In This Section:
Ford Foundation funds Latino research project
$1M gift to benefit UConn's Hillel House
Alumna endows women's health scholarship
Private support continues to increase for UConn
Study of Latino sexuality examines cultural, societal context
A two-year, $304,000 grant from the Ford Foundation of New York will provide funding for research at UConn’s Institute of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies.
The research project by Marysol Asencio, associate professor of Family Studies/Puerto Rican & Latino Studies, will enable an assessment of research in the field of Latino sexuality.
The grant will also promote the assembly of a 10-member, nationally acclaimed peer board of scholars to identify uncharted research areas and Latino scholars in the field and eventually disseminate the findings through publication and other venues.
“Research with Latinos in the broad field of sexuality is still rather limited, and many areas are still unexplored,” says Asencio, a national expert in issues of Latinos, sexuality, gender, migration and race/ethnicity issues.
“Sexuality is a lens.
In the same way that gender, socioeconomic status and race allow us to examine society and social interaction, so does sexuality. We view a number of broader issues through it.”
Two major components of the grant will be to publish the research analysis for dissemination and host a national conference based on this work in October 2007.
This will assist in broadening the field of experts in the topic of Latino sexualities and help link the research to policy and programmatic initiatives that could include new academic courses at UConn and elsewhere.
Asencio says the study of Latino sexualities examines practices, meanings and contexts, not only because they provide information to assist in health-related issues and social concerns such as HIV/AIDS and pregnancy but also for what they tell us about the larger culture and societal organization.
The UConn Institute of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies is now in its 12th year of operation on the Storrs campus and serves as a multipurpose, interdisciplinary research and teaching program with a focus on the Puerto Rican, Mexican and other populations of Latin American origin across the state and nation.
A $1 million donation from a benefactor of Jewish programs at UConn will help enhance the planned $6 million expansion of Hillel House and programs at the Jewish student center on the Storrs campus.
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| Morris N. Trachten '48 (BUS), left, at the opening of the kosher dining facility named for him in Towers in 2003. |
Morris N. Trachten ’48 (BUS) and his wife, Shirley, presented the gift as part of a multiyear campaign to enhance the educational and cultural landscape at UConn.
In 2003, Trachten was the major donor in helping create the only kosher food service on campus, the Morris N. Trachten Kosher Dining Facility at the Towers residential complex.
“After the kosher kitchen opened, a number of parents called to ask me about it and find out what else UConn was doing for Jewish students,” he says.
“Now with Hillel, we’ll be able to attract Jewish students, including graduate students, who we just couldn’t before.”
UConn’s Hillel chapter is part of the international organization Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, which serves to enrich the lives of students through cultural programming, social events, social action projects and religious programs.
It partners with the University to attract and retain outstanding Jewish students, collaborating with other campus ministries and Greek life and participating in summer orientations for parents and first-year students.
Approximately 10 percent of UConn students are Jewish, and most are served by Hillel in some capacity.
The existing Hillel facility was constructed with private funds in 1950 as a religious center.
Hillel officials plan a number of improvements, including a coffee house, dedicated study space, a new kitchen and religious and social facilities.
A new scholarship fund to benefit students researching women’s health issues has been established with a $25,000 endowment from a UConn alumna who was once helped in her own studies by similar support.
Christine N. Witzel ’81 Ph.D. made the gift to support promising UConn graduate and undergraduate students working with the innovative Center for Health, Intervention, and Prevention (CHIP) in Storrs.
During her own graduate studies at UConn, Witzel was aided by a fellowship that allowed her to focus on research in women’s health and health care evaluation.
Part of the department of psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, CHIP is a multidisciplinary research center studying the dynamics of health behavioral changes in individuals and targeted at-risk populations.
Its researchers create new interventions for preventing the spread of HIV infection, increasing medical adherence, diabetes management, cancer prevention, nutrition and other health risks.
“I’d love for the scholarships to promote new talent who may otherwise not be able to conduct their research,” Witzel says.
“I hope it helps young people find a career and for that career to benefit a lot of people.”
Witzel has been personally active in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years.
She became involved in women’s health issues in the 1970s by helping found Connecticut DES Action, an organization for those affected by the use of the drug diethylstilbestrol, a synthetic form of estrogen prescribed for women who have had miscarriages or premature births which may adversely affect the fetus.
Witzel says she sees research and social change as the key to preventing similar health care crises.
To qualify for the Christine N. Witzel Awards, students must be recommended by a CHIP faculty member and write a three- to five-page draft proposal for innovative research in the area of women’s health.
The proposal must also show particular promise for future funding from a private foundation or a federal agency such as the National Institutes of Health.
The UConn Foundation reports that giving to the University of Connecticut totaled $43.65 million last year, continuing the recent trend of strong private support for students, faculty and programs.
| Annual Fund Giving Dollars in Millions |
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More than 34,000 donors contributed to UConn, representing an increase over the previous year.
The Foundation’s Annual Fund, which includes the student-run phonathon, generated nearly $3.8 million, a 23 percent increase over last year and 15 percent above the goal for fiscal year 2006.
With nearly 25 percent of the total amount raised coming from alumni, UConn ranks seventh in the nation among public universities for alumni participation, according to U.S.News & World Report.
“Our donors see the importance of their gifts to research, education and public service at UConn and, by extension, the impact that the University has on the entire state,” says John K. Martin, president of the UConn Foundation.
A wide range of scholarships, fellowships, endowed chairs and programs were created or enhanced as a result of this year’s fund-raising.
Of the total amount, $11.5 million was raised for the UConn Health Center, nearly $15 million was raised for athletics and $17.2 million was received for the Storrs and regional campuses, and the School of Law.
Major gifts included $1.25 million from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals for an endowed chair in the School of Pharmacy, $584,000 from the MassMutual Foundation for Hartford for underprivileged Hartford public school students and major program support to the UConn Health Center from dental implant companies Astra Tech Inc., and Straumann USA.
The Foundation’s endowment investments showed equally strong performance.
Investments gained 14.4 percent, a 44 percent improvement over 2005, despite a turbulent year for financial markets owing to sharp increases in oil and natural gas prices, general inflation pressures, interest rate hikes and the economic effect of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Endowed assets grew to a value of $299 million, approximately a 10 percent increase over 2005 and up from $42 million in 1995.