Service in
the ’70s
Many thanks for a great
story on Rotaract and “service above self,” the
motto of Rotary International (Student Spotlight, Spring
2007). I’m a long-time Rotarian, former Rotary Summer
Scandinavia/USA Youth Exchange Program participant, and one
of the founding members of the first Rotaract Club at the
University of Miami in 1977, along with several other campus
leaders.
The Rotarian advisors at the time were
Ron Stone, B.B.A. ’73,
who later served as UM Alumni Association president, and Cholly
Capps. A look back to Ibis yearbooks from 1975 to 1977 shows
no reference to or mention of a Rotaract Club, even though
Ron confirmed that my group was indeed the initial chartering
group.
The 1978 Ibis yearbook shows a group photo
of students who were in the Rotaract Club. There were about
30 members at
the time I graduated, but about six of us do not appear
in the
photo. Since I left the University in 1978, I can’t say
what happened. But without strong leadership and advisorship,
student groups can tend to fall by the wayside.
Steven “Shags” Shagrin,
B.B.A. ’78
Walnut Creek, California
Rotaracters Report
Good Results
As a follow up to the article on Rotaract
in the spring issue of Miami magazine, we are excited to inform
your readers that after 18 months of campaigning, the Rotaract
Club of UM reached its fundraising goal. These funds will allow
Project Medishare to purchase the equipment necessary for the
Akamil facility, which is scheduled for completion in December
2007. Members of the Rotaract Club of UM and Rotary Clubs of
South Florida are planning to visit Haiti in January 2008 for
the inauguration of the facility.
On behalf of Rotaract, we would like to thank
you for spreading the good word and helping us attain our goal.
Samira Sami, B.S. ’07, and
Dipesh Patel, B.S. ’07
Former leaders of The Rotaract Club of UM
Part-Time Plan Was
Worth the Effort
Being children of the Depression, we were
not able to attend college immediately after high school. My
husband, David C. Miller Jr., B.B.A. ’52, served four
years in the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence, got married,
and had one child before he started attending the University
of Miami on the G.I. Bill. He attended classes at night while
working a full week at Eastern Airlines. He had no car, so
he took a bus to work in the morning. After work, he took another
bus to downtown Miami, transferred to a Coral Gables bus, and
attended class before reversing the process and returning home
around midnight. That’s when he would do his studying.
In 1950 we bought a car, which made things a
little easier. David kept this routine for three and a half
years, raising
a family of three children. Despite the hardship, it was
worth the effort. After graduating, he rose through the ranks
of
Eastern Airlines to become a vice president. He remains active
in the Alumni Association and is proud to be associated with
the University of Miami.
Dorothy Miller, Wife of
David C. Miller Jr., B.B.A. ’52
Miami Springs, Florida |
As an alumnus of the School of Law, I am impressed
with the ever-increasing quality of Miami magazine. Even with
less of a history behind your publication, the magazine is
rapidly approaching the quality of publications chronicling
the progress of institutions that have been around for centuries.
Keep up the good work.