COFHE

Cornell alumna Margaret Morgan Lawrence '36 is one of 51 people profiled in "Take a Closer Look," a recent publication of the Consortium on Financing Higher Education. Lawrence, a renowned pediatrician and child psychiatrist, was the only black undergraduate in her Cornell class. Read the profile (pdf).

During an era when women and minorities were a rare sight in higher education, Margaret Morgan Lawrence '36 defied every stereotype.

Seventy years after Lawrence graduated from Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, the world-renowned pediatrician and pediatric psychiatrist is just one example of how higher education benefits not only individuals, but all of society.

Lawrence, now age 92, is one of 51 college graduates profiled in a new publication, "Take a Closer Look," compiled by the national Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE).

Founded in 1974, the 31-member consortium of private colleges and universities, including Cornell, is committed to keeping higher education accessible for students of all socio-economic backgrounds through continued partnerships between private institutions and government.

"Take a Closer Look" comprises color portraits and biographies of alumni from COFHE member schools, spanning ages, professions and backgrounds. A common thread is that all those featured came from lower- and middle-class families and benefited from a combination of work and financial aid for college.

The heart of the project, COFHE officials say, is to demonstrate how student aid serves a greater purpose. As Cornell Vice President for Student and Academic Services Susan Murphy puts it, the book aims to highlight how investments in students by private colleges, together with government and other funding sources, have made a difference in the world, through such people as Lawrence.

"You can talk about data, but the interest here was to try to put a human face on those investments," said Murphy, who previously chaired the COFHE assembly and currently serves as Cornell's representative.

She described COFHE as a "wonderful peer group of institutions." All the Ivy League universities are members, along with other such prominent research institutions as Duke and Northwestern universities and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cornell President David Skorton is to begin a three-year term on COFHE's board of directors in January 2007.

The member institutions work for continued federal and state government support of higher education, and conduct research on students, alumni and other topics, according to Murphy.

"Take a Closer Look" was the result of ongoing public concern over cost and accessibility of higher education, according to COFHE officials. It is an attempt to demonstrate, to government and others, the importance of allowing people of all backgrounds access to the best higher education institutions.

COFHE reports that the number of U.S. students receiving aid is rising: 47 percent of students in COFHE institutions today receive financial aid, averaging more than $20,000 per student, according COFHE President Kristine Dillon.

"In addition, 30 percent of all enrolled students are people of color," Dillon said. "Equally encouraging is the large number of students who give back to the community during and after their undergraduate career. In fact, 42 percent of students at these institutions are involved in community service, a trend that continues well into their working lives."

These principles are reflected through Lawrence's life story. Raised in Vicksburg, Miss., Lawrence decided early on that medicine was her passion.

She enrolled at Cornell because of its strong reputation in biological sciences and was the only black undergraduate in her class. A scholarship from Cornell and a Regents Scholarship paved her way. At Columbia Medical School, where she earned her M.D., a master's degree in public health and a certificate of psychoanalysis, Lawrence was the third black student in the history of the school, and the only one during her four years of training.

Lawrence embarked on an illustrious career as a clinical practitioner, pioneering a teamwork approach with psychiatrists, neurophysiologists, social workers and nurses in school settings. She was the first child psychiatrist to practice in New York's Rockland County, where she helped found the Community Mental Health Center.

Her many contributions to the field include publications, two books and teaching as an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia.

Cornell honored Lawrence in 1992 with the Cornell Black Alumni Award. In 2002, Lawrence visited Cornell as a guest speaker for "Diversity Dialogues," a series of campuswide events centered around racial, ethnic and gender diversity.