UMass Boston remembers friend and advocate, Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Eunice Kennedy Shriver collaborated with UMass Boston to establish
Camp Shriver, a summer experience for kids with and without
developmental disabilities. She visited the camp in August 2007.
By Nanette L. Cormier
The laughter and cheers of over 100 spirited campers have quieted two weeks after the conclusion of the 4th annual Camp Shriver at UMass Boston. But today a similar lull of spirit resonates across campus, as the university mourns the loss of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who inspired the camp sponsored by the Center for Social Development and Education. Mrs. Shriver received an honorary degree from UMass Boston in 1994 for “her lifelong dedication to improving the lives of people with disabilities, and for underscoring our society’s fundamental responsibility to extend opportunity to all of its members.”
“Eunice Kennedy Shriver stands apart because of her commitment and dedication,” said Chancellor J. Keith Motley. “We are privileged to help fulfill her vision that the intellectually disabled make important contributions to society.”
On her 85th birthday, Mrs. Shriver phoned UMass Boston Professor Gary Siperstein, director of CSDE and an expert on the social relationships and development of children with disabilities, to test out her idea for a camp that would bring together kids both with and without developmental disabilities.
“I can do it,” Siperstein said at the time, “but we’ll need the help of others.”
“Like who? Shriver asked.
“Like the chancellor,” Siperstein suggested.
“Well I’m calling him right now,” she said, and reached then-chancellor Michael Collins in his car and quickly got his support to make Camp Shriver a reality. “How big is your backyard?”
“She was a force,” Siperstein recalls. She visited campus many times and came most recently in July 2007, when she and her son, Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver, and a dozen Shriver grandchildren drove up from Hyannis in two mini-vans to spend time with Camp Shriver campers. (View Slideshow)
Siperstein’s most vibrant memory of Mrs. Shriver is of her sitting on the bleachers in the Clark Center and watching a basket ball game, campers surrounding her. Although many VIPs were present, “Eunice Shriver chose to socialize with the kids, not the adults,” said Siperstein.
Often Siperstein would be surprised by a phone call on a Friday afternoon. “In that high pitched Boston accent of hers, Mrs. Shriver would ask, ‘Are we still making a difference in children’s lives? What can we do new that we haven’t yet tried?’”
Eunice Kennedy Shriver epitomized the spirit of the Commonwealth, said Siperstein, in terms of how Massachusetts has put people with disabilities first. “There are many National Institutes of Health sponsored by the federal government, including those for mental health, cancer, and others, but there’s only one named for someone: the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Institute for Child Health and Development. That’s the legacy of such a spirited and tenacious advocate for kids.”
About Camp Shriver http://www.csde.umb.edu/shriver.html
Camp Shriver is an inclusive summer sports camp for children with and without disabilities, led by the Center for Social Development and Education at UMass Boston. The goals of the camp are to provide sports, recreational, and enrichment activities for all campers; improve campers’ sports skills as well as their social skills and self-esteem; and create an atmosphere of understanding and caring so that campers with and without disabilities can develop friendships. In 2009, Camp Shriver served over 100 boys and girls between the ages of 8 to 12 from the Boston, Brockton, and Quincy public schools.
Camp Shriver is supported by P & G/The Gillette Company, Bank of America Foundation, The National Inclusion Project , The MENTOR Network, Boston Bruins Foundation and Massachusetts Associated Grant Makers Summer Fund.
Only a Game radio interview with Dr. Siperstein and Bill Littlefield.
About the Center for Social Development and Education http://www.csde.umb.edu/index.html
The Center for Social Development & Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston is a multidisciplinary research and training institute whose mission is to promote the social development of children with disabilities and increase their success in school and the community, while simultaneously working to eliminate the attitudinal barriers that limit opportunities for their full participation in society. In 2003, CSDE was named Global Collaborating Center for Special Olympics (SO), and is responsible for the international research on attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities, as well as program evaluation on the national and international levels. Based on its extensive expertise in the social development of children and its previous work in collaboration with Special Olympics, Mrs. Eunice Kennedy Shriver asked CSDE to host a camp for children with disabilities in the summer of 2006 called Camp Shriver.
To learn more about Camp Shriver and how you can support it, contact Nan Cormier.
Make a Gift (note Camp Shriver in the "other" field)