(L-R): Louis A/ Slama, Max Sirstins, "Mac" Munk, and Robert McGregor ex'44, from Veterans' Day 2002.

2002 honoree J. MacPherson "Mac" Munk during his WWII naval service.

HONORING VETERANS

Each year, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the University honors 11 Utah veterans for their extraordinary military service. This year, as in years past, the veterans and their families were invited to participate in a special ceremony in the Union Ballroom, panels (in which combat veterans discuss their wartime experiences), and related events, including a luncheon and evening concert.

The commemoration event includes members of the University’s ROTC units, who present a full-dress military ceremony that ends with a 21- cannon salute. In years when Nov. 11 falls near a U of U football game, veteran honorees are presented on the field of Rice-Eccles Stadium for a halftime event to the accompaniment of the U of U Marching Band and a flyover by F-16 aircraft from Hill Air Force Base.

Honorees are selected through a committee review of statewide nominations. “This year, we received nominations from Logan to St. George,” says Ann Floor BFA’85, cochair of the Veterans’ Day committee. “Over the years, we have honored veterans from all wars, but most recently we’ve focused on World War II veterans, who are dying at a rate of about 1,500 a day nationally.” A wealth of information about honorees and their experiences has been collected by the Veterans’ Day committee, and, most recently, made available online: www.veteransday. utah.edu. The site contains biographies and photos of past honorees; topics, overviews, and speakers for each of the panels; information on other events; and commentary and feedback from the veterans and their families.

In all, the site and the ceremony are a fitting tribute to the many Utahns who have served their country admirably.

MORE THAN JUST GOOD TEA

President Hinckley with Larry King at "A Proper British Evening."

In July, the College of Humanities—in a gala affair, complete with bagpipes, choruses, and Larry King—announced that it had raised $5 million for the Gordon B. Hinckley Endowment in British Studies.

The endowment supports a British Studies program that includes a study-abroad seminar, scholarships, conferences, and a professorship named for Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who served his mission in England and is a 1932 U of U graduate in English.

Though the locus of the endowment activities is the English department, “British studies” are both international and interdisciplinary by their nature, according to Stuart Culver, chair of the department. “We include in that term the literature, culture, and society of post-colonial areas, and hope that the endowment will support recruitment in history, art history, political science, and other disciplines,” he says.

The search for a scholar to fill the Hinckley chair is underway. Culver notes that it will be a long process since the goal is to recruit a distinguished scholar with an international reputation, one who likely has a current appointment at another institution. “We’ll look aggressively for the next year or so, and hope that by spring we’ll see signs of progress,” he says.

Hinckley lent his name to the program in 1999, and it’s his inspiration that has driven its vision, according to Robert Newman, dean of the college. In his gala remarks, Newman described the scholarly center as a bridge between the U of U and BYU, a joining of LDS and non-LDS communities, and “an embrace of our diversity and a recognition of our sameness, a wonderful healing of what divides us.”

PRESIDENT HEADED FOR SUNSHINE STATE

On Oct. 8, the University of Florida announced that it had selected U of U president Bernie Machen as its 11th president. The selection process took place after a fastmoving public process in which 11 candidates were interviewed, narrowed to three, and then voted upon.

“I first talked to them on Aug. 8, and then was appointed Oct. 8,” says Machen, “so it happened very quickly.”

The suddenness of the news took many at the U and in Utah by surprise, and many echoed the comments made by Richard Kendell MEd’70 PhD’73, the state’s new commissioner for higher education: “I think it’s a big loss. I think Bernie Machen is an excellent president.”

Machen will take over the helm of the 48,000-student university in Gainesville, Fla., on Jan. 5. A search committee headed by Jim Jardine BA’71, regent, former U trustee, and managing director of the Ray Quinney and Nebeker law firm, has already begun the long task of hiring a new president.

“Chris and I hadn’t looked at any other jobs for five years,” Machen says. “We were so happy and focused here. But at the end of six years, I started to wonder how long someone should stay in this position.”

He adds, “The University of Florida is an incredible institution that is focused on pursuing excellence. I’m familiar with those aspirations—we have them here at the U, and we had them at North Carolina and Michigan, too.”

