patrickmurfin

Diversity Day 2009:

We’re In This Together!

On Woodstock Square

September 27, 2009

Diversity Day 2009: We’re In This Together! will be held this Sunday, September 27 from 1 to 4 PM on the Square in Woodstock. 

For the 13th annual festival will take note of “The tough economic times that have taken a devastating toll on our community and nation while the world remains in turmoil,” festival Executive Director Patrick Murfin explained.  “Sometimes fear and anxiety cause groups to turn on each other and bigots seek to exploit those fears.  But in times like these we need each other more than ever. Our festival is meant to rally the whole community regardless of race, religion, national origin, language, gender, sexual orientation, age or ability in mutual respect and celebration.”

The festival program will feature live entertainment and inspiring messages from individuals and organizations working together in the face of adversity.  

Musical and performance acts include The Frothy Boys, a ebullient men’s doo-wop a cappella ensemble; legendary McHenry County story teller Jim May; blind singer/guitarist Pierre Berube;  pianist Matt Chopin; the Bolivian folk dancing of Corazon Boliviano Grupo de Danza Folkloria director by Julieta L. Bolivar; and folk music by Keith Johnson and Judy Matzen.

Murfin will be joined by his long time festival co-host Gloria Urch in introducing featured speakers.  Joe Blanco, coordinator of the Woodstock PADS site will talk about homelessness.  Suzanne Hoban of the Family Health Partnership Clinic will speak on healthcare and Julie Biel-Claussen of the McHenry County Housing Authority will discuss the challenges of finding affordable housing.

An annual highlight of Diversity Day is the Peace and Justice Award presented to an individual or individuals who have advanced the causes of justice, equity and compassion in our community and the world.  This year the recipient is Thomas Dincecco who has dedicated his retirement years to service to those in need.  Among other activities, Dincecco is the coordinator of the Direct Assistance Program (DAP) of the Woodstock Community Ministry which provides emergency grants to those who fall between the cracks of the safety net. The award will be presented by last year’s recipient, Sue Rose of the Housing Department.

Carlos Acosta of the McHenry County Latino Coalition will present this year’s recipients of the organization’s Scholarship Awards, sponsored by State Farm Insurance.

The festival also includes table displays with information from non-profit organizations, social service providers, government agencies, issue advocacy organizations, religious groups, political parties, and businesses.

Diversity Day 2009: We’re  In This Together!  Is organized by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Woodstock.  Admission is free and open to the public.

For information contact Murfin at 815 814-5645, e-mail divday@sbcglobal.net, or visit http://diversityday.blogspot.com/.

One of Woodstock’s most venerable churches is changing its name.  On July 12 the Congregational Unitarian Church officially becomes the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Woodstock.

The Congregation voted to change the name at its May meeting to become effective when all of the legal documents and details were amended.  That process has been completed.

According to the Rev. Dan Larsen, minister of the church since 1990, “The new name reflects who we are now while reclaiming a lost part of our identity and honoring our roots.”

It is the fourth name for the church, which has occupied the corner of Dean and South Streets since being founded by returning Civil War veterans in 1866 as the First Congregational Church of Woodstock.  After seeking dual affiliation with the Universalist Church in America in 1937, it became the Congregational Universalist Church.

In 1984 members of the congregation, following the consolidation of the Universalists nationally with the American Unitarian Association in 1961 creating the Unitarian Universalist Association, voted to change the name of the church to the Congregational Unitarian Church.  At the time members felt that the public better recognized and understood the name Unitarian than Universalist

Both originally liberal Christian denominations, the Universalists believed that a loving God saved all souls—universal salvation—and the Unitarians believed in the unity of God—no Trinity—and an approach to faith based on reason.  Modern Unitarian Universalism is a creedless religion that honors not only its Judeo-Christian heritage, but draws from world religious and philosophic traditions to assist members in “building their own religion.” 

Those traditions are reflected in striking windows installed in the church as part of the Centennial of the current landmark church building in 2006.

Since the congregation ended its official affiliation with the United Church of Christ (the Congregationalists) in 2000 and became an exclusively Unitarian Universalist congregation, there has been talk of changing the name to reflect the new reality.

