Campus News
Two New Spaces Honor Berkshire Alums On Friday, September 29, the Berkshire community, Board of Trustees, and friends of the School gathered to commemorate two Berkshire alumni and to celebrate two new spaces on campus dedicated in their honor. The 5,400-square foot Ritt Kellogg Mountain Center was named for Peter Rittenhouse “Ritt” Kellogg, Jr. ’85, an avid climber, skier, and Outward Bound leader who passed away in an avalanche in Alaska in 1992. The Ed Chase ’69 Ski Room was dedicated in honor of Ed Chase, a world-renowned ski technician who lost his five-year battle with cancer in 2015. The two adjoining spaces are located on the north side of Geier Library, on the ground level. Head of School Pieter Mulder presided over both dedications, thanking Peter Kellogg ’61 for his generous gift to renovate the space for the Center, which will serve as the home to the Ritt Kellogg Mountain Program (RKMP). The Kellogg family established the RKMP in 1994 to celebrate Ritt Kellogg’s life. Since then, RKMP has become one of the School’s most beloved signature programs. “The Ritt Kellogg Mountain Program, founded in Ritt’s memory and going strong today, inspires all of us at Berkshire to enjoy, respect, and preserve our natural environment,” Mulder said. Ritt Kellogg’s brother Kirk Kellogg ’87, Kirk’s son, Cooper, and Board of Trustees Chair Alice Ehrenclou Cole ’76 were invited to cut the ribbon outside of the Center. Nadine Lloyd, the director 6
Berkshire Bulletin
1985. It reads, ‘If there is no mountain in heaven, may we live forever.’ A fitting testament to the generosity of spirit and love of the outdoors that Ritt brought and still brings to this campus.” The tributes continued outside the Ed Chase ’69 Ski Room, where family,
Ritt Kellogg ‘85, for whom the RKMP is named
of RKMP, was also in attendance, along with RKMP students. The Ritt Kellogg Mountain Center will elevate the program, giving students and faculty a central meeting space where they can hold pre-trip meetings and gatherings. Additionally, the Center allows students to sign out gear and bikes and to access wilderness guides, natural history books, and area maps. The space will store gear for backpacking, climbing, kayaking, canoeing, fishing, and more. Longtime Berkshire teacher Peter Kinne, who was Ritt Kellogg’s advisor, remarked that his former student would be “humbled by RKMP.” He shared: “Up the hill, across Buck Valley and left toward the bridge, there is a plaque placed on a boulder by the Class of
Top: Kirk Kellogg ’87 and his son, Cooper, and Board of Trustees Chair Alice Ehrenclou Cole ‘76 Bottom: Seamus McKeon ‘69 with Annie and Paul Redman (Ed Chase’s sister and brother-in-law) and their nieces, Amanda Wheeler Ekster ‘97 and Jennifer Wheeler Del Vaglio ‘95