is chairman of Ramer Equities, Inc. He majored in economics at Lafayette and earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He was elected to trusteeship in 1976 and chaired the board from 1992-2001, when he became a trustee emeritus. The Ramers reside in Los Angeles, where they are active in a number of cultural and civic organizations. They have three children: Stephanie, Susan ’83, and Douglas.