Dorothy Dunklee Gavin ’43 writes, “I’d like to report on our class project started in 1983 at our 40th reunion. Two endowed funds, an equipment fund and a scholarship fund, were established to benefit disabled students at UMass Amherst.”
In the past year, income from the equipment fund enabled Disability
Services to upgrade its audiobook library from cassette tapes and recorders
to compact discs and players. The many titles available for loan to
students are now much more portable. As well, Disability Services purchased
JAWS Software for the blind, a program that speaks what is being typed,
and a laptop computer with a built-in digital camera available for
loan. Books purchased in 2007 for the library, available for loan to
students, parents, and the campus community, include: Vital Questions
Facing Disability Studies in Education; Ten Things Every Child with
Autism Wishes You Knew; Gendering Disability; Frames of Mind: The Theory
of Multiple Intelligences; and Disability and the Media: Prescriptions
for Change.
Income from the scholarship fund benefited 10 students in the last
year. Their disabilities included sight or hearing impairment, diabetes,
quadriplegia, attention deficit disorder, learning disability, and
other medical disabilities such as fibromyalgia, and accident recovery.
Awards totaled almost $5,500.
A number of students who received assistance from the fund wrote to thank the class of 1943:
. . . it is with great honor that I accept the ‘Making a Difference’ Scholarship Award . . . I can only wish that I will one day make a difference. . . . Receiving this scholarship motivates me to maintain my GPA and complete my degree. . . . Thank you for your confidence and willingness to help me achieve my goals . . . from the bottom of my heart, I thank the Disability Services Office, and the Class of ’43 for all of the support . . .
Gavin, class gift coordinator, wants to remind classmates of their
65th reunion in June 2008. “Let’s increase our scholarship fund for
students with disabilities on the UMass Amherst Campus. Call or e-mail
me with your ideas at 413-256-0706 or dgavin@external.umass.edu.”
