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The largest philanthropic gift from an individual in University of Vermont history will provide nearly $9 million in support for student financial aid, health, and environmental research. This major bequest from the estate of Genevieve Patrick of Burlington will be put to immediate use helping to fund several areas of focus identified in the university’s strategic planning process.
Mrs. Patrick died on April 12, 1999. Her recently settled estate is the latest chapter in a legacy of university support that extends back through her husband, Robert Patrick, and her father in-law, Roy Patrick, both UVM graduates and university trustees.
The Genevieve B. Patrick gifts to the University of Vermont include:
•$4.3 million to establish the Patrick Student Aid Fund.
•$1.5 million to establish the Robert F. and Genevieve B. Patrick Chair in Watershed Science and Planning. The Patrick Professor (yet to be named) will hold an academic appointment in the School of Natural Resources and will serve as a point person for interdisciplinary team research.
•$1.5 million to the UVM College of Medicine to establish the Robert F. and Genevieve B. Patrick Chair in Nephrology. Dr. F. John Gennari, a UVM professor of medicine with a 30-year track record of successful research on the study of kidneys, has been appointed to hold the Patrick Chair in Nephrology.
Robert and Genevieve Patrick’s book collection, which includes a 28-volume, autographed set of “The Works of Rudyard Kipling.” The collection is valued at approximately $7,500.
In addition, approximately $1.5 million from the Patrick gift is designated as unrestricted funds which may be used according to the university’s need.
“The University of Vermont is deeply grateful and honored by this historic gift from the Patrick family,” said President Judith Ramaley. “We celebrate Mrs. Patrick’s support not only because of the important work it will enable us to do, but also because it represents a century-long connection between the state’s university and one of Vermont’s great families.”
Genevieve Patrick was the widow of Robert Fleming Patrick, UVM Class of 1925. President of the G.S. Blodgett Company and chairman of the board of Rock of Ages Corporation, Mr. Patrick served UVM as a trustee from 1964 until 1967, the year of his death.
Robert Patrick’s father, Roy L. Patrick, was a member of UVM’s Class of 1898 and served three terms on the university’s board. He also was president of G.S. Blodgett and chairman of the board of Rock of Ages. He played a key role in funding drives to build Mary Fletcher Hospital, UVM’s Waterman Building and Patrick Gymnasium.
Fleming features Vermont painters Kahn and Mason
Through September 10, UVM’s Fleming Museum will feature the work of Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason, two artists who for years have lived and found inspiration in the Vermont landscape. Married in 1957, Kahn and Mason have shared their lives as artists, splitting their time between home/studios in New York City and Brattleboro, Vt. Mason’s work is characterized by elegant abstractions dominated by vibrant color. Kahn is a landscape painter, well-known for his paintings that often depict Vermont scenes of barns, hillsides, and trees. The Fleming exhibit brings together paintings that highlight both the differences and underlying similarities in the couple’s work.
Faculty essay lands in book by George
When the late John F. Kennedy, Jr. and fellow editors at George Magazine began to compile their 1999 publication 250 Ways to Make America Better, they “didn’t map a route up Capitol Hill.” Kennedy wrote in the introduction, “From moguls to moviemakers, right-wingers to rabble-rousers, cartoonists to convicts to cookbook authors, we envisioned a convergence of ideas as diverse as the great drama of public life in America.”
Donald Grinde, Jr., professor of history and director of UVM’s ALANA Studies program, is among the diverse voices JFK, Jr. and colleagues found. Thanks to Professor Grinde and George Magazine for allowing VQ to re-print his essay.
“To ensure an enduring democracy, we need to revisit the multicultural and environmental roots of our democratic traditions. While the founders of American democracy emulated the separation of powers, federalism, and vesting of sovereignty in the people of the Iroquois League, not all of the Iroquois League’s visionary ideas were incorporated into our government. Thus, we should once again look to Native American models to revitalize our democracy. The Iroquois League’s tradition also fostered respect for Mother Earth. Iroquois chiefs were charged with “protecting seven generations past, those in the bellies of women, those on this earth now, and seven unborn generations in the future.” Imagine if U.S. leaders were admonished to think of their responsibilities in those terms today? Since North America is a unique synthesis of Native American, European, and many other peoples, the last five hundred years have been a multicultural experience. Thus, factoring stewardship of the environment into our political equation would be a significant challenge to our democratic system. A Native American elder told me, ‘The White people think they own the earth, but Indians know that Mother Earth owns them.’ Such Native American environmental insights are crucial to reinventing ecocentric and democratic traditions for the twenty-first century.”
Nearly two and a half years after the ice storm of January 1998 struck UVM with a particular vengeance, the toll on the campus trees continues to be felt.
“We’re keeping an eye on a lot of them,” says Rosemarie Leland, UVM grounds manager. “The storm was so devastating that we took down only what we had to and tried to give everything a chance. Still, we know that more will go.”
