“I can’t believe this is here!” It’s a refrain Randy Donowitz, director of the Writing and Tutorial Center, has heard time and again during his 29 years at Pratt.
It all started with a practical suggestion. In 1997, a friend and Pratt faculty member gave Donowitz, newly appointed to his role heading up the Writing Center and a longtime aquarium hobbyist, a word of advice: if you’re trying to bring students into the writing center, set up an aquarium there. “I set up a modest system, and as expected, students really liked it,” Donowitz says.
Over the years, this modest system has upgraded into a sprawling array of tanks containing rare fish and corals that, to Donowitz’s knowledge, is the second largest collection of coral reef animals on public display at a college campus in the country. Affectionately nicknamed “Pratt Reef,” this meditative space is home to a powder blue tang, clown fish, and a rare Cuban fish called Gramma dejongi, becoming a staple for students across campus with interests in the aquatic.
Donowitz and the Writing and Tutorial Center (North Hall 101) have hosted classes across disciplines that draw inspiration from the tanks, including math and science classes studying light, biology classes, and architecture courses focusing on sustainability. “Many students come here and use this as resource material for their work,” says Donowitz. However, for many Pratt students, their connection to Pratt Reef runs deeper than a single visit, with many taking work-study positions to assist in caring for the tanks. “I’ve met untold numbers of students who come in here stunned by what they see,” says Donowitz, who adds that for some students, it’s a link in the chain of their interests. “[They’ve said] I couldn’t decide whether to go to school for marine biology or art school.”
This campus-wide enthusiasm has led to the creation of Reef Club, a student group that comes together twice a month to celebrate “all things aquatic.” Founded in 2012 by then-student TJ Holland, BFA Communications Design ’16, the group came together to tend the Reef’s tanks while creating aquatic environments of their own. Under Holland’s supervision, the club became the origin of Pratt’s Anemone in a Jar tradition, where Reef members give away anemone from the Reef in a mason jar to fellow students as dorm decor for the year.
The club was a pivot point for some Pratt alumni in their professional careers. One Pratt grad and Reef Club alumnus, Tristan Wilson, BFA Fine Arts (Sculpture) ’03, went on to create a successful filtration tank start-up, Pax Bellum, whose macroalgae reactor now filtrates the aquarium’s central 240-gallon tank. “It’s an entire product category of algae filtration that was invented, beta-tested, and brought to market by my former assistant,” says Donowitz. “He sells them all over the world now—that’s Pratt design in action.”
For Donowitz, perhaps the most invaluable aspect of the Reef is the “informal education” provided to curious students. “Often, a student comes in here just to look at the fish,” says Donowitz. “Then they ask a question. Suddenly, we’re talking about science and how these organisms live, a conversation about stuff the student didn’t necessarily expect to have when they walk in the door. To me, that’s a big part of college: running into stuff that you don’t necessarily expect that opens something up for you.”
Video by Max Berger. Photos by Dahlia Dandashi.
Related Reading
Inside the Studio with WPIR Pratt Radio
Pratt’s student-run station brings together radio lovers of all kinds.
All Inky Hands on Deck
For over 15 years, Big Damn Prints has fostered community through printmaking.