“We really are happy to reclaim our lost Universalist identity,” Rev. Larsen said.  “We say that ‘love is the doctrine of this church’ and Universalism calls us to put love into action.”  By changing from Church to Congregation, “the new name also reflects that we are a religious community, and not just a brick and mortar building while honoring our roots as Congregationalists.”

Over the next few weeks and months the new name will be reflected in signage, on the website, and in public awareness.  The congregation will celebrate the new name with special dedication worship services and other events and programs this fall.

“As the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Woodstock, we will continue our tradition of service to the community, which includes hosting PADS and the Woodstock Community Ministry’s Direct Assistance Program and outreach to the Latino community, and the advocacy for peace, justice, and a sustainable world which has been our hallmark,” Rev. Larsen said.  “And we hope to grow spiritually as a religious community living out the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism.”

Diverity Day 2009:
We're In This Together!

Planning is under way for Diversity Day 2009.  The 13th installment of the annual festival will be held on Sunday, September 27 from 1 to 4 PM on the Square in Woodstock.

The theme this year is We’re in This Together. “Tough economic times have taken a devastating toll on our community and nation while the world remains in turmoil,” festival Executive Director Patrick Murfin explained.  “Sometimes fear and anxiety cause groups to turn on each other and bigots seek to exploit those fears.  But in times like these we need each other more than ever. Our festival is meant to rally the whole community regardless of race, religion, national origin, language, gender, sexual orientation, age or ability in mutual respect and celebration.”

The festival is seeking multi-cultural entertainment for the program including musicians, dancers, and folk artists.  “We are also looking for children’s programming and activities both on the stage and around the Square,” Murfin said.

Speakers will be invited from organizations to highlight their efforts at serving and improving the community cooperatively.  Non-profit organizations, social service agencies, government agencies, issue advocacy organizations, religious groups, political parties and others in sympathy with the aims and purposes of the festival may also set up information tables on the Square free of charge.

Nominations for the Peace and Justice Award, presented annually at the festival, will be welcomed through the month of June.  The Award is presented to an individual or individuals who have advanced the causes of justice, equity and compassion in our community and the world.  “We are especially proud of this award which is meant to not only honor deserving individuals, but highlight their work,"  Murfin said.

Sponsorship opportunities for the festival are also available, as are sustaining advertisements in the annual program book.

Diversity Day 2009:  We’re in This Together! is organized by the Congregational Unitarian Church.

For more information about and opportunities to volunteer, support or participate in it, visit the Diversity Day Blog, contact Murfin at 815 814-5645 or e-mail divday@sbcglobal.net, write Diversity Day c/o Congregational Unitarian Church, 221 Dean Street, Woodstock 60039.

The other day Scott Wells over at Boy in the Bands asked “Does anyone still mark Memorial Day as Decoration Day, with cleaning and visiting graves, and taking lunch on the grounds?”

My attempt to reply was foiled by a technical snafu.  This is what I tried to say.

The annual Sunday service before Memorial Day at the Congregational Unitarian Church in Woodstock, Illinois has for several years echoed a 19th Century Decoration Day tradition.  The local Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)—including many members of what was then known as the First Congregational Church which was founded by Civil War veterans in 1866—annually sponsored a unique Decoration Day event.  Local residents gathered armloads of flowers from their gardens and marched—often by the hundreds—to the Chicago and Northwestern station to load a special train to the city with blooms.  The flowers were then used to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers and veterans.

After the GAR and its auxiliary raised money for an impressive Civil War Monument in the center of Woodstock Square in the 1890’s, the Decoration Day observances focused there with formal wreaths presented by the organizations and bouquets by the people.

When our congregation began holding annual services more than a decade ago, we symbolically revived the Decoration Day observances.  At the beginning of worship, the congregation leaves the church to process silently to the Square, a short two blocks away, behind an American flag.  Gathering around the Monument Rev. Dan Larsen leads a prayer and a moment of silence.  Some years a poem or other reflection is read.  Sometimes Taps is played or some other appropriate music is performed.  Then participants lay flowers on the Monument and return in silence to the church for the rest of the worship service.

By the way, the flag that leads the parade was donated to the church long ago in memory of Thomas Lounsbury, an 18 year old church member who died on the USS Arizona on December 7, 1949 and was the first Woodstock casualty of World War II.  This year participants in the parade and service included veterans of World War II, the Vietnam War, and the First Gulf War; the grand daughter of Civil War veteran and the relatives of many other veterans, and one aging draft resistor.

