Jen BoudevinA raffle will be held tomorrow to decide the future home of the Chandler Scholarship quilt, a piece fashioned by a team of Cal Poly Student Affairs employees.
Themed “Textures of Our Community,” the project will garner funds to be awarded to students as scholarships in the future.
“Making the quilt was an opportunity for the Cal Poly community to support the needs of students through a creative activity that enriches our history and the learning environment,” said Denise Campbell, associate vice president for Student Affairs.
Campbell is completing her dissertation on African-American quilt aesthetics and cultural representation and worked with a quilting team of employees to craft the work.
To create the quilt, the staff members in the Student Affairs division were asked to submit colored quilt block designs. Of the 100 design submissions received, 49 were converted from crayon drawings to fabric to be used as part of the project.
“The Chandler Scholarship quilt is a reflection of Student Affair’s commitment to honor two of our strongest advocates for student development and diversity, Everett and Arlene Chandler,” Campbell said.
The Chandlers are longtime friends of the university. Everett served as dean of students as well as chief officer of Student Affairs. His wife, Arlene, founded Cal Poly’s Week of Welcome program.
The couple has provided support and been involved with the Retired Faculty and Staff Club, the Kennedy Library, the athletics department and the ethnic studies department.
“With the Chand
-lers’ support the ethnic studies department is able to sponsor events for minors, fund speakers on various issues of diversity and print Osiyo, the ethnic studies student publication,” said Ethnic Studies Department Chair Charise Cheney.
“As a department, we are eternally grateful to the Chandlers,” she said.
A foundation account has been established to facilitate distribution of the funds raised by today’s raffle, and discussions to finalize a method for awarding the scholarships are currently underway.
Raffle tickets are $1 each or six tickets for $5.
To purchase tickets, contact the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs at 756-1521. Winner does not need to be present at the drawing.