The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) Foundation installed 22 bricks in honor of individuals and families who have a special connection to the college at its annual Brick Recognition Ceremony at the La Plata Campus Sept. 15.
Family members, friends and the college community gathered for the ceremony of the James C. Mitchell Center for Health Technology to pay tribute to the brick recipients and donors.
The ceremony was an opportunity to honor people who are “our true champions,” said CSM President Dr. Maureen Murphy.
The CSM Brick Program is designed to be a lasting celebration of those who have a special connection to CSM and the Southern Maryland community. As a tribute to a family member, a friend or to represent a special occasion, a brick is inscribed and placed among other honorary bricks at locations available on the La Plata, Leonardtown and Prince Frederick campuses. Bricks are available for $200 each, with the funds providing financial support to the college and its mission.
“I’m overwhelmed,” said CSM Lead Executive Assistant Toni Zanelotti Kruszka, who had a brick purchased for her by her friend and coworker, Development Coordinator Erika Abell. “It’s thoughtful. That someone thinks enough of me to do this … She’s wonderful.”
“Toni is a remarkable woman, colleague and friend,” Abell said.
Academic Advisor Jehnell Linkins and her husband, Jerome Linkins Sr., donated two bricks at the event. “It’s almost like a living monument,” Jehnell Linkins said of the brick program. “It shows that we believe in the mission of the college.”
CSM Trustee Dorothea Smith and her husband, George Smith, donated a brick in honor of their friend Mary Louise Booth Webb, who attended the ceremony with the Smiths. “She is my adopted mother. She is my partner in crime,” Dorothea Smith said, at which point the two friends stopped to laugh. “She is my traveling buddy, and we talk to each other almost every morning. She’s a treasure.”
Webb said the honor coming from her friend makes her proud. “I love the college,” she said.
“She’s an inspiration to us all,” Murphy said of Webb during her address.
Bricks were placed in memory of Annie V. Adams, Bobby Joe “Bob” Barnes, William “Keech” Edelen Jr., Diane Kaufman Fredette, William C. Harrison, Flossie and Melvin Linkins Sr., Juana Isabel Shasho, Edward John Skeens, Wayne Edward Willett Jr. and Henrietta “Jane” Radcliffe Williams. Bricks were placed in honor of Joseph “Buck” Adams, the Clark Family, Caleb Joseph Cockerham, Jessica Michelle Cockerham, the CSM Information Technology Services (ITS) Staff, Kruszka, Professor Athena Miklos, Bob Pike, Harry A. Shasho, George and Dorothea Smith, Professor Arthur Viterito and Webb.
To view photos from the event, visit http://csmphoto.zenfolio.com/17fallbricklapl. For information on the brick program, visit Foundation.csmd.edu.