Ralph, Dragon Celebrated at Faculty and Staff Appreciation Banquet

Author: Chesley Thurber

Members of the Middlebury College community gathered for a festive luncheon Monday in Bicentennial Hall to celebrate faculty and staff nominated by students for their dedication to campus life. The Faculty Appreciation prize was awarded to Associate Professor of History James Ralph, while Bag Lunch/Wrap Associate Mary Dragon received The Rodney and Beverly DeGray Staff Appreciation award.

Ralph has been a member of the Middlebury community for many years. He himself is a Middlebury graduate and has been inspiring students as a professor of history at the College since 1989.

"It's really been a thrill," said Ralph of his tenure at Middlebury. "I go to work everyday happy and pleased. I'm never bored by my job, and it's because of the students."

This is the second time Ralph has received the award: he was its original recipient when the award program began in 1996. He is the only member of the faculty to have garnered the honor twice.

Dragon, by contrast, began working at Middlebury just last September, but her constant smile has quickly made a lasting impression. Her nomination described her as "always having a smile every single morning, every single afternoon." Dragon works in Proctor Dining Hall where she prepares bag lunches in the morning and wraps during lunch hours.

"I love my job and the conversation [with students] each day," Dragon said.

The two recipients received gift certificates to The Grille as well as a contribution to be made in their names to a local charity.

Also honored at the ceremony were Rodney and Beverly DeGray who retired last fall after long tenures at the College. In recognition of their many years of combined service, the Staff Appreciation Award was renamed as The Rodney and Beverly De Gray Staff Appreciation Award.

The event, sponsored by the Student Government Association (SGA), aimed to show student appreciation for the hard work and consideration for students put forth by all faculty and staff members of the College.

Faculty and staff nominated for the award were invited to dine together with the students who nominated them and were treated to a banquet luncheon in Bicentennial Hall. Catered by the College's Dining Services, the luncheon featured a gourmet chicken salad and a variety of mouth-watering deserts including lemon bars, brownies and raspberry squares.

While the awards have been distributed at a reception in The Grille in recent years, the ceremony was turned into a luncheon this year to promote dialogue and interaction between the nominees and the students that had nominated them.

Secretary of the Faculty Council and Associate Professor of Biology Grace Spatafora said she believed this demonstrated a tighter bond between the Middlebury faculty, staff and students.

The awards themselves are given annually to one member of the faculty and one member of the College staff for "outstanding contribution to the student body." The SGA created the Staff Appreciation Award in 1995 and Frank and Betty Hamilton were its first recipients. The Faculty Appreciation Award was then added in 1996 when Ralph first received the honor.

All students were invited to submit nominations for faculty and staff members along with a recommendation as to why the individual deserved the award.

The nominations were then read by the SGA Senate in what Atwater Commons Senator Kevin Sullivan '04.5 called "the best [SGA] meeting of the year."

With a long list of excellent candidates and passionately written recommendations, "the Senate had a very difficult time" voting on two winners, noted SGA President Brian Elworthy '02.5. The SGA emphasized, however, that the purpose of the award was not just to honor the two winners but also to recognize the entire faculty and staff who go out of their way to make Middlebury an enjoyable and enriching experience for its students.