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  Accent on Cooperation
Colby, Bates and Bowdoin don't give each other any quarter on the playing fields or when it comes to
recruiting students and faculty. But, as exciting as their various competitions
can be, Maine's three leading liberal arts colleges show equally impressive
results when they pool their talents to reach a goal.
Colby, Bates and Bowdoin have cooperated on many efforts to improve academic,
technical and social programs on all of their campuses. The latest could make a
wider variety of foreign language studies available to CBB students and will
build structures for future cooperation among the schools.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York has awarded a joint, $910,000 grant
to enable faculty and students from the three colleges to explore--and invent,
where necessary--new teaching methods for foreign language study. Enrollments
in language classes, especially Spanish, are rising dramatically at each
college, and hiring additional faculty to deal with the demand isn't always
feasible.
"The consortium will allow us to teach more efficiently and more effectively,
and we will realize some cost savings," said Colby Vice President for
Development and Alumni Relations Randy Helm. "We're always trying to find ways
to be more productive, and this is one example of that effort."
Cooperation among CBB faculty will give more students the opportunity to study
more languages at higher levels than ever before. This is increasingly
important as graduates take their places in the global education and employment
arenas, and it supports the colleges' commitment to foreign study. At Colby,
more than two thirds of all students spend part of their college careers
studying in another country; Bates and Bowdoin also send significant numbers of
students abroad.
The grant, to be administered by Colby, will allow language faculty members
from the three colleges to investigate and develop a common platform for
language study, develop new teaching methods and purchase compatible equipment
for each campus. The trio also will share technical support for the project.
"One key element is the technical support the grant offers," said Helm, who
explained that after faculty members have selected and/or designed appropriate
software, the colleges would share three technical support specialists.
"Without that support, this kind of collaborative teaching arrangement wouldn't
have happened, because faculty don't have time to spend troubleshooting
software."
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation was established in 1969. Its grant-making
program is focused on institutions of higher learning, cultural organizations
and groups concerned with public affairs.
Dollars for Scholars
Two new gifts to the College benefit students from specific communities while
enhancing Colby's endowed scholarship funds.
Edith and Thomas LaVigne '58 and their family (including Thomas Jr. "Toby" '88
and Kate '94) have pledged $50,000 through the Greater Worcester (Mass.)
Community Foundation earmarked for Colby students from the Worcester area. And
Joan and Bill Alfond '72 of Boston have endowed a similar scholarship through
the Waterville Area Boys & Girls Club for students from 34 central Maine
towns.
The LaVignes and the Alfonds, long-time financial supporters of Colby, also
have been active in various College groups. Bill Alfond, an executive with
Dexter Shoe Company, is a Colby overseer; he served most recently on the
Overseer Committee to Physical Education and Athletics. Tom LaVigne, president
of LaVigne Press in Worcester and a resident of Paxton, has been a member of
the Alumni Council, a class officer, chair of his reunion committee, an alumni
club officer and chair of the Alumni Council Awards Committee.
"Tom and Edith were engaged and active parents when Toby and Kate were students
here," said Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Randy Helm,
"and we look forward to Toby and Kate carrying on the family tradition into the
next generation. The LaVigne Family Scholarship Fund is a wonderful way of
making sure that other deserving young people can enjoy the kind of education
that has been so important to the LaVigne family."
In a statement announcing his family's gift, Bill Alfond said, "I went to the
Boys Club when I was young and I benefited greatly. Colby College provided me
with a great education. The collaboration between Colby and the club will be a
wonderful marriage. Our Boys & Girls Club members are great kids with grit
and determination, and they deserve this financial sup-port. Joan and I want to
see them get ahead with a solid education at Colby."
All Part of the Plan
The George I. Alden Trust of Worcester, Mass., has offered Colby a 3:1
challenge grant to improve a biology laboratory. The Office of Corporate and
Foundation Relations sought the grant as part of the College's ongoing drive to
make its science facilities second to none among peer colleges. This effort,
called "the plan for the sciences," has netted gifts from the F.W. Olin
Foundation and the Kresge Foundation, among others.
The $75,000 Alden Trust grant, to be paid if Colby raises $225,000 in matching
funds before November 30, 1996, will be used to relocate, renovate and update
equipment in the Arey Building's introductory biology laboratory. The matching
funds must come from new donors or through additional gifts from current
donors.
"Introduction to Biology, taken by both science and non-science majors and the
largest course in the Natural Sciences Division, is of great importance to our
students because it lays a firm foundation upon which our biology majors build
their academic careers and because our non-science majors, who may never take a
science course again, become scientifically literate citizens while gaining
fundamental knowledge of the life sciences," wrote President Bill Cotter in the
grant application.
The Alden Trust was established in 1912 by George I. Alden, who was an early
member of the faculty at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he taught for
28 years. In 1885, he and another WPI professor joined Worcester-area
businessmen to found the Norton Emery Wheel Company. In his estate, Alden
devoted his share of the company income to the trust, which has education as
its primary interest. In 1994, the trust pledged nearly $5 million to a wide
variety of nonprofit organizations.
The Good Life
Want to give the College a major gift without winning the Irish
Sweepstakes first? Look into a life income plan.
Such arrangements allow donors to receive income from cash or property gifts
while Colby benefits from the principal. "This allows alumni and other friends
who might otherwise think themselves unable to give a significant gift to the
College to do so," said Steve Greaves, planned giving director. Greaves added
that some people who give such annuities already have made Colby a beneficiary
in their wills. Life income gifts, he said, "accelerate those plans."
One recent life income gift came from Thomas G. van Slyke '36, professor of
guidance emeritus at Boston University and a retired U.S. Army colonel. Van
Slyke's gift will establish the Madeline Frances van Slyke Memorial
Scholarship, named for his late wife, and in the meantime will provide an
income for him throughout his lifetime. Van Slyke is a long-time class agent
and a former member of Colby's Alumni Council.
Foresight: The Colby Guide to Planned Giving offers details about life
income gifts and other ways to donate funds to the College. For a copy, call or
write Steve Greaves, Director of Planned Giving, Colby College, Waterville, ME
04901; 207-872-3212.
Breaking New Ground
James Harris '98, representing the Student Organization for Black and Hispanic
Unity, addresses guests at the groundbreaking September 23 of the Pugh Center
Addition to the Student Union. Preparing to dig in behind Harris are Mayra Diaz
'98 (SOBHU), Vaj Muas '97 (Asian-American Student Association), Adrienne Clay
'97 (Society Organized Against Racism), Associate Dean of Students for
Intercultural Affairs Jeri Roseboro and Miguel Leff '98(International Club).
Student leaders praised the College for its decisiveness and commitment to
inclusiveness at the ceremony. "I always thought that students could make a
change, but until now I never really had any proof," said Lawaun Curry '97
(Roxbury, Mass.), a leading student proponent of the new facility.
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