Annual contribution not enough
“The past year has been difficult given the state of the economy….”
That line appeared in a letter I received from Lakehead University that accompanied an endowment report for The Robert Poulin Memorial Award for Outstanding Citizenship. The endowment fund, it seems, is in financial trouble and due to the state of the financial markets, is unable to distribute the $100 that normally accompanies the award.
The Poulin Award
I was well into my 30s before I learned that my father’s brother, to whom my father was very close had an award named after him (he died in an industrial accident before I was born); I also learned that the award is presented annually to an LU student in his memory. So, when I found out I wanted to contribute the annual prize of $100 that went along with a trophy and the honour of being named a recipient, but my annual contribution wasn’t enough. The university requires a lump sum payment of $5,000 to continue providing and administering funds.
To me, it seems silly to turn down an annual contribution because of a university policy that requires five grand, or nothing. While it is the honour of receiving the award that is most important, why discontinue the stipend of $100 that accompanies the award? After all, the award is given for outstanding citizen and the winner wins by accumulating the most number of votes, so doesn’t the recipient deserve to be given a financial award as well, even if it is a gesture of goodwill?
The university’s website describes The Poulin Award as follows:
Awarded for outstanding citizenship to a full-time student who has contributed to the welfare of the University through their student activities. Current members of the LUSU Executive are eligible for nomination. Nomination forms available at: http://financialaid.lakeheadu.ca.
In 2009, The Poulin Award recipient was Peter Holt-Hindle and I feel that I owe him an apology for not providing to him the same stipend that previous recipients of the award received.
I feel that I also owe an apology to my father Harold Poulin for not honouring the memory of the older brother he admired and loved, and lost in 1952, a brother he mourned until his own death in 1988.