MIDDLEBURY, Vt.—Butch Varno, the local resident with cerebral palsy who’s the motivation behind a decades-old Middlebury College tradition called “Picking Up Butch,” became an honorary member of the Class of 1963 during Reunion 2008.
On Saturday, June 7, in conjunction with the class’s 45th reunion, Roger Ralph ’63 and about 25 members of the class presented a blue-and-white Middlebury jersey emblazoned with the number “63” and the name “Varno” on the back.
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| Members of the Class of 1963 gathered around Butch Varno after a panel discussion on athletes and community service. |
During a panel discussion entitled “Athletics and Community Service,” Ralph recalled the day in 1960 when he first gave Butch and his grandmother a ride to a Middlebury football game. “It was the start of a lifelong friendship between us,” Ralph said. That single act of kindness has inspired generations of Middlebury athletes, and Middlebury College itself, to assist Butch Varno and his family for nearly 50 years. Before almost every home football or men’s basketball game since 1960, first-year Middlebury athletes drive to Butch’s home, pack him and his wheelchair in a car, drive to the game, watch the event with him, and take him back home afterward. The tradition, which was the subject of a Sports Illustrated column in March 2003 and later an Emmy Award-winning short feature on ESPN, was just one illustration of community service explored at the panel discussion.
Dave Campbell ’00, the men’s lacrosse coach, explained how student-athletes at Middlebury volunteer for service on a national level through the College’s affiliation with the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and on the local level through the Alliance for Civic Engagement (ACE) at Middlebury.
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| Panelists, from left: Butch Varno, Roger Ralph ’63, Tiffany Sargent ’79, Dave Campbell ’00, and Erin Quinn ’86. |
For example, students from all NESCAC member institutions have worked on Habitat for Humanity projects and raised money for cancer patients through the Jimmy Fund. On the local level, Middlebury student-athletes recently have conducted sportsmanship events at local elementary school, helped build a playground in New Haven, and conducted sports clinics throughout Addison County. “There’s a natural relationship and bonding that forms between the younger kids in this community and our athletes,” said Tiffany Nourse Sargent ’79, the director of ACE, at Saturday’s panel discussion. During the 2007-08 academic year, the Alliance for Civic Engagement coordinated the volunteer activities of more than 1,300 Middlebury students totaling about 42,000 hours of service, 12,000 of which were associated with service-learning courses.
Director of Athletics Erin Quinn ’86 moderated the panel discussion held in the new Axinn Center at Starr Library. Quinn described some of the long-standing relationships between Middlebury teams and local organizations, such as the men’s hockey team’s work with the Cornwall-based foundation College For Every Student.
Roger Ralph and Butch Varno were the final panelists to speak, and the repartee between the two friends was both memorable and emotional.
Ralph talked about the students who have gone way beyond taking Butch, now 61 years of age, to Middlebury games. They helped him study for (and earn) his Graduate Equivalency Diploma. They moved Butch, his mother, and all their belongings after a flood destroyed their home. They’ve taken him to major league baseball games. And they’ve assisted Butch with day-to-day needs that most people take for granted.
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| Alumni representing many decades took part in Reunion activities. |
Varno and Ralph laughed when they talked about the three speed-dial buttons on Butch’s telephone: the first to call Jeff Brown, the Middlebury men’s basketball coach; the second to dial Russ Reilly, the former athletic director and one of Varno’s closest friends in Middlebury; and the third to call Roger Ralph himself, when the other two can’t be reached. The panel discussion concluded with the presentation of the “63” jersey that warmed the hearts of all in the Axinn Center.