Mark Starrett, assistant professor of plant and soil science, says that once a tree suffers a large loss to its canopy it will never fully recover. “When a tree loses its central leader it essentially loses its key structure and over time it isn’t going to be the most aesthetically pleasing tree.” In addition to aesthetics, Starrett notes that a tree’s health is compromised when many leaders or “water shoots” grow straight up, rendering the tree more susceptible to wind damage and eventually disease.
As Starrett surveys the loss, he notes that ash and hawthorne trees were hit especially hard. Replanting of damaged memorial trees has helped the landscape recover.
As a member of the national committee that developed the “Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2000,” Professor Rachel Johnson, associate dean of research in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is helping to spread nutritional commonsense across the land.
Johnson was appointed last year to the committee, which answers to the Surgeon General and the secretaries of Health and Human Services and Agriculture. She is one of eleven outstanding scientists who faced this charge: “What should Americans eat to be healthy?”
“The dietary guidelines are important,” she says, “because they form the basis of federal nutrition policy.” All federal food programs must be consonant with the guidelines, she explains. Among the recipients of such programs are 21.4 million Americans who are receiving food stamps; 26 million kids eating school lunches and 7 million, school breakfasts; and 7.5 million in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. Also, the USDA food guide pyramid, a ubiquitous dietary shorthand for everyone, is based on the guidelines.
The guidelines have changed in several ways. The new approach emphasizes the pyramid, separates weight guidelines from physical activity guidelines, focuses on portion sizes and adds new information on fats, sugar, and alcohol. The report is emphatic about the health benefits of being active and the devastating results of inactivity, excess calorie consumption, and our skyrocketing sugar intake.
The report also attempts to clarify some often-heard advice, including “eat a variety of foods,” Johnson says. People didn’t know how to interpret that, she says. Perhaps it could mean, “Should I eat two kinds of donuts?” The new guidelines say, “let the pyramid be your guide.” And, the pyramid weights the scale with whole grain breads, cereals, rice, pasta, vegetables and fruits, moderate amounts of low-fat dairy foods, lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans and nuts, and moderate consumption of fats, oils, and sweets.
Physical activity completes the eat-well-eat-less message. If you eat more calories than you need, you’ll gain weight – unless you are exceptionally active. But, Johnson says, “physical activity has more advantages than weight maintenance.”
Potential building inspires interest
Though discussion is in the very earliest stages, talk of a new campus center has sparked great interest and plenty of original thinking among members of the UVM community. The idea has been dubbed the “gateway center” and is envisioned as a facility that would integrate three major components — the main library; areas to support faculty and students’ teaching and learning outside the classroom; and a student center combining student-life and academic-support — while also providing state-of-the-art information-technology resources and places for the campus community to socialize.
“The closest model that we know of is George Mason University’s Johnson Center, which combines a student center and undergraduate library,” says Rebecca Martin, UVM vice provost for learning and information technology. “The gateway center would be truly unique, serving as a nexus for the entire campus.” The center would be UVM’s “gateway” to the future, incorporating new ways for students, faculty, and staff to learn together.
The gateway project symbolizes UVM’s strategic thinking about ways to invest in its future, says President Judith Ramaley. “To promote academic excellence and an outstanding student experience, UVM must create an intellectual environment that enriches the lives of every member of our campus community. The gateway project is a key component of our strategies to create a stronger intellectual and social community at UVM.”
Discussion has also included input on potential building designs which would emphasize an eco-friendly structure.
As campus discussions continue to gather ideas, approval for the gateway center concept could go before the UVM Board of Trustees as soon as December 2000. The project would likely be financed by gifts, additional federal funding, and a portion of student fees.
In a rare convergence of environmental need and serendipitous support, UVM has started down a pioneering path seeking solutions to watershed problems. This past May, the university celebrated its 25th year of Aiken Lectures with a thematic day focused on watersheds. The School of Natural Resources, sponsor of the lectures, also will add an endowed chair in watershed science as part of an $8.8 million gift from the estate of Genevieve Patrick (see top of page).
And, thanks to congressional action in recognizing the importance of Lake Champlain, UVM has joined the ranks of Sea Grant institutions. Jurij Homziak, extension assistant professor in natural resources, was hired this year to direct Vermont’s part of the National Sea Grant Program. He and his New York counterpart, Mark Malcoff, have divided Lake Champlain not geographically but by issues, and Homziak is focusing on watershed concerns. In an extension of the Aiken Lectures, Homziak is organizing a fall series of events in four Vermont watershed areas.
A watershed comprises all the land that water flows on or under on its way to a stream, river or lake. The Winooski watershed, for example, encompasses most of Washington and Chittenden counties.
“The focus of the regional programs will be on local issues, concerns and approaches to watershed stewardship,” Homziak says. The Fall 2000 Aiken Lectures will be held in each of the four principal drainage basins in the state: Lake Champlain, Hudson, Connecticut River and Lake Memphremagog. The half-day programs will include a seminar and panel discussion to increase awareness and inform stakeholders about contemporary thinking in watershed conservation and management.
