THE SCRATCH SHEET VOL. 27
January 10, 2012
A. Peter Shoemaker Wins the Corinthian Award: A Report and Request from Toby Caplan
B. A New Film About Stephen Girard
C. Another Class Heard From: 1972
D. “Still Our Hearts Beat”
E. The Hum is Omnipresent
F. A Comment on the Class of 60’s 50th
Anniversary Gift
G. Contact Info
A.
Peter Shoemaker
Wins the Corinthian Award: A Report and
Request from Toby Caplan
A MESSAGE FROM MYRON CAPLAN:
PETER SHOEMAKER RECEIVES THE CORINTHIAN AWARD
The Class of 1960 has reason to be proud again! Our Peter Shoemaker will be honored at Girard’s 2012 Good Friends Gala and will receive the Corinthian Award. This award is the highest accolade that can be bestowed by Girard College. The Corinthian Award was established to honor outstanding individuals/organizations for extraordinary contributions to society, made in the same spirit as that of Stephen Girard. Past recipients of the award include Maestro Peter Nero, former Philadelphia Mayor and PA Governor, Ed Rendell, Willie Johnson, CEO of PRWT, David Cohen, Executive VP of Comcast. Alumni who have received the award include: Myer Feldman, Special Assistant to President John F. Kennedy, Peter Scotese, ’37, and James O’Neill, ’51.
Peter represents the best of the best. Within the Girard family Pete is a supportive alumnus, capable leader, and a driving force in our school’s journey toward earning its leadership role in urban education. You are all aware of Peter’s sponsorship of the foreign language programs which sent a number of students to Europe for the summers. Peter is the Chairman of Girard’s Governing Board and is actively involved in supporting the school’s development of Strategic Plans. As he retires from his position as COO of Global Imaging Systems, he is visiting the Hum on almost a weekly schedule to provide his expertise to the administration. Along with his tireless work in behalf of Girard, Peter has contributed more broadly as a board member with the Bayside Medical Center, the University of Hartford, the Hartt School of Music, and the United Way. In the years that he spent in Philadelphia after his first retirement, he was on the board of the Philadelphia Area Red Cross.
So what can we do as individuals and what can we do as the Greatest Class ever to graduate from Girard? Our legacy exemplified by our generous class gift will continue for years.
Support for Peter and Girard College can come in several ways.
- Attend the Gala, Friday, April 13, 2012 at 6pm. Let’s pack the Founder’s Hall dining rooms with Class of 1960 members, spouses, and significant others. The cost of an individual ticket is $250; half of which is tax deductible as a charitable expense. Though that’s a steep price for a meal, we would note that the Gala dinners are catered by a private firm and it is quite a spread. Sign up, get there early, and arrive hungry. If you want to be a part of this wonderful occasion just let me know and we will accommodate you.
- Purchase an Individual Sponsorship. Individual sponsorships begin at $1000, include tickets to the Gala, and an ad/acknowledgement in the Gala Program book. If you would be interested in these higher levels of support give me a call, and I will go over the details with you, and attempt to arrange joint sponsorships with other classmates. Note that beyond the $125 food costs per ticket, all of the sponsorship amount is tax deductible.
- Contribute toward our Class Sponsorship. We hope to fill at least 2-4 tables. If you cannot attend the Gala this would be your chance to show support for our class and Girard College. We already have pledges of $5000, so a goal of $10,000 or more seems doable. All contributors to the Class Sponsorship will be acknowledged in the Gala Program. Again contributions are tax deductible.
I will be available to package the Classes’ contribution. So if you are interested in participating please contact me as soon as possible. I can detail all the various methods of participation, and talk through the tax issues. We hope you will be able to be with us on April 13 for an evening of dinner, award presentation, dancing, a live auction, and especially the recognition that Peter has earned.
Please feel free to contact me to get the details, and
extend your support. It would be most
helpful if you can get to me in the next two weeks.
