Cutting the ribbon to open the brand-new Griffis Faculty Club were (from left) William Greene, vice president of clinical services at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell; Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr., dean of the Medical College; Taasha Ramsay, manager of Griffis Faculty Club; Dr. David Hajjar, dean of the Graduate School; Dr. Allan Gibofsky, president of the board of directors of Griffis Faculty Club; and Anita Gotto.
For the better part of a year, Taasha Ramsay has had to scramble all over the city to stage luncheons, receptions and dinners for the physicians, faculty and administrators of Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Ramsay, the manager of the Griffis Faculty Club, had to get creative—hosting events in private homes and at the Weill Greenberg Center—while the club underwent an 11-month renovation.
November 27 marked the end of Ramsay's scrambling days, as the ribbon was officially cut on the re-imagined Griffis Faculty Club.
"When you don't have a faculty club, you realize how much you miss it," said Dr. David Hajjar, dean of the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
William Greene and Taasha Ramsay
Not only a place for faculty to enjoy lunch or an after-work cocktail with a colleague, the Griffis Faculty Club also serves as an important fund-raising venue for dinners, receptions and meetings that include the Weill Cornell Overseers, Hospital Trustees, and others.
During his remarks, Dr. Hajjar recounted how a chat over breakfast at Griffis with Vice Provost of Development Larry Schafer helped spark the project.
"We realized we really needed to do something about the club," Dr. Hajjar said. "It had clearly seen better days."
The Griffis Faculty Club was established in 1962 when Stanton Griffis made a generous donation to have a club built in the honor of his daughter, Theodora Griffis, who had been a patient at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital.
Once a dim, dark-wood-paneled club with an inadequate kitchen, Griffis has been reinvented as an open, bright space with a new bar, kitchen and a smaller, private dining area for more intimate gatherings.
When the time came to actually design the club's interior, Dr. Hajjar relied on two women whose tastes were perhaps more trusted than his own: Joan Weill and Anita Gotto. "Tony Gotto and Sandy Weill's wives set the tone for the new club, and they did a brilliant job."
Griffis Faculty Club chefs create delightful dishes in their newly renovated kitchen.
Now complete, the club's role in the Medical College and Hospital has become more evident than ever.
"We realized what a valuable and indispensable role it plays in our institution," said. Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of the Medical College.
"It's part of the lifeblood of this institution and this renovation was sorely needed," said Dr. Steven J. Corwin, executive vice president and COO of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
Griffis Faculty Club attendant Cyrus Dubose at your service.
Project manager Jennifer McCartt worked closely with the architecture and design firm Cetra/Ruddy to ensure that every last detail of the club was perfectly realized.
"The current renovations are more than a face-lift on this distinguished club," said Dr. Allan Gibofsky, who sits on the club's board, "but rather an attempt to bring the club into the 21st century."
Similar to faculty clubs in major medical schools throughout the country, Griffis will be busy in the coming months.
"We have parties booked from early December into 2008," Taasha Ramsay said. "We are going to be hopping."
Photography by Richard Lobell.