Here are pictures of this year’s event.



Leaving the Church



Jeff Levin leads the parade carying the Lousbury memorial flag.



Entering Woodstock Square.



Gathering at the Civil War Monument.



The Rev. Dan Larsen leads the prayers.



Tom and Joan Skiba lay their flowers.  Joan was an Army trauma nurse in Vietnam and annually adds poignant testimony to the following worship service.

 

McHenry County Democrats and Barack Obama supporters packed the Stage Left Café in Woodstock to capacity Wednesday evening for an old fashion political rally before the Presidential Debates.

Representative Jack Franks opened the evening with an acknowledgement that Obama had energized the electorate and helped transform the political landscape of McHenry County.  He called on the audience to take that energy and apply it to candidates all down the ticket on the local level.

Robert Kaempfe, candidate for the General Assembly from the 64th District pledged to “lead by example” on issues like energy independence. Pointing to the incumbent state’s attorney’s billing of personal expenses to tax payers Auditor candidate Kerry Jullian and State’s Attorney candidate Thomas Cynor each attacked the culture of arrogance and entitlement of entrenched Republican leadership.  They pledged fiscal responsibility, transparency and integrity in office.

Candidates for County Board paraded to the microphone to call for diversity of opinion on the Board.  James McTague (D-1), Jill Mawhinney and Anita Harmon (D-2), Kathy Bergan Schmidt (D-3), Paula Yensen (D-5), and Bob Ludwig (D-6) hammered away on issues of accountability to tax payers, land use planning, groundwater preservation, and better government.

Meg Murray Bradshaw of Northwest Suburbs of Chicago for Obama called for volunteers to phone bank and travel to battleground states for Obama.  Several attendees signed up for trips to Wisconsin.

16^th Congressional District Candidate Robert Abboud arrived from a Rockford newspaper endorsement interview just in time to fire up the crowd with an impassioned call to arms.  He said that the magnitude of the country’s problems in the face of the current economic emergency truly made this “the most critical election of our lifetimes.”  Change, he said, must be secured from the “top of the ticket down t o the most local race.”  Abboud told his cheering listeners to each find “at least 16 Republicans or uncommitted independents” and convince them to vote for that change.

A highlight of the rally was a special auction.  Noting the ugly turn of the campaign as John McCain’s fortunes have waned, Cynor, who has coordinated the Democratic Party’s yard sign operation, noted that many of the more than 500 Obama campaign signs placed in the county have been stolen or vandalized.  In one case, signs were vandalized three times and the home of the sign host was broken into and defaced.  One of those vandalized signs was framed and put up for auction “to show that we cannot be intimidated.”  The spirited auction ran up the price to $2,000 and was won by Cynor himself.  Proceeds will go to supporting local Democratic candidates.

The crowd stayed to watch the Presidential debate on a big screen TV.  They cheered Obama when he landed telling points and hooted at McCain’s perceived misstatements and attacks on Obama.

Members of the crowd departed with unabashed enthusiasm taking with them buttons, bumper stickers, yard signs and a renewed commitment.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

      



     







     



     

 

 

 

 

 

    


 

 

 

McHenry County Democrats will stage an old fashion political rally at the Stage Left Café, next to the Opera House in Woodstock, beginning at 6:30 this Wednesday, October 15.  Led by incumbent Representative Jack Franks (D-63) legislative, county-wide, and county board candidates will be on hand.

The rally will lead up to the last Presidential Debate at 8 PM when local Democrats will cheer on Senator Barack Obama.

Among the candidates slated to appear at the rally are Bob Kaempfe, State Representative 64th District; Thomas Cynor, State’s Attorney; Kerry Julian, County Auditor; David Bachmann, County Coroner; and a raft of County Board candidates.

The rally will feature an opportunity an auction of a unique memento of the Obama campaign in McHenry County.

Pizza will be provided by Citizens for Cynor.

The event is free and open to the public.  There will be a cash bar.

