Fourteen individuals from New Haven and Yale were honored for their efforts to strengthen town-gown ties at the 23rd annual Seton Elm-Ivy Awards ceremony held on April 30.
President Richard C. Levin and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. presented the awards at a luncheon held in the Presidents Room in Woolsey Hall.
The Seton Elm-Ivy Awards were established at Yale in 1979 by Fenmore Seton, Yale Class of 1938, and his wife, Phyllis. The awards evolved from the Elm and Ivy Fund, also created by the Setons. The fund identifies and honors individuals from New Haven and Yale whose work enhances understanding and cooperation between the city and the University. Over 231 people have received Elm-Ivy Awards since the program's inception.
This year's winners are:
The Reverend Theodore Brooks, bishop and pastor of Beulah Heights First Pentecostal Church and founder of Beulah Land Development Corporation, which develops affordable housing in the Dixwell neighborhood. Brooks has hosted and supervised Yale students who have worked full-time during the summer at Beulah Land, including one who joined the staff following graduation.
Arthur Dietrick, chair and president of the Connecticut Development Authority. Dietrick has led Connecticut Governor John Rowland's economic development initiatives and provided support and counsel to Yale and New Haven to promote the development of biotechnology in the region. He is also a Yale alumnus (B.A. 1959) who has dedicated himself to public service.
Robert Leeney, editor emeritus of the New Haven Register. He is a noted civic activist and a columnist who has both written about and inspired the mutually beneficial partnerships forged between New Haven and Yale University.
Jessica Sager and Janna Wagner (joint award), Yale alumnae and founders of All Our Kin, an early education collaborative in New Haven for single parents on public assistance. The program helps single parents meet state workfare requirements while training to become childcare providers as they work with their own children. Support is provided to help participants start their own family day care centers within the community or to obtain positions at existing centers upon graduation. Yale students work as volunteers with the program.
Nathaniel Woodson, chair of the board of directors and chief executive officer of the United Illuminating Company (UI). Woodson, a Yale alumnus (B.E. 1963), has worked cooperatively with Yale to promote entrepreneurship as a cofounder of the Enterprise Center, a nonprofit organization established and funded by Yale, UI and the New Haven Savings Bank. The Enterprise Center harnesses the intellectual power of Yale students and faculty to help local entrepreneurs start and grow new businesses.
Larry Davidson, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC). As founder of the Urban Initiative at CMHC, Davidson has focused on setting up several new community programs especially in public housing projects designed to make mental health and substance abuse treatment accessible to groups whose needs have historically been underserved.
Thomas Greene, professor emeritus of English and founder of the Open End Theater. The Open End Theater presents plays about urban teenagers who become entangled in painful, realistic moral dilemmas. When the characters on stage reach an impasse and can't agree on what to do, the action stops. A moderator steps forward, engaging the student audience in a discussion of the issues and inviting them to advise the characters. The performance is concluded along the lines suggested by the audience.
Jeanette Ickovics, associate professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Public Health and of Psychology. Ickovics is director of the Connecticut Women's Health Project, a collaboration of community health centers and hospitals across the state. Its purpose is to conduct a series of studies to understand women's attitudes about health care, including prenatal care, HIV counseling and testing, and care for their children.
Thomas Slater, manager of project accounting in the Yale Office of Facilities. Slater has served for many years as coordinator of the city's St. Patrick's Day Parade, providing countless hours of volunteer service to this event, which is the largest parade in the state.
Susan Smith, associate master of Branford College. As executive director of the Creative Arts Workshop, a nonprofit regional center for education in the visual arts that has served the Greater New Haven area for more than
35 years, she has helped to lead the effort to make New Haven the cultural capital of Connecticut, and has helped unite town and gown on Audubon Street.
Dana Remus of the Law School. Remus is coordinator of the community rowing program at Yale, which has been in operation since the summer of 1999. This program has been staffed by members and coaches of the Yale Crew Program, and has utilized Yale's world-class rowing equipment. A total of 350 children from New Haven learned how to row through the program last summer.
Susan Rushing of the School of Medicine. She has been a leader in mobilizing medical and other students to serve as volunteers who help connect eligible families and children with the Health Insurance for Uninsured Kids Program (HUSKY). Her work has helped numerous poor and working families access much-needed health care insurance for their children.
Sara Aviel '02 of Davenport College. Aviel is coordinator of the Dwight Hall Public School intern program, one of the largest programs at Dwight Hall. Public school interns serve as liaisons between Yale volunteers and organizations and public schools to ensure that the needs of each school are being met.
Vanessa Herald '02 of Ezra Stiles College. A scholar-athlete who plays varsity volleyball, Herald chaired the Thomas W. Ford '42 Community Outreach Committee for the Yale Athletics Department. She is one of only three students ever selected twice for the President's Public Service Fellowship and has worked two summers full-time for the Footebridge literacy program for elementary school children.
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