Macaulay Connections

At the Senior Scholars Dinner on February 25, Virginia Slaughter was honored for her leadership in public higher education and her efforts as a longstanding champion of honors education. Her commitment to identifying, inspiring, and supporting the aspirations of undergraduate intellectual laders has profoundly shaped honors education at CUNY, and continues to influence its ongoing evolution.

Ms. Slaughter was presented with a book of tributes from some of the Macaulay students she has helped over the years. Ryan Merola ’07 (Brooklyn) introduced her at the event with these heartfelt remarks.

Introductory Remarks for Ms. Virginia Slaughter
Macaulay Honors College Reception

By Ryan Merola ’07 (Brooklyn)
February 25, 2010

I am very happy to introduce tonight’s guest-of-honor, Ms. Virginia Slaughter.  For alums of the Horace W. Goldsmith Scholars Program and Macaulay staff, Ms. Slaughter is known simply and affectionately as Ginny Slaughter – a generous supporter of the Honors College, an advisor to the Goldsmith Scholars, and, depending on your answers and attitude during the Goldsmith interview, a very tough interviewer.

I think it’s fair to say most of us who are Goldsmith Scholars don’t often recognize the full extent of Ginny Slaughter’s work on our behalf.  We know well the tangibles of the Goldsmith Scholars Program – a month of workshops to make us better writers and thinkers when it comes to fellowship applications, seminars during the academic year at cultural and historic venues across the City, and dinners or other events that are done to bring us closer together as Goldsmith Scholars.

The other tangible that I am sure we are all familiar with comes in a corporeal form, and he’s sitting with us tonight – that of Michael Lamb, the Goldsmith Fellowship advisor.  Ginny Slaughter’s award from the Horace W. Goldsmith foundation guarantees each of us the chance to work and learn closely with this dynamic, devoted, and out-of-the-box thinker.  I can tell you that Mike’s help, and the help of his predecessors like Patricia Duffet and Ken Estey, were integral to the success I’ve had with fellowship competitions and the application process or graduate programs.  We’re incredibly lucky that Ginny Slaughter’s support means we are able to do more than simply turn to Mike for advice and assistance, but rather that Mike actively engages us in our college and post-college pursuits.

These, again, are the obvious benefits of being a Goldsmith Scholar, and these are all things we know well and take advantage of.  But what I just mentioned is by no means the full picture of what we get as Goldsmith Scholars from Ginny Slaughter – we also get her time and efforts on our behalf, much of it behind-the-scenes, to ensure that after our winter workshops, we have what we need to be successful and are taking advantage of the opportunities before us as University Scholars.

Ms. Slaughter is constantly in contact with Macaulay staff to find out about how we as Scholars are doing in our studies and beyond.  This alone is an action wholly unnecessary for a representative of a philanthropic organization to engage in, but she does this because she is a believer in the Honors College and what we, its students and alums, can accomplish.  Ginny Slaughter comes to the winter workshops so that she can put more than a face to a name, but to better know who we are and in whose future she has invested.  And Ginny has pushed for Goldsmith activities year round because she values the community aspect of the Goldsmith Scholars program – she knows we learn a great deal, and sometimes best, when we are collaborating with our peers who have similar interests and goals.

Ginny Slaughter has been a CUNY supporter for some time and we’re fortunate that the Honors College not only came around when it did for our own educations, but because it connected us to her.  At Macaulay, we are fortunate to be the beneficiaries of the generous support of many grants and foundations, but it’s one thing to receive financial support; it’s quite another for the face of that foundation to give personally of herself and her time.  To that, the Goldsmith Scholars are fortunate that we can call you, Ms. Slaughter, our friend and supporter.

Without a doubt, we are fortunate to count ourselves among those for whom Ginny Slaughter cares and encourages.  We are a better institution because of your efforts, and we owe you our gratitude.  With that, please join me in thanking Ms. Slaughter for her continued commitment to the Macaulay Honors College.