The Committee is jointly chaired by alumni Sandy Rosenberg '72, Steve Gang '72 and John Gulla '79. Also on the Committee are John Orders '64, Michael Behnke '65, Rob Simpson '69, Wayne Wormley '72, Steve Dibble '73, Katie Fretwell '81, Barb McKinlay Connolly '83 and Kevin McCaffrey '86.
Marshall Schell '72, who is from the Development Office and is helping to build the Fund, explained that the Fund is a part of a 10-month long tribute to the former dean.
The Honoring Ed Wall Campaign concluded during a tribute held in Wall's honor on Saturday. The tribute was attended by friends, family and colleagues of Wall, including President Tony Marx.
According to the Ed Wall Fund description, the Fund was established as a permanent endowment in 2006 by "Green Deans," or Admission Fellows, along with alumni, parents, friends and former colleagues to honor Wall.
Schell said the Fund aims to provide a full scholarship to at least one student every year. The fund is targeted towards students whose parents are blue-collar workers, who are the first in their family to attend college, and those students whose test scores show remarkable academic aptitude given the academic opportunities available to them.
It is more generally targeted towards students with demonstrated need. It will also help to finance campaigns to recruit such students.
According to the an obituary for Ed Wall published in the Winter 2004 edition of Amherst Magazine, he graduated from Philips Exeter Academy before matriculating at Yale University. He had extensive experience working with college and high school admissions before joining Amherst's staff. He began his career working as an admissions officer for Exeter Academy, and later moved to the admissions office at Cornell University. He came to the College after a two-year stint working at Lawrence University.
Director of Admission Katie Fretwell '81 said, "[Wall] played a central role in the College's transition from an all male institution to a coed one." Wall pushed for increased diversity in the student population on all fronts. Besides helping to expand the female student population, he also helped to bring in students of color, especially African-Americans, low-income and blue-collar students who would not normally consider Amherst College as a viable college choice.
His work outside of the College was also commendable, said Fretwell. She explained, "He set an important example for Amherst's peer institutions through his initiatives." He founded A Better Chance house, which helps provide minority high school students who are academically talented with the opportunity to go to college.
Wall is also well known in college admissions circles for having originated the term "Green Dean," said Fretwell, who was a Green Dean herself. She explained that most of the members of the Committee had been once Green Deans.
Wall had a knack of using his jovial personality to relate to students. Fretwell said, "He found humor and interest in almost anything and had an uncanny ability to make students feel that their passions were, indeed, the most important ones of all."
Wall continues to be fondly remembered. He was an important person to those who worked with him, and as Schell said, he was to many both "a mentor and a friend."
The Fund commemorates his important contributions to college admission. And, as Fretwell quipped, Wall's "imposing 6' 4" frame made him a literal and figurative giant in the world of college admission during his time at Amherst."