Rotary Log for September 5, 2019
President Leo opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, a song and an appropriate invocation by past president Dave Underhill. Visitors and visiting Rotarians were recognized.
Leo reminded us that the “Rotary Rocks” District Conference is October 5 in South Portland. The cost is only $25 dollars if you register by the end of September. We are further reminded that Rotarians can get a special rate at Seacoast Rep this weekend to see “Sunshine Boys.”-
The Board has approved two grants. The first is a $2,122- dollar scholarship to PMAC through the Ted Alex Fund. Operation Warm was awarded $300 dollars.
Past president Dave Underhill made a short presentation about Rotary’s response to hurricane damage in the Bahamas and Southeast coast. Donations can be made through Rotary. One can refer to Dave’s recent email for further info. In addition, he presented two tickets for Monday night’s Red Sox-Yankee game. They were auctioned for $325 dollars with the money to be used for disaster relief.
Barbara Miller then announced five Cash Committee grants. Craig Taylor and his son Matt were given $1,000 dollars for their ride in the Pan Mass Challenge. Bill Hurley received $2,500 dollars to fund a Crossroads project that will build storage shelves for sleeping quarters. Andy Chace was given funds to run the Seacoast Half Marathon. The money supports both HAVEN and Child Advocacy Centers for child abuse prevention.
The other Cash Committee grants went to Stanford Cross, Ramona Dow and Cathy Nickerson. Stanford’s $2,500-dollar grant supports the Thirteenth Annual Black New England conference supported by the Black Heritage Trail. Ramona and Cathy’s $1,000-dollar check goes to “Purses for a Purpose,” a United Way event.
Cathy Nickerson reminded all that, this week and next, she and Ramona will be accepting diaper donations-new, please. If you can’t do this, they will accept cash. Baby wipes and baby monitors are also needed.
Marie Brownell says put June,19,1920 in your calendar now for the Rotary Golf Tournament. Can’t start planning too soon!
There were more Happy Dollar people then there was time to write it all down. Glad we’re so happy!
Jon Flagg changed his history lesson into a pop quiz!! Happy my side won.
James Petersen then introduced our speaker, UNH President James Dean. President Dean proceeded with a current clear and succinct appraisal of the University, articulating strategic priorities. The ambitious goal is to become one the country’s top 25 public universities. In many metrics UNH already is in the Top 25. It’s rated high in sustainability and best value. UNH is also rated well in high-impact educational practices such as internship and research.
Dean listed four strategic priorities. The first is to enhance student success and well-being by rethinking the core curriculum and increasing state-of-the-art teaching. Second is to promote academic excellence. This will involve enlarging graduate education, supporting high-potential research programs and expanding corporate partnerships.
The third priority is to embrace New Hampshire. He hopes to do this by collaborations that support New Hampshire’s economy and quality of life. In this way, he wants to make New Hampshire proud of its university and have students grow up wanting to come to UNH.
The fourth and final priority is to build financial strength. This not only means fund-raising but careful cost management, aligning budget and resources with strategic priorities. The goal is to make UNH accessible and affordable.
It seems like these are all ambitious goals. But with approximately 26,000 Seacoast alumni, the school should receive a great deal of support.
Respectfully submitted, Al Lantinen
