Valuable Members and the Value of Membership

Carol Budd, ABLE President 2003-2005
St. Lawrence University
cbudd@stlawu.edu

Over the course of my involvement with ABLE, I have learned that the real value of the organization is the people who belong. Maggie Haag, ABLE president from 2001-2003, helped me understand this magic of membership, as she would often make explicit that the value of membership is in the members. In fact, many of those who have recently retired, whether knowingly or unknowingly, have had a major impact on my development as a laboratory instructor. The lab exercises are just the tip of the iceberg in this development. The pedagogy evidenced by the workshop presenters has had a major impact on my performance. The personal relationships that I developed over the years as a result of these professional interactions are a source of sustenance in making it through the political rigors of academia back here at home. When these people face personal crises, I feel their pain and provide what little support I can.

Elizabeth Godrick, Boston University, has been an ABLE member for 24 years and a regular participant at the annual ABLE conference since I began attending over 15 years ago. I would sit next to her in workshops and play student while we helped each other overcome computer glitches, lapses in memory and more often, laughing at ourselves as students. As my colleague and friend (she actually talked me into running for the ABLE President position at the Chicago conference!), she had the burden of facing the passing of her beloved spouse and son in one year. In her grief, I was of little help. But over the course of time, I realized that as an ABLE member, we could help provide her with something lasting to comfort her and to remember her loved ones.

To that end, the board and Elizabeth have been working over the past year to establish a bench in the park where her son’s elementary school resided in the Town of Wellesley. It has now happened. The check for $1000 was fronted by assorted ABLE members and was delivered to the Natural Resource chair of the Town of Wellesley by Elizabeth in person on Wednesday, September 15, 2004. The inscription on the bench will read:

In Memory of Joseph A. Godrick and Matthew J. Godrick
Gift from the Association for Biology Laboratory Education.

If you would like to donate to the new ABLE memorial fund that supported this effort, please make your check out to ABLE memorial fund and send to:

Alec Motten, ABLE Treasurer
Department of Biology, Box 90338
Duke University
Durham, NC 27708-03338

Any contributions received beyond $1000, the cost of the bench, will be earmarked for future memorials. Many thanks for your assistance and I will keep you informed on the progress of the installation and dedication.