Ten individuals who have made significant contributions to strengthening the relationship between the City of New Haven and the University were honored on May 16 at the annual Elm-Ivy Awards Luncheon in Woolsey Hall. President Richard C. Levin and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. presented the awards to the honorees.
The Elm and Ivy Awards were established at Yale in 1979 by Fenmore R. Seton '38 and his wife, Phyllis. Since the inception of the program, more than 160 people have been honored. This year's Elm and Ivy Award winners are:
Elm Awards
Edmund J. Fusco. A Yale alumnus, 1945 B.E., Mr. Fusco has been a partner and counselor to the University on key initiatives undertaken with the City of New Haven, including the development of the Long Wharf Maritime Center, the construction of the Connecticut Tennis Center, the creation of the Audubon Arts Center, and the redevelopment of the Shubert Performing Arts Center and the Yale Baseball Stadium.
Verdell Roberts. As assistant superintendent for instruction for the City of New Haven, Ms. Roberts has provided advice and counsel to the Yale Child Study Center, the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute and the University's Office of New Haven Affairs. Her guidance is credited with helping the University to be a more effective partner with the New Haven Public Schools.
Patricia McCann Vissepo. Ms. McCann Vissepbridges between Yale and the city through her work at Casa Oto al, a housing facility for Hispanic senior citizens, where dozens of Yale students volunteer under her guidance; and as chair of the New Haven Board of Education, where she has helped initiate partnerships with the private sector, higher education and with nonprofit organizations, including the innovative partnership that links the Schools of Medicine and Nursing with New Haven's Career High School.
Ivy Awards
Steven Marans. Mr. Marans is primary leader with the New Haven Department of Police Service for the Child Development and Community Policing program, which integrates the resources of the Yale Child Study Center and the city's police department. Its purpose is to improve the skills of law enforcement personnel in responding to situations where children are exposed to violence and to develop research that will strengthen public policy and clinical care. The program has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice, which has provided funds for replication of the program in cities across the nation.
Thomas Beckett. Mr. Beckett has put community service at the center of Yale's Athletics Department. He initiated the NCAA- supported National Youth Sports Program, which, in its first year, involved 275 New Haven youths in a full-day, five-week program on campus. He has also strengthened the department's Youth Day program, which brought more than 4,000 area youth to Yale football games last fall, and chairs the Community Outreach Committee, which encourages Yale student athletes to engage in community service with area schools and youth centers.
J.G. Collins. As president of Connecticut United for Research Excellence, Mr. Collins has helped focus the state's interests in the critical field of biotechnology and has spurred the development of educational programs for students in elementary and secondary schools. He also helped craft a dynamic partnership among the Yale Schools of Medicine and Nursing and New Haven's Career High School.
Undergradaute Ivy Awards
Marissa Hughes '97 of Trumbull College. Ms. Hughes is one of the key organizers of Peace Games, a program for public school students in Greater New Haven that stresses cooperation over competition in order to promote peace and collaboration. As a President's Public Service Fellow with the New Haven Department of Police Service in 1996, she served with the Bias Crime Unit, assisting in the preparation of training materials to equip New Haven police officers to deal with bias crimes.
Sandra Lee '97 of Ezra Stiles College. As co-coordinator of the Dwight Hall Cabinet, Ms. Lee helped increase the effectiveness of the Yale students who volunteer with New Haven organizations. She founded a literacy tutoring program with the New Haven Free Public Library and was a key organizer of a nationally recognized conference for young women that, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education, brought together women from Yale with students at Troup Middle School. As a President's Public Service Fellow in 1995, she worked on blighted housing issues with the City of New Haven.
Graduate-Professional School Ivy Awards
Damon J. Hemmerdinger, a student at the Law School. To help turn the Greater Dwight Development Corporation from a dream into a reality, Mr. Hemmerdinger has done everything from mastering complex legal technicalities and making them intelligible to ordinary people, to organizing a barn-raising for the new Development Corporation office, to pricing copy machines, to cleaning bathrooms. Mr. Hemmerdinger helps to run the Law School Housing and Community Development Clinic, and has been a key participant in the creation of the new Yale Professional Schools Neighborhood Clinic.
Anna Mattix, a student at the School of Music. Ms. Mattix is a leader in the School of Music's growing partnership with the city's Co-operative High School of the Arts and Humanities, recruiting and scheduling student participants and volunteering her time in the classroom and after-school in mentoring. This winter, she created a "vacation camp" for Co-op students on the Yale campus which enabled them to take music lessons, visit classes, and meet with faculty.