Sincerely,
Myron “Toby” Caplan
412-486-4636(hm)
412-877-0128 (c)
tobyatwell@comcast.net
306 Schlag Court,
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
Hail Girard
B. A New Film About Stephen Girard
The following article from the Philadelphia Inquirer discusses the new film produced about our founder. Going to the website cited will allow you to watch the film and other material about the Hum. www.youtube.com/user/girardwebsite
Raising the profile of
Phila.'s Girard
December 06, 2011|By Steven Rea, Inquirer Movie Critic
As the title of the new film says: "Stephen Girard: A
Philadelphia Legacy."
Girard (1750-1831) was the fourth-wealthiest man in American
history. He saved the nation from bankruptcy during the War of 1812. He was
instrumental in the development and expansion of Philadelphia's port. And, with the millions Girard left in his
estate, he created a true Philadelphia institution: Girard College. Established
in 1831 and opened on the first day of 1848, the boarding school was conceived
by the French-born naturalized American as a place for poor, fatherless white
boys to get an education.
It
would be 120 years, in the wake of mid-1960s protests led by the NAACP and
Cecil B. Moore - and a speech by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ("Now
is the time to straighten up Girard College!") - before the school was
opened to African Americans. All of
this, and much more, can be gleaned from "Stephen Girard: A Philadelphia
Legacy," an 18-minute chronicle of this remarkable man's remarkable story.
Produced by Philadelphia politician-turned-filmmaker Sam Katz with his partner
(and son) Phil Katz, the film premieres Tuesday night during an invitation-only
fete at the Independence Seaport Museum. It will be available for viewing on
Girard's YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/girardwebsite) later this month.
"It's not a fund-raising
event," says Katz about the
premiere. "It's really an awareness-raising event. In some ways, it's
Stephen Girard's coming-out party. . . .
"Girard College is named for a guy that nobody knows anything
about. But he was probably in the lineage of Benjamin Franklin in terms of his
impact on our city." Produced by
Katz's History Making Productions, "Stephen Girard" intercuts
talking-head interviews (former Gov. Ed Rendell, Comcast executive vice
president David L. Cohen, Avenging the Ancestors Coalition founder Michael
Coard, restaurateur Georges Perrier, historians, academics, and others) with
reenactments of the meetings between an aged and infirm Girard (Kenneth
McGreggor) and his attorney, William Duane (Brain Gallagher), as they hash out
the details of Girard's will. In the film,
Owen Gowens, one of the four African Americans admitted to Girard in September
1968, recalls the desegregation rallies that eventually led to the opening of
the school to thousands of black students.
And
Autumn Graves, Girard College's current president - the first woman and first
African American to hold the position - reflects on its founder's wishes that
the school be for orphaned whites males, exclusively. Girard, as the film
notes, was a slave owner. "It
remains unacceptable," she says to the camera. "But there was no
legal precedent at the time to have a racially integrated school. Had Girard
wanted to have a diverse school, the irony is the school would have never
opened."
Today,
Girard admits students without regard to race, gender, religion, or national
origin. Its first female student gained entry in 1984, and 163 years after it
opened, the student body of 475 is almost evenly divided between boys and
girls. It is about 80 percent African American.
The film, then, strives to put the school's namesake back in his
rightful place in the city's pantheon of great figures, recognizing his
achievements, and, at the same time, acknowledging his flaws. "You can be an amazing person,"
says Katz, "and still have your faults."
C. Another Class Heard From: 1972
Well
we’re not the only class bugging you for support of the Hum. Below is an email sent out from BobTrostel of
the early 70s to his classmates. We
include it since it presents information about the Hum which we have not
previously shared. Trostel is the
President of United Distributors of Delaware.
Gentlemen,
Recently I asked you all to
consider donating some of your personal funds to Girard College. Our objective
is to raise10K as a goal for the class of ‘72 in the year 2012. One classmate sent a response back to me
regarding a number of good questions that should be answered before
donating. Before I answer the questions
I thought I would discuss my recent visit to the school where I met with
President Autumn Graves, Director of Giving - Bruce Bekker, and V.P. of
Strategic Development - Matt Goetting.
