Empath, 1982 March 23

              Page 2 The Empath March 23, 1982
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Carrigan Recieves First Petruccelli Award
by Barbara Schaeffer
Hopefully the first in a long
list of outstanding students,
Judith Carrigan will receive this
year’s John Petruccelli Memorial
Award at the Honor’s Convoca­tion
Ceremony on April 17.
The award is the first stage of
what will become a full year’s
scholarship granted annually to a
junior at SMC in honor and
rememberance of John, a former
into making this award possible,
and I ’m honored to be the first
recipient.”
Judith is a full time Social
Science major studying Anthro­pology
here at St. Mary’s. She
was chosen for the award on the
basis of faculty nominations and
academic achievement. Judith is
a “St. Mary’s Scholar,” which
means her GPA is 3.5 or better,
and she also received a 4.0 last
and had four children, who are
now ages 24-19. In fact, Judith’s
youngest son, Ken, is a sopho­more
at St. Mary’s.
Before she and her family
settled in St. Mary’s County,
Judith spent several years in
other states, such as California
and Florida, and even lived for
two years in Guam. She really
enjoyed this lifestyle, and per­haps
this has something to do
with her interest in different
cultures.
This student, who has “had
the privilege to attend college
strictly for the educational as­pect”
had no career goals when
she entered St. Mary’s. She
majored in Social Science because
she feels this major offers the
broadest exposure to all areas of
study. Now, however, Judith is
considering working in a library,
or a museum.
Judith has supplemented her
classroom education with some
volunteer lab work for the St.
Mary’s City Commission, and
participated in the Commission’s
Field School in Archaeology Sum­mer
Program last summer.
The transition from housewife
and mother to student is not an
easy one, Judith claims. It’s not
easy to go back to school after
your kids have grown up, she
says. “I felt so selfconscious
being around young people who
are the same age as my children
in a class-like situation.”
Judith appears to have ad­justed,
however, and this is largely
because of the warm response
students have given her. “You’re
very aware that it is the students,
not the faculty, who are your
peers.” By going out of their
way to talk to her and get to
know her, “they’ve made me
feel quite welcome, and I ap­preciate
that very much.” The
experience has also helped her
relations with her children. “Now
I appreciate more the tension
and pressures they’re under. I ’m
much less critical.”
Judith is a good example,
not only to her children, but to
all students, of someone who
works hard and takes their educa­tion
seriously. Such an obvious
respect for learning makes this
student a fitting recipient for
the award. Congratulations Judith!
D.C. School Super
to Speak March 30
Photo by Jim Laurel
Ju d ith Carrigan, mo ther o f 4 and fu ll tim e Social Science major
is the 1st re c ip ient o f this award.
student who was killed by a
drunk driver while riding his
bike in January of 1981. Re­garding
her choice as the very
first recipient of this special
award, Judith replied, “I didn’t
know John, but I ’m aware of
the respect and warmth of those
who do hold his memory. A lot
of energy and devotion has gone
semester.
These academic achievements
are especially noteworthy in light
of the fact that this is Judith’s
“second attempt” at a college
education. She dropped out of
Maryland University after just
one year in 1955, for a job
opportunity she “couldn’t pass
up.” Since then she has married
Floretta Dukes McKenzie, Su­perintendent
of the District of
Columbia Public Schools, will
speak on the topic: “Schooling
is Our Business; Education is
Everyone’s Business,” at the Col­lege
on Tuesday, March 30.
The lecture will be in St. Mary’s
Hall, beginning at 8:00 p.m.
Admission is free, and a reception
will follow in the Reconstructed
State House.
Mrs. McKenzie is a nationally-acclaimed
educational admini­strator,
a dynamic speaker, and
one of the foremost innovators
in American education today.
Her address at the College is
part of the James Garet Burke
Lecture Series, which is co­sponsored
by the St. Mary’s
County Public Schools and St.
Mary’s College. The Burke lecture
is named after the first public
school teacher in Southern Mary­land,
and was inaugurated in
1979 with a presentation by
the noted educational author
John Holt.
