It all started here. - Giving to UC Santa Cruz - University of California ...
It all started here. - Giving to UC Santa Cruz - University of California ...
It all started here. - Giving to UC Santa Cruz - University of California ...
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Securing Literature’s Future<br />
8<br />
June Chavez Silverman and<br />
Joseph H. Silverman in 1986<br />
“<br />
On the second floor <strong>of</strong> the<br />
library by the window is Joseph<br />
Silverman’s book collection,” said<br />
graduate student and fellowship<br />
recipient David Dabaco (B.A.,<br />
literature, ’95). “He had one <strong>of</strong><br />
the most incredible libraries <strong>of</strong> books—<br />
spectacular, rare, and first editions.<br />
Students can open these books and see<br />
the handwritten margin notes <strong>of</strong> famous<br />
scholars like Américo Castro!”<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Silverman, who taught<br />
Spanish literature from 1967 until his<br />
death in 1989 and was provost at<br />
Stevenson College (1974–81), donated <strong>to</strong><br />
the <strong>University</strong> Library 7,000 volumes on<br />
classic Spanish literature. After his passing,<br />
his widow, June Chavez Silverman,<br />
furt<strong>here</strong>d his legacy by starting a scholarship<br />
memorial fund “<strong>to</strong> keep his name<br />
in place and <strong>to</strong> help students who share<br />
in his scholarly interests.”<br />
Mrs. Silverman wrote letters <strong>to</strong> friends,<br />
colleagues, and former students, soliciting<br />
their participation. “We received large<br />
contributions as well as sm<strong>all</strong> ones,” she<br />
proudly noted. “One student sent $10<br />
every year until it <strong>to</strong>taled $100.”<br />
To guarantee that awards may be made<br />
forever, she established the Joseph H.<br />
Joseph H. Silverman Memorial<br />
Fellowship makes first award<br />
Silverman Memorial Fellowship as an endowment.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the largest individualbased<br />
fellowships at <strong>UC</strong>SC, it provides<br />
full-year grants <strong>to</strong> doc<strong>to</strong>ral students<br />
researching Spanish Renaissance (Golden<br />
Age) literature. To date, $75,700 has<br />
been raised from 129 individuals. Careful<br />
investment has grown the fund <strong>to</strong> a<br />
market value <strong>of</strong> $166,500.<br />
Selected by a panel that included<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Silverman’s daughter Suzanne<br />
Chavez Silverman, a Latin American<br />
literature scholar, Dabaco is the fellowship’s<br />
first recipient. A bibliophile studying<br />
the Spanish picaresque novel, he<br />
shares Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Silverman’s intellectual<br />
interests, including a love for teaching.<br />
Dabaco welcomes the financial<br />
assistance, having supported himself<br />
throughout his college career. “The<br />
fellowship has provided me the time I need<br />
<strong>to</strong> dedicate <strong>to</strong> my studies and get important<br />
work done,” he appreciatively says.<br />
After <strong>all</strong> her efforts, Mrs. Silverman is<br />
delighted <strong>to</strong> see the fellowship bear fruit.<br />
“<strong>It</strong> feels wonderful!” she says, smiling.<br />
R For more information, contact Donna<br />
Hancock, Humanities Development Office,<br />
(831) 459-4713, dhancock@cats.ucsc.edu