Friends of the UD Library celebrates fundraising for Morris Library with an annual dinner

BY DANIELLE BEAMISH
Managing Arts and Culture Editor

Following a two-year hiatus, the Friends of the University of Delaware Library hosted its annual dinner at the Deerfield Country Club on April 25. New and familiar faces were able to network and reconnect while celebrating the annual gift given to Morris Library by the Friends of the UD Library. 

As part of its efforts to expand the Special Collections Department at Morris Library, the Friends of the University of Delaware Library presented a $100,000 check to the library this year. 

Tywanda Cuffy, the director of external relations for the university’s Library, Museums and Press, said the Friends of the UD Library has continually supported the library for over sixty years with an annual financial gift. 

Cuffy also went on to explain the deeper purpose of this dinner. 

“They have a dinner every spring, and then they have a faculty lecture every fall on campus in Morris Library with a goal of just trying to attract like-minded folks who enjoy history, enjoy literature, enjoy a collection of art and things of that nature,” Cuffy said. 

Kris Raser, a digital content specialist for the university’s Library, Museums and Press, expanded on Cuffy’s point of connecting people of similar interests and building conversations. 

“It’s a celebration, a kind of party to get together and just network and have those conversations,” Raser said. “That is the biggest part of this.” 

Adam Gopnik, a staff writer at “The New Yorker,” was the keynote speaker for this year’s dinner. His topic, “The Scientist and the Soul Man: What Humanists and Empiricists Need to Learn From Each Other,” touched on the social values of sympathy and understanding. 

John Quintus, who serves on the executive board of the Friends of the University of Delaware Library, admires Gopnik’s work and looked forward to hearing his talk proceeding the dinner. 

“I am very excited to have Adam Gopnik with us tonight,” Quintus said. “I’ve been reading his pieces for ‘The New Yorker’ for years and so have many other people who are here tonight.”

Quintus also noted how many people were in attendance this year and how that is a testament to Gopnik’s writing ability. 

Once dessert was served and coffee was poured, Gopnik began his talk on humanists and empiricists – people concerned with experience versus those involved with experimentation. He explained how these two types of thought were once one entity during the Renaissance period in the form of visual art. 

Concerning today’s political polarization and the need for proper civil discourse, Gopnik emphasized that it is essential to understand these types of thoughts and develop social sympathy for each other. When a society develops this moral understanding of differing thoughts, as Gopnik explains, trust is built. 

“When we say follow the science, we don’t mean listen blindly to experts,” Gopnik said. “We mean, instead, engage in a difficult and ambitious enterprise of sympathetic social understanding.”  

Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), a 1975 graduate from the university, appeared later in the evening to thank the Friends of the University of Delaware Library and the staff of Morris Library for their support. 

Carper closed the dinner by referencing Mark Twain’s quote, “the two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.” 

The place where he figured out “why”? Morris Library. 

After serving in the Vietnam War, Carper obtained his MBA from the university where he would spend most of his days studying in Morris Library. Carper met a professor through an undergraduate student, who led to an opportunity that ignited his passion for working in Congress. 

“That day in the library, I said, ‘I think I know why I was born,’” Carper said. “I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the folks who have supported the university government, and particularly those who support the library, where I literally found out why I was born.”