Gaudium Award 2017
This year's honorees include:
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Farrell Evans
Farrell Evans grew up in Forsyth, Georgia, south of Atlanta. He is the son of a father who, during the 1960s, played on the golf team at Fort Valley State University. Farrell took up the game of golf after finding his father’s set of Walter Hagen irons twenty years later. From the about the age of 11 through high school, he played tournaments all over the country sponsored by organizations that were formed when African-Americans had very limited access to many private and public clubs. He was also fortunate to have the support of a tight knit community of black and white golfers that made up the membership of their rural Georgia club. He played on the golf team at Florida A&M University.and interned with the PGA tour.As journalist, Mr. Evans has worked for Oxford American, American Legacy and Golf World before covering golf at Sports Illustrated in 2002. Nine years later, he joined ESPN where he became a senior reporter covering major golf events world wide.
In an effort to offer young men of color the opportunity, discipline and skills which the game of golf provides, he recently co-founded and is the executive director of the Bridge Golf Foundation. This Harlem based 501(c) 3 organization seeks to close gaps in achievement and learning for those young students.
Farrell believes that in mentoring young golfers, he is preserving the historical, enduring presence of blacks in the game long perceived to be exclusive and white in American society. He is the father of two young sons.
Bebe Neuwirth
From the tender age of 5 onward, Bebe Neuwirth's biography has included the description: dancer. A native of New Jersey, the daughter of an artist mother and mathematician father, she has delighted audiences in many aspects of show business. A dance major at the prestigious Juilliard School, Bebe performed, while a student,with the Princeton Ballet. She made her professional musical debut in a touring company, appropriately, of A Chorus Line. She appeared in Bob Fosse’s Dancing’ and Sweet Charity as “Nickie” She won her first Tony for that show in 1986.That banner year saw her television debut in the hit sitcom Cheers. Her comic timing as the buttoned-up “Lilith” earned her wide acclaim and two Emmy Awards as best supporting actress for that now famous portrayal. While appearing in feature films such as Jumanji, Tadpole, The Divorce, Bugsy, Say Anything, and Woody Allen’s Celebrity, she has continued to appear on television in Frazier, Wings, Law and Order and recently on Madame Secretary. Her Broadway stage work includes the revivals of Little Me and Damn Yankees. Bebe won her second Tony Award for the revival of Chicago. She has the distinction of having played all the major roles of “Roxie,” “Velma” and “Mama Morton” in that show. She also appeared opposite Nathan Lane as “Morticia Adams” in The Adams Family. No stranger to awards, Bebe has received two Drama Desk Awards, LA Drama Critics’ Circle Award, An Astaire Award and the NY Outer Critics’ Circle Award. Her support of the responsible adoption and rescue of animals remains one of her most well known public commitments.
Garry Trudeau
Native New Yorker, Garry Trudeau was a student writer and cartoonist at Yale University, when he begin a comic strip series called Bull Tales. This early work evolved into the now famous, sometimes controversial and honored satiric comic strip Doonesbury. Debuting in 1970, Doonesbury is now syndicated to a thousand daily and Sunday newspapers worldwide and online with The Washington Post.In 1975, Trudeau became the first comic strip artist to win a Pulitzer prize He was also a finalist for that award three further times.
A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Garry has extended his work into film, theatre and television. He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for A Doonesbury Special ( 1977) He collaborated with past Gaudium recipient Elizabeth Swados on two musicals : Doonesbury and Rap Master Ronnie (1984). With director Robert Altman, he wrote and co-produced the HBO hit Tanner ’88. This show earned international awards and an Emmy. The team of Altman and Trudeau reunited with a sequel mini-series,Tanner on Tanner.
For the 2013-14 seasons, Garry created, wrote and coproduced for Amazon Studios, the political comedy Alpha House. A long time pointed observer of Donald Trump, he published thirty years of his Trump cartoons entitled, Yuge. The recipient of thirty-five honorary doctorates and a committed advocate for U.S. wounded warriors, Garry hosted The Sandbox website posting 800 essays by deployed soldiers, returned vets, caregivers and spouses.
Dr. Carolyn Woo
Dr. Carolyn Woo is the fifth of six children born into a very traditional Chinese immigrant family in Hong Kong. Her father converted during his student years in a Catholic boarding school and wanted his children to be raised as Catholics. As a result, Carolyn received twelve years of education among the Order of the Maryknoll Sisters. Watching American television as a teenager in Hong Kong, Carolyn determined to go to the United States and become self-sufficient.With very little money, she entered Purdue University, eventually earning a scholarship She remained there to earn her undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees. Dr. Woo taught business managment as a faculty member and later became a Dean at Purdue. Eventually, Notre Dame University recruited her to be the Dean of the Mendoza College of Business. (1997)
As one of the first lay persons to serve the organization, she became the President and CEO of the Catholic Relief Services. (2011) It is one of the world’s largest charitable agencies. The scope and influence of CRS is unrivaled, especially in defense of women and children. This year, Dr Woo was named Distinguished President’s Fellow for Global Development at Purdue University.
She has remained active in the practice of her Catholic faith and, through her Church service, met her husband and married in 1979. They have two sons, one a doctor and the other a theology teacher.
Sister Margaret Ormond
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Sister Margaret Ormond is a member of the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Peace. She holds undergraduate degrees in history and theology as well as a Pontifical Licentiate in Theology from the Angelicum University. She is well known throughout her Dominican Order as a result of her cross-cultural ministerial experience.Sr. Margaret served her Congregation as Prioress and was the first International Coordinator of Dominican Sisters International in Rome.
Previously, Sr. Margaret had taught and administered schools in Connecticut and Ohio. For ten years, she traveled world-wide addressing issues related to contemporary religious life and the global realities facing the Catholic Church. In 2008, Sr. Margaret continued her advocacy work on behalf of women, ministering as a consultant on Leadership Among African Religious which brought her influence to many areas of the African continent.
A recipient of an honorary doctorate in 2011 from the Ohio Dominican University, the citation acknowledged her commitment of service to the global community, with her special concern for the education of women and children. Currently the President of the Dominican Academy in Manhattan (www.dominicanacademy.org), Sister continues to have a wide reaching impact on the values and futures of young women. Under her leadership, she has embarked on a major renovation and expansion of the Academy’s facility ensuring a twenty first century environment worthy of the tradition of her Order of Preachers.