Claremont McKenna’s Character Wall Celebrates Diversity

Known for its business and government expertise, California's Claremont McKenna College draws students from all over the world.

To celebrate its diversity, the university agreed to a unique design element for Roberts Pavilion, a facility that opened in 2016 as home to athletics, recreation and other campus functions. A so-called "character wall" framed by a grand lobby stair features words representing 10 different languages. Each character appears on its own 18-inch-tall piece of three-dimensional aluminum, affixed with pins and epoxy to a gypsum wall fortified by a metal backing. The black words "Claremont McKenna College" appear in stark contrast to the pre-painted white character wall, but their letters are spaced in atypical fashion to "reflect the idea of academics and research as a puzzle — looking for the unknown, finding evidence of things and coming to conclusions," says John Friedman, principal at Los Angeles-based John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects. The 1,500-square-foot wall added less than $100,000 of cost to the $52 million facility, which is visited by nearly all of Claremont McKenna's 1,350 students weekly, if not daily — many using the wall as backdrop for selfies. Says Friedman, "The administration was clear: 'When you walk in the lobby, we don't just want it to feel like an athletics building. We want it to feel like a living room for everybody.' "

This article originally appeared in the June 2018 issue of Athletic Business with the title "Lobby wall speaks 10 languages." Athletic Business is a free magazine for professionals in the athletic, fitness and recreation industry. Click here to subscribe.