A Fitting Choice: UCB Awards First Recipient of a Special Scholarship
When Blanche Garrity interviewed seven years ago for the Cornerstone Program's Administrative Assistant position on UMA's University College of Bangor (UCB) campus, the Program's Assistant Director Betty McCue Herlihy wasn't sure Blanche would be a good fit.
The Cornerstone Program, after all, is designed to provide extra support for students who have had to overcome often incredible hurdles and hardships to get to college, and "here was this 63-year old white haired woman applying for the job," says McCue-Herlihy. "But we were having a hard time finding the right person for the position, so I hired her. I figured it would just be temporary."
Seven years temporary, it turned out. "Little did I know back then," says McCue-Herlihy, "what a huge impact this extraordinary woman would have on our students and on me."
It's fitting that Betty McCue-Herlihy did not rule Blanche out due to the way she looked or based on first impressions, because in all the time Blanche worked at Cornerstone, Blanche never judged anyone based on appearance or first impressions.
Without exception, Blanche accepted every student for who they were, and saw the promise in every person who walked through Cornerstone's doors. And when a student walked through those doors, they were fortunate that Blanche Garrity would be the first person they would see.
To some students, Blanche became a friend or confidante; to others a mother or grandmother figure; and to everyone a caring presence who offered a sympathetic ear, a reassuring smile, and words of support and encouragement to a population of students who sorely needed it. Like Naomi Crooker, for instance.
In 2005 Naomi Crooker enrolled at UCB as a single teenage mom. "When I began at UCB, I was completely on my own and needed a lot of support," says Naomi. "Where others might have condemned me for my background, Blanche never judged me. She was a wonderful woman who gave me strength and confidence."
"The most important thing I learned from Blanche," adds Naomi, "is unconditional acceptance." That's a concept Naomi now embraces as she mentors other Cornerstone students. Preparing to graduate with a Bachelor's in Mental Health and Human Services sometime next year, Naomi has no doubt she will continue helping others just as Blanche helped her.
While Naomi Crooker gets ready to graduate from UCB, Wally Fraser already has. That might not seem so impressive, except many thought Wally should not even bother graduating from high school.
Although Wally managed to defy those low expectations others thrust upon him, he did find himself struggling in the classroom after he enrolled at UCB in 2003.
"I got referred to the Cornerstone Program, and they helped me develop time management and study skills that transformed me into a successful student," says Wally.
"And every day when I walked into Cornerstone," he adds, "there was Blanche with a smile on her face, a joke ready if I needed one, and words of encouragement always. On days when I was especially down, she would insist I persevere. She would say, ‘Wally, look at what you've already overcome. You can do this."
That Wally did, graduating from UCB last May and currently pursuing a Masters in the Counseling Education program at the University of Maine. He is also now working at UCB's Cornerstone Program as a lead mentor.
When Wally's mother passed away in January of 2007 with a brain tumor due to lung cancer, Blanche was there to support Wally during the three month illness and then afterwards. In retrospect, that was especially poignant, because less than six months later, Blanche would be diagnosed with brain cancer.
The brain cancer was the last of several serious health issues Blanche faced while working at UCB. Indeed, in her seven years at UCB, she struggled with a brain aneurism requiring two surgeries, thyroid cancer, a stroke and all sorts of related ailments.
She never let her deteriorating health get in the way. The same courage, determination and perseverance she brought out in Cornerstone's students, she exhibited herself.
That courage, determination and perseverance lasted right up until March 29th when Blanche Garrity passed away.
Still her legacy will live on in the hundreds of students who today are succeeding in life in part because this wonderful gray haired woman was there for them.
Her legacy will live on, too, through The Blanche Garrity Perseverance Scholarship that Wally Fraser, Betty McCue-Herlihy, and others have established in her honor.
The scholarship is to be awarded each semester to a UCB Cornerstone student who exhibits the same strength, determination, and character that Blanche Garrity showed in overcoming her own life challenges as well as in helping so many others to overcome theirs.
The first Blanche Garrity Perseverance Scholarship recipient was just announced this week. Naomi Crooker was a fitting choice.
Bob Stein is Director of Communications at the University of Maine at Augusta (UMA). University College of Bangor is a campus of UMA. Donations to the Blanche Garrity Perseverance Scholarship can be sent to:
Office of the PresidentUniversity of Maine at Augusta
46 University Drive
Augusta, Maine 04330