The Hudson Basin seminar, to be held in Arlington the week of September 11, will focus on a shared New York-Vermont watershed, the Battenkill. A renowned trout stream and scenic centerpiece for residents and visitors, it faces many challenges, Homziak says.
The Poultney-Mettowee watershed will be under discussion at the Lake Champlain Basin program at Green Mountain College in Poultney in October. New York and Vermont also share this watershed, an important center for aquatic biodiversity, and the Poultney River forms part of the states’ shared border.
A St. Johnsbury event planned for October will be held at the Fairbanks Museum and focus on watershed planning and citizen participation. This session will be especially current as Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources is embarking on a watershed planning activity for seventeen areas in the state.
The final regional program, still in the planning stage, will be held in Newport and focus on strengthening the lake and watershed associations.
For updated details, contact Homziak at jhomziak@nature.snr.uvm.edu.
Swimmer has sights on medal at 2000 Paralympics
With equal parts confidence and humor, swimmer Dana Albrycht says, “There is no better feeling than to see the look on someone’s face after they just got beat by a kid with one leg.” Albrycht, a member of UVM’s Class of 2000, was born with a rare birth defect that required an above-the-knee amputation before his first birthday. Instead of drowning in pity, however, his parents got him in a swimming pool.
Albrycht began competing when he was six years old as part of the Canton, Conn. recreational team. After seven years of swimming against able-bodied athletes, he met a coach who changed his life. “She introduced me to disabled sports and in particular disabled swimming,” he says.
The experience broadened Albrycht’s horizons, not to mention his shoulders. “Swimming has allowed me to meet so many different types of people and make a lot of good friends and travel to places all around the world,” he explains, “as well as opened up my eyes to the different types of disabilities other people have. This has made me thankful, because there are a lot of people out there who are much worse off.”
Albrycht gives athletics much of the credit for developing his self-confidence, determination, and sense of humor. “I never saw myself as being different from anybody else because I would compete at the same level as the able-bodied kids and in most cases I was able to do better than them,” he laughs.
Ever since his introduction to disabled swimming, Albrycht has dreamed of earning a medal in the Paralympic Games — the Olympic equivalent for the world’s top athletes with disabilities, including paraplegics, amputees, blind and cerebral-palsied individuals.
But as one of the youngest members of the ’96 team in Atlanta, he left only with disappointment. “I thought I had a really good shot at getting a medal in the 100-meter butterfly, but when I ended up getting fourth place by only a couple of tenths of a second, I was devastated,” he laments.
A lot has happened since then. Much of it at UVM where Albrycht has earned a degree in psychology, endured two-hour swim practices daily and raced exclusively against two-legged competitors in the America East Conference. Coach Joe Fischer calls him, “a model of sportsmanship and humility” for being an inspiration to the team and athletic department.
“If I can go out and do the things that I do with just one leg,” Albrycht says, “I hope than that I can inspire others to go out and accomplish whatever their goals may be.” With plans to earn his teaching certification, teach elementary school and coach, inspiring others seems a likely career path for Albrycht.
So now, it’s a more mature swimmer headed to the 2000 Paralympics. “When I was in Atlanta, I was there to compete,” Albrycht asserts, “but when I go to Sydney, I am going to dominate.”
How do you keep them down on the farm after they’ve seen NYC?
When more than five hundred artful cows take to the streets of New York City this summer for CowParade New York 2000, a pair of UVM bovines will be among the herd. Jerry Elbaum, father of UVM alumna Patricia Elbaum Fox ’91, is president of CowParade and initiated getting the university involved with this event, the Big Apple’s take on a concept that has been immensely popular in Zurich and Chicago. Alumnus Matt Glass ’90 is handling the marketing and promotion of the event through his business Evention Event Production.
UVM Art Professor Ed Owre (pictured) was working on a tight deadline to complete his sculpture, “A Streetcow Named Desire,” which will incorporate a city/country theme as it wears a combination George Washington Bridge support tower/ox collar around its neck. UVM’s other cow is being painted by Vermont artist Woody Jackson and will depict a campus scene.
If you’re in the city this summer, be sure to keep an eye out for the Catamount cows.
In response to a shortage of space in Burlington’s lone family shelter, UVM has opened the doors of Converse Hall to twenty homeless families. The families can live in the dormitory for up to two months, until students return to campus at the end of August. According to Roy Ferland of the Residential Life office, a group os UVM students have volunteered to play basketball and go on walks with some of the children.
“Dan Dyer ’24, a farm boy from Albany, Vermont, who was an agriculture major, recalls being inspired by his first real exposure to classical music. With no pocket money to spend, he climbed up the gymnasium fire escape to peer in at the great Czech violinist Jan Kubelik during his recital. Afterward he shook his hand, ‘the softest hand you can imagine.’”
— from “UVM Goes Modern: Student Life in the Collegiate Era” by Virginia Campbell Downs, a chapter in The University of Vermont: The First Two Hundred Years.