Machen began his presidency in January 1998. At the time of his installation, he announced that he would focus on three areas: the pursuit of excellence, diversity, and the principle of “academics first.” His six years in office have been marked by enrollment growth, the U’s sesquicentennial celebration, the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, disagreements with state officials over the U’s gun policy, and increased faculty and student diversity. “I think the U has taken its place among the leading public research institutions,” he says. “Our faculty and students are starting to be recognized, appropriately, as among the best in the nation.”

Machen, however, prefers not to review his “presidential legacy,” but to look forward to the challenges faced by both the U and the University of Florida. “I think all of higher education could be in for trouble because of the diminished level of support by society,” he says. “Higher education used to be considered a societal good. Now it’s thought of as an individual good. If the individual is the beneficiary of education, then the individual is expected to pay a higher price. We must stem that tide. Higher education has to be seen as being good for the entire state and nation.”

He notes that higher education finds itself competing for funding with such entities as transportation, health care, and prisons. “We’ve been pushed aside, or at least joined at the table,” he says. “We’re considered just one of the social services, no more important than the others. Nationwide, we need to get back education’s status as a social good.

“The only way resources will become available is through an expanded economy,” he adds. “The U needs to be an active player in Utah’s economy. We depend on state and regional economic success for our own economic success, and vice versa.”

NEW DIRECTOR OF WOMEN’S RESOURCE CENTER

In July, Debra Daniels MSW’84 became the new director of the Women’s Resource Center, replacing Kathryn Brooks, who retired after 14 years as director.

Daniels, a licensed clinical social worker, served most recently as director of client services at the Salt Lake City Rape Recovery Center. In 2001, she received the YWCA Outstanding Achievement Award, and in 1993, the Utah Women’s Political Caucus presented her with the Susa Young Gates Award. She has had a long connection with the U, serving as an instructor in the Graduate School of Social Work and a guest instructor for other departments.

“I love the university environment and I am so thrilled to be here,” Daniels says. While she hopes the center will continue its current work of providing services, opportunities, and information to women on campus and promoting women’s needs on campus and in the community, she also wants to broaden the center’s scope.

The center began in 1971 with a small office in the Annex filled with recycled furniture and equipment. Today, the center has a staff of 10 in the Union and offers workshops, counseling and support groups, a library and other resources, (Em)Power@noon lunch discussions, and other events.

“We want people to see us as an avenue, a place that provides access, a conduit for information and support,” says Daniels. “I think there are some unique circumstances that women have. But for many issues—safety issues and issues of rape, for example— it’s not just a woman’s job to talk about them. These are issues that all of us should be interested in.”

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY

In the fall of 2004, eight “Ivory Homes Scholars” will join the U’s incoming class as recipients of a scholarship offered for the first time this coming spring.

The Ivory Homes Scholarships are intended for Hispanic American high school seniors from across the Wasatch Front and for Hispanic American high school graduates who have not yet attended college. The eight $2,000 scholarships will be awarded to students based on their academic record, leadership potential, commitment to community service, involvement in the construction industry, and need. Scholarship recipients will also be eligible for one of two $5,000 scholarships awarded in subsequent years.

The scholarships are provided by Ivory Homes as a way of thanking the many Hispanic Americans working in Utah’s construction industry.

Applications are available at the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and from high school counselors along the Wasatch Front, and are due Feb. 1, 2004. For more information, contact Hugh Brown MS’75 EdD’83 at (801) 585-1951.

WEAPONS POLICY UPHELD

In an Aug. 29 ruling, Judge Robert Hilder BS’81 JD’84 of the Third District Court upheld the University’s policy of banning concealed weapons on campus.

The state court’s decision was in response to the U’s “friendly lawsuit” against Attorney General Mark Shurtleff JD’85. Shurtleff had issued a legal opinion in 2002 that the University’s policy prohibiting firearms violated state law. The U argued in federal court that the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution protect its right to ban firearms, but a federal district court declined to rule on the constitutional questions until the state court ruled on state law.

In the state decision, Hilder determined that the Utah laws at issue do not interfere with the U’s internal policies regarding student and employee conduct.

“This is a gratifying moment for the University,” President Bernie Machen said at the time of the ruling. “Judge Hilder’s decision will be reassuring for our faculty, staff, and students and enable us to continue to provide a safe environment for learning.”