A letter written some 100 years ago by a woman living in what
is now the nation of Croatia was the unexpected key that led
to the University of Georgia receiving a $500,000 gift to extend
the university’s outreach work in Croatia.
Lawrence V. Phillips, a retired physician, and his wife, Sarah
Mae, of Round Hill, Virginia, hope their gift will help improve
public health and economic development in rural Croatia, the
southeastern European country that is Lawrence Phillips’s
ancestral home.
The couple decided to make the gift after learning that UGA has
been providing training and assistance to Croatia for several
years through its International Center for Democratic Governance,
a unit of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government. UGA’s
programs include economic development work with governments in
rural Croatian communities and an exchange program with the University
of Zagreb.
“This gift rewards more than eight years of hard work helping
the University of Zagreb develop an outreach program,” said
Art Dunning, UGA’s vice president for public service and
outreach. “Outreach is an important role for universities
in countries like Croatia that aspire to be part of the European
Union.”
Lawrence Phillips was in the private practice of medicine for
50 years in Temple Hill, Maryland, before retiring in 2004. Trained
as a fighter pilot during WWII, Phillips remained a reservist
while earning his medical degree under the GI Bill. But he knew
little about the University of Georgia’s work in Croatia
until last summer, when he needed to have an old letter translated.
The letter was written in the early 1900s by a woman from the
village of Zaloka where Phillips’s mother, Dora Suljada,
was born. Phillips, who is writing a memoir about his life and
family, obtained the letter from relatives in Croatia who told
him it contained information about his mother. But the letter
was written in Croatian and Phillips couldn’t find a readily
available translator. So he asked his daughter, Carol Cotton,
a professor of health promotion at UGA, if someone at the university
might help.
Cotton found Rusty Brooks, who coordinates UGA’s Croatian
programs. Brooks referred her to Keith Langston, head of the
department of Germanic and Slavic languages. Within an hour of
receiving the letter from Cotton, Langston faxed her back a translation.
“That may be the most expensive Croatian translation in
history,” Phillips joked about the letter. “I looked
at the connections between the Vinson Institute and Croatia,
and it’s obvious the university has a tremendous interest
and emotional involvement in Croatia. Since I’m an M.D.,
and Carol is in health promotion, I thought it would be good
to combine public health and rural development work in Croatia,
and that’s how this gift will be used.”
Brooks said the gift will provide service-learning opportunities
for UGA students in Croatia, exchanges between faculty at UGA
and the University of Zagreb, financial support to help UGA students
study in Croatia and Croatian students visit the U.S., and internships
for UGA students in Croatia.
Competing
in a Global Economy
The University of Georgia is at the forefront of the globalization
movement in higher education with a wealth of opportunities for
international experiences. Our students are flocking to study-abroad
programs, thriving on the challenges inherent in confronting a
new cultural environment. More and more, students on campus are
also making choices that reflect an understanding of the importance
of global awareness—from living in a residence hall-based
language community to starting a radio program in another language
to minoring in a foreign language. These experiences, whether at
home or abroad, influence how our students perceive the world and
their place in it. We’re producing graduates prepared to
be world citizens—well informed, culturally sensitive and
technologically sophisticated. They’re ready to take on the
challenges of our global society, and they’ll be equally
at home whether in the Peach State or the Republic of Georgia. |
Lawrence
and Sarah Mae Phillips have given a half million dollars to UGA to
help improve public health and economic development in rural Croatia. Pictured
here are Dr. Rusty Brooks, ICDG; Dr. Carol Cotton, College of Public
Health, Department of Health Promotion; Dr. Lawrence Phillips; Sarah
Mae Phillips; and Steve Wrigley. 