Ok, so at exactly 1 pm Sunday, as the Opera House bell struck the hour and Diversity Day 2008: Democracy is Our Hope officially opened for business, what had been an annoying drizzle turned into a good, soaking, cold fall rain.  Thus what was a lively festival was missed by most folks who selfishly choose to stay dry.  If they had toughed it out, the rain let up about halfway into the mission and the sun actually came out for the last 45 minutes.

Anyway, here is my gallery of all the action.

Moments before the opening under our cool new banner, Congregational Unitarian Church Choir Director Tom Steffens (center) conferred with sound man Keith Johnson of Off Square Music.




Tom and the fabulous CUC Choir led off the festival.  That’s the Rev. Dan Larsen with the glasses and the beard behind the sopranos.



The Frothy Boys, so dubbed for their beverage of choice at rehearsals, did a mean a capella rendition of Georgia on My Mind.



Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) turned out in force despite the weather.  A large contingent did a moving group reading from the Gazebo stage.

The indomitable Tom Dincecco looked over the program as he staffs the Woodstock Community Ministry (WACM) table safely out of the rain in the Pump House.

 Also in the Pump House Pat Young staffed the CUC table.

The Pump House and PFLAG display as seen through the rain from the Gazebo.

 

Quaker environmental and peace activist Alice Howenstine, recipient with her husband Bill (who got cut out of this picture—sorry Bill) of the 2007 Peace & Justice Award, introduced this year’s winner Sue Rose (right) of the McHenry County Housing Authority

Republican incumbent McHenry County Coroner Marlene Lantz and her sister braved the rain to staff a table shared with incumbent Auditor Pam Palmer

Across the walk, the Democratic Party of McHenry County stayed relatively dry under a canopy.  Despite the rain they did a brisk business all day in signs, buttons and campaign lit.  That’s County Chair and District 3 County Board Candidate Kathy Bergan Schmidt—who will never forgive me for this shot—bending over.

Diversity Day’s first ever rock band, AM2 really got things moving.



 The McHenry County Latino Coalition had quite a few takers sampling their own special blend of fair trade coffee from Conscious Cup.

Judy Vanderboom (center) chatted at the McHenry County Citizens for Choice (MCCD) booth.

Enthusiastic despite the weather, these two stirred up interest in Americorps.

As the rain stopped and skies began to clear Judy Matzen joined Keith Johnson for some folk music.

Dancers from Corazon Boliviano Grupo de Danza Folkloria Boliviana, who came all the way from Chicago, Really enlivened the end of the festival.



Danza Folkloria leader Julieta L. Bolívar (front) performed as the sun finally broke through the clouds.

My long time Diversity Day Co-host Gloria Urch took a moment to pose with me at the end of the festival.

The 2008 Peace & Justice Award will be presented to Sue Rose, Community Service Director of the McHenry County Housing Authority at Diversity Day 2008: Democracy is Our Hope, Sunday, October 5 from 1 to 4 PM, on the Square in Woodstock.

The award will be presented around 2:30 by Alice and Bill Howenstine, the Quaker environmental and peace activists who won last year’s award.

“For years the advice ‘go see Sue Rose at the Housing Authority’ has meant hope for the homeless and those in danger of homelessness,” according to Diversity Day Executive Director Patrick Murfin. “We have never given the Peace & Justice award to a government employee, no mater how dedicated. But Sue Rose has always worked harder, gone the extra mile, to help McHenry County’s often forgotten and faceless poor.”

Rose was born in Chicago and raised in Oak Park, Illinois. She graduated from Roosevelt University in Chicago with a BA in Sociology.

A McHenry County resident since 1981, Rose began her social work here working with senior citizens at Royal Terrace Health Care Center (now Alden Terrace) as the Psychosocial Program Director. She also worked at Senior Services of McHenry County, where she was an elder abuse investigator and developed and administered a shared housing program that linked seniors who owned their homes with people who needed housing. This innovative program helped low-income people to share their housing expenses. While at Senior Services, Rose became a certified Advanced Case Manager, Elder Abuse Investigator, and Certified Ombudsman.

Rose joined the McHenry County Housing Authority in 1996. As Community Services Director she has been responsible for working with the homeless population, people at risk of homelessness and very low-income individuals and families that may be experiencing a temporary hardship. She has often been one of the first responders upon notification that a residential fire or other disaster has left people homeless. She received a certification as a Family and Community Development Specialist from the Illinois Community Action Agency and the University of Iowa, and she completed course work in working with the homeless population and substance abusers. For the past 12 years Rose has worked at the McHenry County Housing Authority with families in crisis situations and she has worked to ameliorate the causes of these crises. Many of the social service agencies in McHenry County look to her and the McHenry County Housing Authority for financial assistance, guidance to other resources and coordination of assistance for clients experiencing some very difficult situations.

