On Thursday, March 16, Middlebury College announced that a new annual award would be given in memory of Dana Morosini Reeve '84. This year's public service leadership awards ceremony will debut the first annual presentation of the Dana Morosini Reeve '84 Memorial Public Service award, which is intended to honor a student who, like Reeve, exemplifies passion, determination and dedication to a cause. In the spirit of these qualities, the College will donate $300 to a non-profit organization to be chosen by the award recipient.
Reeve died of lung cancer on March 6 at the age of 44, 17 months after the death of her husband and less than two years after the two of them had given a joint commencement address at the College to the graduating Class of 2004. In that address, Reeve told the graduates, "There will be many choices before you, some of which you'll welcome and celebrate, and then there will be some over which you will anguish. Some choices will choose you. How you face these choices, these turns in the road, with what kind of attitude, more than the choices themselves, is what will define the context of your life."
In a press release announcing the new award in her memory, President of the College Ronald D. Leibowitz said, "Dana will be long remembered for the energy, intelligence and compassion with which she faced her choices, the turns in the road that confronted her. I'm pleased that Middlebury has initiated this new award to tangibly represent to our students her inspiring work."
This year's public service leadership awards ceremony, the 13th annual occurrence of the event, will be held on April 11. The Dana Morosini Reeve memorial award will be one of several presented to Middlebury students in recognition of their commitment to community service. Nominations for these awards are solicited from students, staff, faculty and community members, and the winners are chosen by a committee composed of faculty, staff and students.
According to the criteria for the Dana Morosini Reeve '84 Memorial Public Service Award, "This award is given to the Middlebury College student who best exemplifies the spirit and determination of the late Dana Morosini Reeve, who tirelessly and selflessly devoted her life to caring for her husband Christopher Reeve and, through the Christopher Reeve Foundation, to her work as an advocate for all those with spinal cord injuries." The award is reserved for a student who is involved in activism on the behalf of a specific group or cause.
Tiffany Sargent, director of Middlebury College's Alliance for Civic Engagement (ACE), reports that ACE is excited to be introducing this new award. "We are very pleased to be able to both honor and recognize the incredible life and work of Dana Morosini Reeve '84 with this award in her name, Sargent said. She gave so much of herself in caring for her husband and in her work to support individuals with spinal cord injuries and the research needed to give both hope and real help. At the same time this will be a meaningful way to recognize Midd students, whose activism reflects the passion Dana modeled, for years to come. This will be an important addition to our annual Public Service Leadership Awards celebration."
Reeve and her husband established the Christopher Reeve Foundation for spinal cord research after Christopher Reeve's horseback injury in 1995 left him paralyzed from the neck down.
Written by RACHEL GREENHAUS
