Derry historian plays big role in Pitt's new Swiss classroom
On Sunday, 14 years of planning and preparations will come to fruition with the unveiling of the University of Pittsburgh's new Swiss-themed classroom.
It's the latest addition to 28 other Nationality Rooms in Pitt's Cathedral of Learning, each reflecting in its interior design and furnishings the history and culture of an ethnic group that has contributed to the development of Western Pennsylvania.
Among those present at the invitation-only dedication ceremony will be Evelyn Baker Ruffing, a Derry Township historian and foreign language instructor who is part of the 15-member committee that has shepherded the Swiss room from concept to reality.
Ruffing, who became involved as a member of the Swiss-American Society of Pittsburgh, noted details of the dedication have been planned by the room committee with the same attention to cultural authenticity as the design of the classroom.
"It's a big event for all of us," she said. "The architecture is just gorgeous. You walk in there and you can't help smiling."
On the day of the dedication, Ruffing will join fellow committee members, university officials and Swiss diplomats from the area for a private, nondenominational prayer meeting in the finished room. At noon, they will join guests for the main ceremony in the university's Heinz Chapel.
Ruffing has German rather than Swiss roots, but she became steeped in all things Swiss while completing graduate studies on a scholarship at the University of Zurich from 1958 to 1964. She has returned many times to Switzerland through the years.
"I became fascinated with the country. I had a double major in Swiss ethnology as well as Germanic languages," she said. "Both of my sons were born there."
At a reception following in the cathedral's large Gothic-styled Commons Room, participants will snack on traditional Swiss cookies and enjoy musical entertainment by Pittsburgh's Helvetia Mannerchor, which features alphorns, or curved, wooden, powerful-sounding horns from 5 to 12 feet long, used by Swiss Alpine herdsmen for signaling.
Finally, guests will line up to visit the Swiss classroom before it opens for tours by the public.
Local residents who have been invited to attend the dedication include many of Ruffing's current or former language students -- among them local attorney and Derry Township resident Ron Saffron and Wayne Douglas, CEO of Latrobe-based Extramet Products, along with his wife. The company, a leading tungsten carbide manufacturer, was founded in Switzerland in 1981.
Fraum?nster Abbey
Ruffing has applied her expertise in Switzerland's traditional architecture and ethnology, gained during her years of living and studying in the country, to help ensure the authenticity of the design and materials used to transform the modern Pitt classroom into a circa 1500 Swiss-styled interior.
"Pitt was founded in 1787, so all the Nationality Rooms must precede that date" in their period decorations and furnishings, Ruffing explained.
The Swiss room is inspired by a room from Fraum?nster Abbey in Z?rich, which dates from 1489.
The finished classroom features wood furnishings, including four handmade trestle tables and 26 rustic "stabellen" chairs similar in appearance to Pennsylvania's Amish-crafted furniture. They represent, respectively, the four linguistic regions of Switzerland and the nation's 26 cantons, or states. While there are four recognized cultural/linguistic groups within the country -- German, French, Italian and Raeto-Romansch -- Ruffing pointed out, "there are 27 different dialects of Swiss German," in all of which she is fluent.
The back of each chair is carved with a symbol representing one of the cantons. Several of the symbols also are featured in the room's stained-glass windows.
Ruffing took part in the committee's quest to equip the Pitt classroom with a "kachelofen," a tile oven that often was the primary means of heating a traditional Swiss dwelling.
Ancient papal keys
She played a leading role in designing and producing a ceremonial room key that will be presented to Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg during the dedication program.
According to Ruffing, the key is based on two ancient papal keys of St. Peter that are symbols of the Swiss cantons of Obwalden and Nidwalden. Those cantons were formed from the larger Unterwalden, one of three original states that united in 1291 to form the nucleus of what would become the modern Swiss Confederation.
Ruffing explained the combined key created for Pitt's Swiss room incorporates an ornamental bow representing the Obwalden symbol and a bit representing the Nidwalden symbol.
Baker devised the combined design, which was rendered into a pattern by James C. Shugars, a fellow Derry Township resident. K Casting of Latrobe cast the key in solid brass, and William F. Simpson of Derry's 18th Century Hardware applied antiquing to give the metal an appropriately aged look.
Fundraising efforts
While space for each Nationality Room is provided by Pitt, representatives from the local ethnic community associated with each room are responsible for designing and funding renovation of the classroom as a gift to the university.
In December 1998, an initial deed bequest of $5,000 was donated to Pitt to reserve the cathedral's Room 321 for the Swiss room. According to Ruffing, the room committee originally envisioned a budget of about $150,000 for its renovation project, but the figure quickly grew to more than twice that amount.
Progress "was really slow for a long time. Money was a big factor," she said.
Gradually, those fundraising efforts paid off. More than 330 individual donors and 14 institutional donors have contributed money for the project, with the Swiss Confederation chipping in a share.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who has Swiss roots, is among several honorary members of the Swiss room committee. He contributed to the fundraising efforts by donating signed items for an auction.
Emphasis on technology
Once the committee turns over the key to the completed room, the university will assume responsibility for maintaining it. But the committee will have the additional role of raising money for a scholarship that will allow students from Switzerland to attend Pitt or American students at Pitt to study abroad in Switzerland as Ruffing did 50 years ago.
"The emphasis on the scholarships is on technology, and Switzerland excels at that," she noted.
Ruffing said the things she admires most about Switzerland are its people and its visual appeal, both in its natural scenery and its well-planned communities.
"The people are very disciplined and keep to the rules," she said. "Switzerland runs like a Rolex watch because the people all mesh together and make it run."
For information on touring Pitt's Nationality Rooms, visit www.pitt.edu/~natrooms or call 412-624-6000.
