A special Veterans Day
Another $250,000 challenge grant for veterans
At the end of an emo- tional Veterans Day ceremony in Snidow Chapel, Dr. John D. Bower ’57 wrote a sec- ond $250,000 check to his alma mater to help veterans returning to civilian life. He also is- sued another $250,000 challenge: “I hope we can do this again next year at the same time.” Dr. Bower said he
prefers challenges to outright gifts. “Money itself does not resolve a problem,” he noted.
“Commitment and community involve- ment do.” Both were evident
during the Nov. 11 cere- mony as several “Bower Challenge Flag Bearers” were recognized for leading the effort to match Dr. Bower’s
challenge. William Foutz ’57, chair of the group, noted proudly,
“We raised 100 percent of the goal in 50 per- cent of the allotted time.” In 2010, Dr. Bower
gave his first $250,000 to establish a scholar- ship for veterans. The second challenge brings his commitment to $750,000, with the po- tential for the College to put $1.25 million to- ward veterans’ educa- tion and support. Several of the Veter-
ans Day speakers, in- cluding former LC Dean James Huston, Col. Paul Lilly ’61, Leighton Dodd ’56, and Dr. Bower, noted the importance of pro- viding support to re- turning veterans.
“College is a great transi- tion back to civilian life,” Dean Huston said. Dr. Bower, a Bedford,
Virginia, native and retired physician renowned for his pio- neering work with kid- ney disease and dialysis, served four years in the
U.S.Navy before at- tending LC. He gradu- ated in 1957 after only two and a half years. The Dr. John D.
Bower Veterans Schol- arship Fund was estab- lished to aid eligible veteran students with a 3.0 GPA or higher, with first preference to those pursing degrees in sci- ence. The College planned to award the first scholarship this se- mester.
A gift of poetry
When LC trustee Philip Mazzara ’70 was a student at LC, an English professor and a group of British poets changed his life.
“Without Dr. Mervyn Williamson ’48 in my corner, I’m fairly convinced I would have flunked out,” he said. Instead, Mazzara became enthralled with
the work of Wilfred Owen and other poets who fought in World War I and depicted war without sentimental patriotism. Indeed, many of them died in the war. Phil became an avid collector of first editions of poetry and some fiction such as Goodbye to All That and All Quiet on the Western Front, as well as military books on the history of WWI. On Veterans Day, Mazzara and his wife,
Dee Daly, donated the collection to LC’s Knight-Capron Library. “Dee and I gave this collection to encourage scholarship and research. My personal hope is that some of the poetry impacts one or two students the way it impacted me,” he said. Dr. Brian Crim, assistant professor of his-
tory, who noted that 17 million people died in the Great War, said, “I will make use of this collection and be sure my students do as well. Through these poems, we can hear the voices of lost generations and know what was truly lost.”
PHOTOS BY JOHN MCCORMICK
Spring 2012 LC MAGAZINE 5
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