July/August 2010
Around the Quads
Community Impact Honors Wittens
Left to right, President Lee C. Bollinger; Sonia Reese, executive director, Community Impact; Richard Witten ’75; Elizabeth Witten ’97 TC; and University Trustee Emeritus George Van Amson ’74, CI board member and master of ceremonies. PHOTO: Michael DamesColumbia’s Community Impact and its students presented the eighth annual “Making a Difference” Service Award to University Trustees Vice-Chair Richard Witten ’75 and his wife, Elizabeth ’97 TC, at its 18th annual Spring Benefit Auction, which was held on May 10 at JP Morgan Chase in midtown.
Witten is senior managing director of The Orienta Group, an investment and advisory firm. His wife is an Executive Committee member of the Hunter College Foundation and a director of the Fresh Air Fund. CI honored the Wittens for their “steadfast support of CI and their efforts to support education, public health and social services in the Columbia community.” Said Witten at the ceremony, “Community Impact is a core part of a Columbia education and a core part of Columbia’s responsibility to our neighbors. It’s not just altruism; it’s life experience.”
Through CI, 900 Columbia and Barnard students are directly improving the lives of more than 8,000 low-income residents of Harlem, Washington Heights and Morningside Heights. All proceeds from the event benefited Community Impact’s programs. To learn more, visit www.columbia.edu/cu/ci.