Prior to assuming the super­intendency
in the District of
Columbia in July of 1981, Mrs.
McKenzie worked as an educa­tional
consultant at the Ford
Foundation and was Deputy As­sistant
Secretary in the Office
of School Improvement at the
U.S. Education Department. She
has also held the positions of
Deputy Superintendent of
Schools in Montgomery County
and Assistant State Deputy Su­perintendent
of Schools for Mary­land.
Supe rinten den t o f D.C. Public
Schools, Flo re tta Dukes McKenzie.
Governance Committee Seeks Important Changes
by Carrie Powanda
Changes are taking place
throughout St. Mary’s College.
A major variation being looked
at is the governance system.
“The existing faculty constitu­tion
and board bylaws were
developed in certain degrees from
the situation in 1974,” according
to Herb Winnik, chairman of the
Faculty Governance Committee.
The 1974 issue was a confronta­tion
between former president
Renwick Jackson and the facul­ty.
This happening made neces­sary
a distinct listing and sepera-tion
of powers between the two
areas.
The idea behind this move
was to “limit the amount of
damage to the college” according
to Winnik. The faculty was
powerless at the time to bring
changes about. Another motive
for this change was to “limit
the influence of things he (Jack­son)
was proposing,” says the
chairman.
This limited power is actually
two lines of decision-making. The
faculty line of decision-making
is as follows: the division chair,
the faculty committee, the faculty
senate, and finally the entire
teaching body. The administrative
line begins with the division,
chairs, then to the provost, those
under the president (such as the
vice-president of academic af­fairs),
the president, and finall)
the Board of Trustees.
The problems in this power
structure is that these two
seperate organizations crosslink
in some areas. This led to con­fusion
and loss. For example,
changes were made in the
schedule of classes. These changes
got lost somewhere in the rush
and were never entered in the
catologue. “There is a lot of
confusion and misunderstanding,”
said Winnik.
Since President Jackson’s resig­nation,
the faculty and admini­stration,
Richard Weigle included,
feels they should “realign our
governance system” with “more
communication than defenses.”
In other words, more open
communication between all
groups, students included. It will
be a plan, according to Dr. Win­nik
“which takes into account
all issues — everybody takes
part.”
The search for a new system
is under way. The Faculty Gover­nance
Committee is studying
governance catologues of various
colleges similar to our own.
They will put together what
they think are the best features,
instead of taking one document
as a whole and using it to run
St. Mary’s. “Each constitution
fits the historical needs of the
college at the time it was writ­ten,”
commented Chairman Win­nik.
Presently general ideas are
developing. These are general
principles for underwriting the
roles °f various positions, such
as president, dean of students,
etc. Agreements upon the ideas
will be made. Greater detail will
be put into the system as it
progresses.
The new system will be put
together before the active presi­dent
is appointed. This is im­portant
so that the committee
will be better qualified to choose
a competent person. .Also, he will
have a framework to build on.
The new system of governance
has been planned to be approved
by the interim president, faculty,
and Board of Trustees by Decem­ber
1982.
Students will not be forgotten
in the new governance. The
committees would like to in­corporate
some sort of student
government into the plan. “Stu­dent
input is welcome. We will
take them seriously because there
is a distinct role students must
take for a positive health and
welfare of the college,” said
Winnik.
Students are involved but not
just by suggesting ideas. Con­cerned
Students Lobby is active
in the search for new gover­nance.
Basically, they too are
studying various catologues.
“We just hope to highlight the
things we perceive as beneficial
to students and present this to
them (Faculty Governance Com­mittee),”
said Janice Buswell,
member of Concerned Students.
The idea of a new governance
now is best described by Brian
O’Day: “A renaissance of good
feelings had come back to St.
Mary’s on February 1.”
Since the requests were sent
to the progressive colleges just
before spring break, there has
not been complete feedback.
They have received some cato­logues
and pages have been
cited. According to Buswell, “As
of yet we haven’t received any
actual governance documents.”