In the words of Housing Authority Executive Director Julie Biel Claussen, “Sue is the voice for many people who have no voice.”

In addition to her work at McHenry County Housing Authority, Sue is on the Board of Directors for Consumer Credit Counseling Services of McHenry County. Her other interests include antiques, rock hunting, cats, nature and gardening.

“We are proud to induct Sue Rose into the distinguished company of Peace & Justice Award recipients,” Murfin said. “We believe this annual award has become one of the most prestigious honors in McHenry County.”

The Peace & Justice Award is presented by Diversity Day 2008, which is organized by the Congregational Unitarian Church in Woodstock with the sponsorship support of the Land Conservancy of McHenry County.

PAST WINNERS OF THE PEACE AND JUSTICE AWARD

1997 Werner Elmann Holocaust camp liberator and human rights activist

1998 Cindy Bloom Native American activist

1999 Susanne Hoban Executive Director, Family Health Partnership Clinic

2000 Gloria Urch Community leader, journalist, business woman, educator

2001 Mary Fox Peace educator

2002 Libby Pappalardo McHenry County Peace Group founder

2003 Carlos Acosta Latino Coalition leader

2004 Lou Ness Former Executive Director, Turning Point

2005 Janie Galarza Harvard Human Relations Commission, community activist

2006 Arielle Payne MCC Black Student Union President, student trustee

2007 Alice and Bill Howenstine Quaker environmental and peace advocates

This is the poem I have composed for the memorial worship service held today at the Congregational Unitarian Church in Woodstock.                                    

                                     KNOXVILLE: 7/27/2008 10:26 A.M

They are about to sing about Tomorrow,

            as fresh and delicate as impatiens in the dew,

            when Yesterday, desperate and degraded

            bursts through the doors

            barking despair and death

            from the business end of a sawed of shotgun.

Tomorrow will have to wait,

            Yesterday—grievances and resentments,

            a life full of missed what-ifs

and could-have-beens,

of blame firmly fixed on Them,

the very Them despised by

all the herald angels of perfect virtue—

has something to say.

Yesterday gives way to Now,

            the eternal, inescapable Now,

            flowing from muzzle flash

            to shattered flesh,

            the Now when things happen,

            not the reflections of Yesterday

            or the shadows of Tomorrow,

            the Now that always Is.

Now unites them,

            victims and perpetrator,

            the innocent and the guilty,

            the crimson Now.

Tomorrow there will be villain and martyrs,

            Tomorrow always knows about Yesterday,

            will tell you all about it in certain detail.

And yet Tomorrow those dewy impatiens

will sing at last—

The sun will come out Tomorrow,

            bet your bottom dollar on tomorrow

            come what may…

How wise those little Flowers

            To reunite us all in Sunshine.

--Patrick Murfin

Involved as ever the award winning ALICE AND BILL HOWENSTINE are shown this summer at the McHENRY COUNTY PEACE GROUP and LATINO COALITION immigration vigil in CRYSTAL LAKE.

Environmentalists and Quaker peace activists Alice and Bill Howenstine will be the co-recipients of the 2007 Peace and Justice Award which will be presented at the Diversity Day festival, held this Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. on Woodstock Square.  It will be the first time in the eleven year history of the award that there have been multiple recipients.

            “The Howenstines are regarded by many as the God parents of the environmental movement in McHenry County,” according to Diversity Day Executive Director Patrick Murfin.  “Each individually and working together as a team has helped shape a mature conservation movement.  They have also been models of Quaker peace making not only locally, but nationally and internationally.”

            The couple met at a camp operated by a Cleveland, Ohio settlement house in 1942.  Alice, the granddaughter of Czech immigrants was a camper.  Bill, the son of a “liberated” Kentucky born mother who had crusaded for integration and women’s rights in Ohio, was on staff.  Significantly the camp was in its first year of integrated operation.  They have been involved with camps and outdoor youth programming ever since.

