The contest is education based website design for a company focusing on using Ivy League professors and ivy league school trained industry experts to provide corporate training courses / seminars on topics like change management, financial management etc.
The CH wanted the site theme to look "heavy" and classical - like the website of an old educational institution. The website also needed to convey that 1) the professors / trainers are experts in their field and 2) the training is considered cutting edge in the US.