I spent about two hours with this
professional group and I believe they are very sincere in their approach to
making Girard a better place. They are
trying to restore the school to optimum operating mode based on the resources
that are available.
First, it is not the school we
went to. Change has clearly happened and you should not expect it to go back to
the way we knew it to be. Please allow
me to recap my visit in three subsections, academics, campus, and economics.
Academics
It currently is a five day
boarding school who’s student population are “single parent” children, grades
1-12. The diversity of the school is now up to 18% with the remaining
percentage being African American. The school is an “urban school” for
Philadelphia and the surrounding area. This is a self fulfilling action because
of the five day boarding policy. The President of the school identified this as
a major opportunity for the school to improve upon. She indicated that the five day policy is not
the best situation and that she is optimistic that the funds will eventually become
available to restore it to a seven day boarding school. (Historically, limited
funds caused the reduction of the number of boarding days.)She believes that
the goodness that is accomplished in five days on campus is subject to reversal
during the two days that the student leaves the campus. Remember, these
students are underprivileged and come from difficult home environments so a
trip home might not be a great thing. We
discussed the education of the Girard student. The leadership has high
expectations on continuing to improve the current curriculum, particularly in
regard to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. Current
college acceptance is high but the number of students that finish college in
six years needs improvement. SAT scores also needs to be improved upon and the
caliber of colleges and universities that Girard students are accepted by would
improve accordingly. The President, and
her staff, work with local institutions, colleges and universities to design
the proper curriculum for Girard students. The goal is for the student to
qualify for acceptance by these schools in the continuing educational
process. The current plan to limit the
amount of students entering the school is being dictated by available funds and
the desire to educate those that do attend in the best possible manner
available at the time. She stressed that she did not want to dilute the educational
experience. The school spends about 40K
per student a year. This is an “all in cost”.
The Campus
It is old and needs continuous
maintenance which is expensive. They
have considered renting some of it out to gain revenue – such as a Charter
School operation at the west end with their own separate gate of entrance. An example on how they are thinking was
recounted to me regarding solar energy. They thought of putting solar panels on
the school roofs but apparently the roofs won’t support this so now they are
looking at the possibility of“solar fields” in open land areas of the
campus. Buildings are not fully utilized
such as the Mechanical School. What was
once “West End” was questionably rebuilt a number of years ago and carries a
high interest mortgage that cannot be refinanced at a lower rate because of an
unrelated pending lawsuit.
Founders Hall needs a major
renovation. They replaced the roof which was very expensive to do and now need
to update systems and install an elevator. This building in particular has its
own unique circumstances since no classes are taught by the school in this
building and, as a consequence, does not easily qualify for grant funding for
upkeep purposes. You get the picture by now
– the school needs a fresh coat of paint and updating.The President indicated
to me that they “fix it when it breaks” and try to be preventative when funds
permit. The school could stand a
significant influx of funds to update the facilities infrastructure and they
continuously look for grants and funds to do so.
Economics
The best recap of the situation
can be found in the link that Steve Castorani and Murray Blumberg worked on and
forwarded to us. The article is a pretty good summary of the current situation.
It appears that Joseph Martz, the current executive director for the Girard
Estate, is the real deal and his plans are working, but it will take time. A
lot of the funds are based on the market improvement. If the market continues to improve, a
pending lawsuit(s) is settled, and additional funds are raised other than th
primary source of the Trust, the school could work itself out of the current
situation. The President optimistically thinks this could take three
years. The school is also saddled with
three union contracts (teachers, maintenance, other staff such as house
masters, kitchen crew etc.) that have unrealistic provisions of 100% employer
funded health plans. The unions associates have not received raises in a few
years. This situation probably is not good for morale with the employees and
surely must make for some difficult working environments at times. The school is upside down on some market
swaps but the good news is that interest rates related to this are on the low
side and could be worked out overtime.
The school receives 1 million dollars in grants from Title 1, 300K from
a food program grant, and have raised close to 500k from other grants,
institutions and fund raising efforts.