            Bill attended the University of Arizona and worked with the student Social Action Group which sponsored community building projects among Hispanics, Native Americans, African American soldiers at a near-by segregated Army post, and the Japanese-Americans interred by the government during World War II.

            Meanwhile Alice got her degree at Hiram College in Ohio.  The couple married there in an out door Quaker service in 1951.

Together became co-directors of the Cleveland Heights School Camp, where their first child was born.  Bill went on to earn his Ph.D. and the couple continued to work and teach at the camp for ten years.

            In 1961 the young couple came to Illinois as Bill took a teaching position at what is now Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU).  He remained there for 35 years in a variety of positions, including eight years as Dean of Students and Vice-President for Student Services.  In the 1970’s Alice got her masters degree in Geography and Environmental studies at the school while raising three children.

            All during these years they remained committed to social justice.  In 1964 working with a community service program of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) they took their whole family and students from the University to work in a small Mexican village in the sate of Tlazcala.  The next year Bill took a leave of absence from NEIU and the family spent 13 months with an AFSC project in Lima, Peru.

            In 1968-69 another leave found Alice and Bill co-directing a Field Study Center for the Union of Experimenting Colleges and Universities in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky,

            In 1970 the family moved to McHenry County and began operating their Pioneer Tree Farm while Bill returned to teaching.  From the beginning they saw their farm as a place which urban students could use as a laboratory for exploring the natural environment and the ramifications of urban sprawl.  The program extended to McHenry County Conservation District (MCCD) sites, city park districts, farms and other rural and small town institutions

            In the 1970’s Alice operated a small summer camp on the farm for which scholarships were given to inner-city children from Chicago in order to have economic and racial diversity.

            Both became involved in the work of the McHenry County Defenders.  Alice has been a specialist in recycling and reuse of resources.  She currently serves on the Defenders board.  Bill served a term as Defenders co-president and in many other capacities.  He has also served 2 ½ terms as a trustee of the MCCD.  In addition he helped found what is now known as the Land Conservancy of McHenry County and has served on the board of directors for Pleasant Valley Outdoor Center and Camp Reinberg, two agencies that serve diverse, often underprivileged, camper populations.

            The Howenstines have remained committed to their Quaker faith.  In 1971 with two other families, they formed what is now known as the   Upper Fox Valley Quaker Meeting.  In 1987 they helped organize Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW), a North American environmental organization.  After traveling to Costa Rica in 1991 they started a QEW project to buy land for the landless peasants.  This evolved into the Finca La Bella (Beautiful Farm) Project with work camps and farmer exchange programs.  Alice and Bill with one son and twp grandsons went to a work camp at Finca La Bella and two Finca members came to work at the family farm for a year to work with Christmas Trees.

            “Their resumes, while impressive on their own, do not begin to describe the inspiration which Alice and Bill have provided to a vast network of people in McHenry County and across the globe.  They have touched many more lives than even they suspect,” Murfin said.

            The Howenstines will be unable to personally receive the award on Sunday.  They will be traveling to continue the work that they do, including a national conference of the QEW.  Accepting the award for them will be Lisa Haderlein, a long time associate in the environmental movement and Executive Director of the McHenry County Land Conservancy.

            Diversity Day 2007:  “…Skies Everywhere as Blue as Mine” is free and open to the public.  It will feature music, dance, speakers from many organizations, information tables, and food sales by SubZero Sandwich and Ice Cream Shop/Lucia’s Casual Catering. 

            The Festival is produced by the Congregational Unitarian Church with corporate sponsorship of Home State Bank.

PAST WINNERS OF THE PEACE AND JUSTICE AWARD

1997          Werner Elmann             Holocaust camp liberator and human rights activist

1998          Cindy Bloom               Native American activist

1999          Susanne Hoban             Executive Director, Family Health Partnership Clinic

2000          Gloria Urch                 Community leader, journalist, business woman, educator

2001          Mary Fox                   Peace educator

2002          Libby Pappalardo         McHenry County Peace Group founder

2003          Carlos Acosta                   Latino Coalition leader

2004          Lou Ness                   Former Executive Director, Turning Point

2005          Janie Galarza               Harvard Human Relations Commission, community activist

2006          Arielle Payne               MCC Black Student Union President,  student trustee