Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Science Center 199 was recently renamed the “Cunniff Lecture Hall” in honor of Carley L. Cunniff ’72. The catchy “K’niff” pronunciation is sure to quickly catch on among students, but a neat name is by no means the only thing you need to get a lecture hall named after you.
Cunniff graduated in 1972 with a degree in Art History and went on to become Executive Vice President of the New York investment bank Ruane, Cunniff. She joined the Swarthmore Board of Managers in 1999; college vice president Maurice Eldridge describes her as “a generous alumna and an active and valued member of the Board of Managers.”
After her untimely death on January 16, 2005, explained Eldridge, “to honor her love for Swarthmore her husband made additional gifts to the campaign. The College then, with his concurrence, chose to name this splendid new lecture hall to commemorate her role in sustaining our school’s distinctiveness.”
In order to ensure that we remember the room’s new name, Eldridge said, “there will be a plaque put up in or near the lecture hall.” Indeed, according to Registrar Martin Warner, “signage is in progress.”
