W&L Honors McJunkin '70, '74L at Opening of Global Service House
Washington and Lee University formally opened its new Global Service House, which includes a new location for Campus Kitchen at Washington and Lee, on Friday, Oct. 26. The ceremony included the dedication of a plaque in memory of Thomas A. McJunkin, a W&L alumnus and former member of W&L’s Board of Trustees.
McJunkin, who died in October 2011, was a 1970 graduate of W&L and a 1974 graduate of the W&L School of Law. He chaired the board’s Student Life Committee and served on the Alumni Advisory Board to W&L’s Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Potential. In 2010, he established The McJunkin Endowment for Student Engagement, which supports W&L students in curriculum-related projects that engage them in addressing the greatest social and policy issues of their time.
“Prospective donors to the Campus Kitchen facility asked us if they could make their contributions in memory of their friend, fellow alumnus and colleague on the Board of Trustees,” said Harlan Beckley, director of the Shepherd Program and the Fletcher Otey Thomas Professor of Religion. “This is certainly a fitting tribute, because Tom was a tireless advocate on the students’ behalf and cared deeply about this project. We are grateful that Tom’s widow, Callen, could be here for the dedication and was joined by two of Tom’s brothers and their spouses.”
“We are touched that you would honor Tom by initiating and naming a project that he would have relished so much,” said his brother, Mac McJunkin, who spoke on behalf of the family. “One of the things Tom prized most about W&L is that the University is devoted to cultivating the character of its students . . . The Campus Kitchen and the Shepherd Program provide students just such an opportunity.”
Also participating in the dedication were the lead donors to the Campus Kitchen, trustees R. Allen Haight (Class of 1984) and Ben Grigsby (Class of 1972), and Cabell Brand, who founded and led Total Action Against Poverty (TAP) in the Roanoke Valley and who serves on the Shepherd Program Alumni Advisory Board.
The Global Service House is a joint project of W&L’s Center for International Education and the Shepherd Program. In addition to housing 17 students who were selected on the basis of their interest in internationalism and service learning, the facility is the first permanent home to W&L’s successful Campus Kitchen, which has served more than 100,000 meals in partnership with 15 community agencies in Rockbridge County since its founding in 2006. Prior to moving to the Global Service House, the operation worked out of several different facilities.
Most recently called the International House, the Global Service House is located in what was once the Delta Tau Delta fraternity house, at 106 Lee Avenue.
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