Essentially, they have to carefully watch their finances and thus the
request for donation funds.
So why should we consider
giving. I believe the mission statement
of the school is still in place and Stephen Girard’s vision is still trying to
be fulfilled on a daily basis at the school. But adapting to it based on the
current situation and economics is difficult.
FSG, a consulting group, has been recruited to make recommendations to
the Board of City Trusts on how the school should evolve into the future. I do not think the school is failing and I do
not think the school is bankrupt. I think the school is currently very challenged and needs economic help.
I think the vision of the
President is very sound and she has a plan. But the plan will take years to
achieve. She and her staff have made great inroads to date but there is still
much work to do. If you are still
reading this lengthy summary I encourage you to go the Girard College web site
and read each subsection. I think you
will see where they are at now, where they want to go, and what they need to do
it (some of which is based on
funds). If you choose to make a
donation(small or large) in 2012 you are stepping up to help continue Girard’s
vision. It basically is the same vision we experienced, except it is 40 years
different. I encourage you to consider
helping the school to survive, to correct the platform it operates on, and to
prosper in thefuture.
Please indicate on any donation
that you are from the class of 72 --- let’s be proud of that --- and know that
whatever number you donate will help.
For tracking purposes please copy Ralph and myself on the amount you are
planning on donating.
Hail Girard
D. “Still Our Hearts Beat”
Following up on
earlier reports. Bruce Seaman heart is
working fine. He’s also had prostate
surgery, all cleared up, and back to work 10 days later. Joe Alberici ticker has once again been
restored, and he is also back at work.
Adam Deveney learned that he also had prostate cancer. He had a successful operation, and things are
looking good, so Adam is going back to just being retired. Adam reports that he and wife, Rosalie are
planning to move to a retirement community in a new home where steps will no
longer be an issue. In their current
home up there on a mountain in Valley Forge they have hosted many Founders Day
parties for the class. (Whenever we
mention Adam, we always like to mention his son, Scott, who developed our
website, Girard1960.com and continues to manage it for us.) Finally, in August, John Kane had one more
stent inserted. He’s doing fine, what
with the addition of four of his grandsons on the premises.
E. The Hum is Omnipresent
Here’s another note
from Myron Caplan:
Jeanne and I attended
a church lunch and sat across from a new member family
and his father. Conversation
eventually led to basketball and popular
colleges in PA. I mentioned that I was
in Penn State only once to see the
class A basketball championship and our
school won. I followed by saying
that our school was small and they
probably never heard of it. When I told
them Girard College, her father who
turns out to be a retired Lutheran
minister, David Clement, from
Philadelphia, said, "Do you know Dominic Cermele?" They are
good friends and go back a long way.
Jeanne's son, Jimmy, got engaged this
Christmas and during a conversation
Natalie (Myers), his fiancée, told me
that her aunt works for a
Girardian who knows Toby from
Pittsburgh. Who? Tony Schaivo!
Small world!
F. A
Comment on the Class of 60’s 50th Anniversary Gift
A few weeks ago the
Hum had its “scholarship” dinner. This
was to honor the students of the class of 2012 who have received
scholarships. It was hosted by Karen
Campbell, the new head of the Young Alumni Office, who is supported by our 50th
Anniversary Gift. Below is an email sent
by Vince Cavacini the current President of the Alumni Association to Karen:
My Thanks to You Karen, It
was a wonderful night, a real
confirmation of the great human beings Girard is sending out into the
world, they will make a difference. I can't thank you enough for all
that you are doing in helping our Young Alums succeed . I truly mean
it when I say you’re the greatest gift the Alumni has ever given the
school. My admiration for the Class of 1960's foresight and generosity
is boundless and please continue to let us know how and when you need
our support and involvement.
Hail Girard, Vince
G. Contact Info
Please note the
following new email addresses:
Rich (Pepsi) Popella
is now at: rlpepsi60@yahoo.com
Pete Shoemaker is
now at: pwshoemaker@gmail.com