Bruce '60 and Emily '59 Herrington's story

In fall 2018, the first-ever Emily & 布鲁斯·赫灵顿音乐奖颁给了来自山谷的新生卡特·怀特, Alabama—the gift of two alumni with long, happy memories of their time at LaGrange College.

Emily Eady of Oxford, Georgia, and Bruce Herrington from Shawmut, Alabama, met at LaGrange College fall semester 1956. 艾米丽是音乐教育和声乐专业的二年级学生，布鲁斯是大一新生, with plans to major in psychology and religion. 两人都是威尼斯人娱乐城合唱团的成员，这是一个大型的混合声音合奏团. In December of their first year together on the Hill, while heading to a Christmas party, they crossed paths, 第一次打招呼，一起散步——这就是开始. Several weeks later, 这是他们从圣诞假期返回校园后的第一个晚上, Bruce took Emily to the Tasty Coffee Shop on the LaGrange square for a sandwich and milkshake; it was their first date. 从那时起，他们的关系发展成为一段跨越60多年的终身冒险. 

艾米丽还记得早年的时光:“我们都在合唱团. His bass section was right next to my soprano section. … So, 我安排总是站在他旁边，有时我们会牵着手.”

“Those were happy times for us,” Bruce remembers, 但我们在1957年夏天和平分手，并发誓要继续做朋友.”

“When we came back from summer break, 我们继续上学期开始的谈话，终于有了眉目,” Emily says. “I decided I loved him, so unless he moved to the other side of the world, I was going to make our relationship last forever.”  

布鲁斯证实说:“我们发现，我们之间不断增长的友谊确实有一些特别之处。. “And so, we began to talk about marriage.”

布鲁斯在威尼斯人娱乐城的第二年几乎提前结束了. 由于手头拮据，他下学期的学费还差500美元. Word got out, 不久布鲁斯接到了业务经理奥斯汀·库克的电话, 告诉他有人匿名捐了500美元给他交学费. He never discovered his mystery benefactor, 但这一行为使他更加深刻地认识到回馈社会的重要性.

Bruce, a Southern Baptist, 转到贝勒大学读大学三年级, while Emily stayed at LaGrange to complete her degree. 最后，在1960年，他们在艾米丽的家乡牛津结婚. They lived in Waco, Texas, 艾米丽在公立学校任教两年，布鲁斯在大学的咨询和测试中心工作，并在学校兼职. 1962年秋天，布鲁斯回到LC完成他的学位要求. After graduation, at the end of the summer term 1963, he reported to Charleston, South Carolina, for active duty in the U.S. Navy.

布鲁斯很快就接受了委任，并在冷战的大部分时间里担任海军情报官. 他以海军中尉的身份离开海军，但后来在海军部担任民用项目经理.

After completing a master’s degree from Boston University, he eventually returned to graduate school and earned a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. 几年来，他在美世大学全职任教，并继续担任社会历史课程的兼职教授, his most recent being a study of the Vietnam War. Emily, 他获得了公共管理硕士学位，并在联邦政府合同官员工作了多年, always joins him in the classroom, facilitating discussions, debate and dialogue.

For Bruce and Emily, 就像他们这一代的许多夫妇一样，他们有年幼的孩子，承担着越来越多的家庭责任, giving financially to worthy causes wasn’t always feasible. Instead, 他们自愿献出时间和精力，尽其所能提供帮助, in their church, civic club and other community causes.

“像我这样在20世纪50年代在南方磨坊村长大的学生，往往没有多少钱, and so we had to work hard to get ahead,” Bruce said. “And Emily’s father, a college dean and professor, and her family had only a little more, 但我们都从父母那里学到了无私奉献的哲学和热情. Our interest in giving away from self, what Rotary calls ‘service above self,’ has always been a fundamental value for us.”

布鲁斯把这归功于他在肖穆特小镇的成长经历, where he attended the Baptist church regularly. 他还提到了自己在童子军的身份，在那里他被要求“每天都做一件好事”.“艾米丽来自一个接受高等教育的家庭，对教学和学习充满热情. Her great-grandfather, grandfather, 父亲和许多叔叔阿姨包括一位大学校长, dean, 图书管理员和教授都与埃默里大学或卫斯理学院有关. 知道高等教育的重要性也塑造了她的捐赠哲学.

多年来，赫林顿夫妇一直想以一种有意义的方式回馈威尼斯人娱乐城, 但他们觉得，在更大的慈善捐赠面前，他们可能给一般捐赠的任何金额都会黯然失色.

“我们没有向威尼斯人娱乐城捐款的历史，”布鲁斯承认. “多年来，我们一直在探索直接向LC学生提供奖学金的方法，但通过我们与扶轮社的合作，我们只成功地做到了一次.”

Last fall in a conversation with LaGrange College staff, 他们惊讶地发现，他们可以创建一个年度奖项或奖学金，并每年用个人投资的收入为其提供资金. That led to the Emily and Bruce Herrington Music Award, 能像很久以前帮助布鲁斯那样帮助学生吗.

他们还决定将威尼斯人娱乐城纳入他们的遗产计划，以便在他们死后保证资金. 这是一种善意的行为，让人想起了布鲁斯的匿名捐助者.

“我之所以能继续在威尼斯人娱乐城学习，是因为有人给奥斯汀·库克寄了500美元，说, ‘This is for Bruce Herrington’s tuition,’” Bruce said. “我们对回馈威尼斯人娱乐城的新计划感到非常兴奋，这个奖项也已经确立, 我们期待着多年来帮助LC的学生实现他们的梦想.”

考虑像赫灵顿夫妇一样计划一份礼物，可以联系发展总监安迪·吉特，地址是 
ageeter@snd0577.com or 706-880-8060. 你的承诺将使你成为四方协会的一员，你也可以成为其他协会的一员 Lifetime Giving Societies as well.