MCLA Alumni Association to Present Awards
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Alumni Association will hold the annual Alumni Award ceremony Saturday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m. in the Sammer-Dennis Room of Murdock Hall on campus.The event recognizes the achievements of graduates of the college by presenting the following awards: the Distinguished Alumni Award, the Award for Outstanding Service to MCLA, and the Humanitarian Award.
The 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award will be given to Steven J. Ryder, class of 1982, of Keene, N.H.
He graduated from what was then North Adams State College with a degree in business administration and accounting.
Ryder owns two businesses — True North Networks in New Hampshire and Tree Nut Co., which was founded by Ryder, his wife, Lucy, and their 9-year-old daughter, Lauren.
He credits the college for instilling in him the entrepreneurial spirit. "While at the college, I was encouraged to become active and take risks," he says. "North Adams State gave me a flavor of the real world rather than just theory in the classroom."
Ryder is the president the board of Stonewall Farm, a nonprofit, member-supported educational facility and working dairy in Keene.
The farm offers a wide variety of programs, workshops and special events to the public throughout the year. Ryder also pursues philanthropic ventures in his local community as well as in El Salvador and Ecuador and volunteers with Rotary building houses. This has expanded to include technology improvements in several schools.
The Alumni Award for Outstanding Service to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts will be given to Janice G. Messer, MCLA executive director of Alumni Relations and Development.
Messer began her career with the college in 1994. She works closely with alumni to cultivate, solicit and steward greater alumni involvement. Her accomplishments include building a stronger alumni board, creating more alumni regional groups, and the development of the alumni major gift society.
Messer also worked closely with the board to re-vamp bylaws and helped make it more aware of the need for involvement in fund raising. She earned a bachelor's degree speech and English at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia and attended Adelphi University, where she pursued a degree in theater. She earned a master's degree in organization and management from Antioch University New England.
Messer was president of the board of directors for the Contemporary Artists Center in North Adams and was a 17-year trustee of the Bennington (Vt.) Museum.
She also served as a board member and chairman of the American Red Cross, Green Mountain chapter, and as a member of the Parish Council of St. Francis De Sales Church in Bennington.
Originally from Wilmington, Del. , she lives in Adams with her husband, Robert Messer. They have seven children and 17 grandchildren.
The Alumni Humanitarian Award will be given to Oscar Lanza-Galindo, class of 2001, of Greenfield.
Lanza-Galindo graduated cum laude with a dual degree in English and philosophy. He was a Spanish language instructor, using the power of language and media to call attention to issues of social justice.
He is a program associate at the Center for Community Engagement at Amherst College. He also has worked in the adult education programs at several colleges, including Westfield State and the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vt., where he earned his master's degree in intercultural service, leadership and management in 2007.
He dedicates his spare time translating a film made by Alaskan native villages along the Yukon River from English into Spanish. In addition, he is regularly called upon by American Indian organizations to translate.
Last year, he lent his translating skills to Spanish-speaking indigenous representatives during their time at the United Nations Permanent Forum on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
He is completing a second maste's degree in library and information sciences through the University of Arizona. He also served on the board for the Center for New Americans.
Lanza-Galindo lives in Greenfield with his wife, Jamie Arsenault, class of 2000.
The Alumni Award ceremony is open to the public. For information or to purchase tickets, call the MCLA Alumni Office at 888-677-6252 or send a check for $32 to MCLA Foundation, 375 Church St., North Adams, MA 01247.
