Now that the massive, four-year renovation of the Quadrangle has been completed, the University has received an $11.5 million commitment from Alan Hassenfeld C’70 and Jerome Fisher W’53 and his wife, Anne, to help pay for the Quad’s transformation into three College Houses. In recognition of their joint gift, one of the College Houses will be named Fisher-Hassenfeld College House, and the Memorial Tower Gate—dedicated to the memory of Pennsylvanians who died in the Spanish-American War—will be renamed Fisher-Hassenfeld Memorial Tower Gate.
Penn President Judith Rodin hailed the joint gift as a “magnificent investment in undergraduate life at Penn,” and predicted that “generations of students will share our gratitude for their generosity.”
The Quad Renewal Project was completed this past September, and the old dormitories—designed by Cope and Sewardson and built between 1895 and 1900—have been reconfigured to create spaces supporting College House life. They have new lobbies, computer labs, fitness rooms, music-practice rooms, lounges with kitchens, libraries and seminar rooms, and faculty master residences. The architectural features have been restored and the systems have been updated (including air-conditioning). The landscaping has also been enhanced. Fisher-Hassenfeld College House, in the oldest, westernmost part of the Quad, has undergone the most dramatic improvements, and now has extensive common spaces.
