Susan Butcher leadership program created at University of Alaska
Originally published Monday, June 16, 2008 at 1:47 p.m.
Updated Monday, June 16, 2008 at 11:41 p.m.
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FAIRBANKS — The University of Alaska Fairbanks plans to help more than just enrolled students by creating the Susan Butcher Institute.
The purpose of the institute is to inspire Alaskans to improve their community and become leaders, according to a university news release. The institute expects to offer leadership programs on a regular basis starting in 2009.
UAF Chancellor Steven Jones said he hopes the Fairbanks community will recognize that the university does more than award degrees.
“We have an obligation to extend engagement far beyond campus,” he said.
Jones, who praised Butcher as an explorer and Alaska icon, was joined by University of Alaska President Mark Hamilton at a news conference Monday to unveil the institute and to announce that Butcher’s husband, David Monson, will serve as its first executive director. Butcher was a four-time Iditarod winner who once summited Mount McKinley by dog team. She died of acute myelogenous leukemia in 2006.
“I wish I wasn’t here today,” Monson said. “I wish she was here today. I wish she was laughing. I wish she was smiling, inspiring us with her enthusiasm like she always did.”
Hamilton said the institute needed a person who knew Butcher well and knew what she stood for.
“He knows what she stood for and therefore knows what this institute stands for,” he said.
Jones said the university had an interest in forming a leadership program four years ago when he arrived at UAF, though the planning for the actual institute started a year and a half ago. The institute is one of Jones’ last official acts as chancellor before he leaves to serve as president of Urbana University in Ohio.
The institute’s office will be located at West Valley Plaza on Geist Road. Its operating budget of $150,000 will come from university funds.
The institute’s programs, workshops and curricula are intended to inspire people, especially youths, to better their communities. Monson said he also hopes people will use the institute to explore different fields and areas of interest.
Monson said his next step will be to form an advisory committee to find out what the community needs and how its needs will be best served.
“The university is not insular. We’re here to serve the state, and all of us have a part,” Monson said.
Community Discussion
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Susan was a wonderful person. She took the time to treat everyone with love and respect- even when she was a famous superstar.
It is terrible that we lost her at such a young age.
Susan was a great person, and I was saddened when she passed. Im glad to see her name on something to better the community, and the land she loved.
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