14
WINTER 2013 | ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
Reunion Weekend
is separated from
Commencement Weekend.
The Outing Club becomes the
first organized group known
to place members on all 46
“
high peaks” of the Adiron-
dacks simultaneously; this
evolves into
Peak Weekend
.
The first Owen D. Young
Outstanding
Faculty Award
,
the only such award
chosen by students, is presented.
1975
1981
1982
PHILANTHROPY IN ACTION
For Jane Barry ’69, giving to
St. Lawrence was a lifelong habit. She
gave to her alma mater nearly every
year since graduating 33 years ago,
and made sure her final gift made
its way to Canton before she passed
away in June 2012. It was originally a
bequest provi-
sion in her
will, but Barry
decided to give
her “bequest” of
$200,000 while
alive so she
could enjoy see-
ing her gift go
to St. Lawrence.
“
Jane was a very special person and
was always proud she graduated from
St. Lawrence,” says her sister, Mar-
garet Driscoll. “She did well in her
career and always attributed her suc-
cess to St. Lawrence. She often talked
about giving another student the
same advantage she had in life.”
Barry, who was born in Brockville,
Ontario, and grew up in Ogdensburg,
went where her work took her. She
entered the pension and profit-shar-
ing field and worked in Boston, San
Francisco, and, for the past 30 years,
for the Epler Company in San Diego,
where she served as president of the
company.
Despite being on the opposite coast,
Barry never lost sight of her home
in northern New York. In 2008, she
established the Jane M. Barry North
Country Endowed Scholarship to
support students who are residents of
St. Lawrence, Franklin, Jefferson and
Lewis counties.
“
Jane started the scholarship in
hopes that another person could
benefit from her experience,” Driscoll
says. “She was a hard worker and took
advantage of every opportunity that
came her way. She was hoping that
the students who benefitted from her
scholarship had the same work ethic
that she had.”
A member of the G. Atwood Man-
ley Society, Barry wanted her gifts to
make an impact on North Country
students by providing the oppor-
tunity of a St. Lawrence education.
Her generosity, which took shape
while she was alive, will now benefit
students for generations – a tribute
to a loyal philanthropist.
A Life of Giving
by Meg Bernier ’07, M’09
She was a hard wor ker and
took advantage of ever y
oppor tun i t y that came her
way. She was hopi ng that
the s tudent s who bene f i t -
ted f rom her scho l ar sh ip
had the same wor k eth i c
that she had.
Mellon
Foundation
Awards Grant
St. Lawrence University has been award-
ed a grant of $700,000 from the Andrew
W. Mellon Foundation in support of a
five-year project titled "Crossing Bound-
aries: Re-envisioning the Humanities for
the 21
st
Century."
With the grant support, the University
plans to develop new cross-departmental
collaborations, with a goal of strengthen-
ing and affirming the centrality of the
humanities to the contemporary liberal
arts curriculum.
Specifically, the project will assist fac-
ulty in development of interdisciplinary
courses and research projects; train and
support staff in digital technologies for
the creation of research and learning en-
vironments; expand opportunities for ex-
periential learning and off-campus study;
aid in developing new upper-level courses
following up on experiential learning and
off-campus study; and create a model of
faculty-student collaboration that works
effectively across the humanities.
"
We are extremely grateful to the
Mellon Foundation for support of this
ambitious project," said St. Lawrence
President William L. Fox. "Students face
an increasingly interconnected world.
This project will help us better prepare
students for their future by bringing new
relevance to the traditional strengths of
the humanities, with greater attention to
technology and the ways it permits us to
create new forms of knowledge." —MD