Greetings and welcome to the first edition of Goddard's electronic newsletter!
Over the course of this past year, I have delighted in hearing your stories about life and learning at Goddard. We have a rich history and as we approach our 150th anniversary I am eager to hear more of the stories that have shaped our past and inform our future.
I invite you to reply and tell me how Goddard has touched your life and how you have taken your Goddard experience into the world.
Read below and join me in celebrating the story of Stephan Ross, Goddard '59.
Sincerely,
Barbara Vacarr, Ph.D.
President
New Board Chair Appointed
Goddard College recently announced the appointment of Andrea Leebron-Clay as the new Chair of the Board of Trustees.
The college also announced the addition of three new members to the board. Leebron-Clay succeeds Stephen B. Friedman, who had served as chair of the board since October 2010 and as a board member since 2000.
READ THE PRESS RELEASE
Holocaust Survivor Stephan Ross Honored
Holocaust survivor and Goddard alumnus Stephan Ross received the first Presidential Award for Activismon September 18.
He came back to Goddard after 52 years to speak to graduates in Goddard's Master's in Psychology Program.
Ross was 8 years old, the youngest of 8 children, when the Germans invaded Poland.His parents and 6 brothers and sisters were imprisoned and murdered in concentration camps.Over the course of five years, young Stephan was sent to 10 camps.He wassent to Dachauwhere he was a victim of unspeakable medical experiments.
After being liberated from Dachau at age 13, Ross came to the United States where he learned to speak English, graduated from high school, and received his Bachelor's degree in Sociology at Goddard in 1959. He went on to receive a Master’s in Psychology from Boston University in 1962 and worked for nearly 50 years as a counselor with disadvantaged youth in Boston.
Among his many contributions to society was the creation of fee waivers and funding assistance from the College Board for impoverished youth in Boston to take the SAT and apply to college. Owing in no small part to Ross’s efforts, SAT fee waivers are now a nationwide program of the College Board.
In 1995, Ross raised funds from private and public organizations to establish the New England Holocaust Memorial and Liberator's Monument in Boston as a tribute to those who lost their lives in concentration camps and the American soldiers who freed the survivors.
Watch television coverage of Ross' acceptance speech.
Design Buildings Receive Renovation Funding
The Walter Cerf Community Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation recently awarded Goddard a $2,000 grant tosupport planning and architectural review to renovate the design, painting and sculpture buildings.
The planning will include the Town of Plainfield and the Winooski Valley Center for the Arts to develop a multipurpose visual and performing arts center.
The three structures were originally designed and built by Goddard students and faculty between 1971 and 1977.
For more information, please contact Gerard Holmes, Senior Development Officer at Gerard.Holmes@goddard.edu.
