A full-boat to Fordham not worthy?

Byline: Dianne Williamson

COLUMN: DIANNE WILLIAMSON

Mark Symonds will serve as a Marine second lieutenant when he graduates from Fordham University in four years.

"It's a frightening thought, but it's what he's wanted his whole life," said his mother, Janet Mullins of Holland. "It doesn't make me happy, but I'm proud of him."

She and others only wish that his school could have been proud of him, too, instead of excluding his four-year ROTC scholarship from recent Class Day ceremonies at Tantasqua Regional High School in Sturbridge.

School officials said they weren't being anti-military when they told Marine Capt. Lesmore Gibb that he couldn't present Mark's scholarship at Class Day, and then failed to even recognize the award as the uniformed Capt. Gibb sat in the audience for the three-hour ceremony.

Rather, Principal Steven Bliss said they were adhering to past practice of recognizing only "local" scholarships awarded to the seniors.

"We always reserve Class Day for institutionally based scholarships that are published in our local scholarship directory," Mr. Bliss said. "If you started to go through every scholarship, this thing could go on for days. Where do you draw the line?"

But Capt. Gibb was baffled by the school's attitude toward Mark, who was awarded a scholarship worth close to $180,000, based on competitive criteria of academics and physical fitness.

He said he had called the school's guidance department the day before the ceremony and was told he couldn't present the award himself, but that the school needed the award certificate immediately so it could be presented the next day. So Capt. Gibb drove from Springfield to the school and gave the certificate to the guidance department. The next morning, he returned for Class Day.

"When I got there, they told me that Mark's guidance counselor was going to hand him the certificate in the hallway after the ceremony," Capt. Gibb said. "I was like, `Are you serious?' The whole idea was for the school to recognize that he had done something special ... that he'd be serving his country as a Marine officer."

Asked if he considered the school's handling of the scholarship anti-military, he said, "It sure felt like it. It was real weird. There were all kinds of crazy scholarships being handed out, like $500 from Honey Dew Donuts, and Mark got this big award and they hand it to him in the hall? I think they treated him wrong."

Mark, 18, was also disappointed. He noted that, in addition to scholarships from local institutions, recipients of National Merit Scholarships were recognized at Class Day. He also contends military-based scholarships have been recognized in past years, a claim disputed by school officials.

He said he learned the morning of Class Day that he wouldn't be allowed to walk across the stage with other scholarship recipients. Rather, a picture of him and Capt. Gibb would be taken later in the hall.

"I wanted to walk out when they first told me," he said. "A lot of my teachers weren't happy at all. One even apologized to me."

Mr. Bliss noted that he met with Mark after Class Day to discuss the matter, and that the senior's ROTC scholarship was the first one announced at graduation ceremonies a week later. He called Mark "an incredible young man," but said other students awarded college scholarships were also omitted from the stage.

"Mark's was the most prominent of all the scholarships, in my estimation," Mr. Bliss said. "It's highly competitive. Mark is top shelf."

But the principal said he was "a bit taken aback" when Capt. Gibb showed up for Class Day, because officials had been clear that the scholarship wouldn't be recognized.

"To then expect we'd do an about-face by virtue of his showing up was not going to happen," Mr. Bliss said.

Mark's mom has written to the School Committee, but her son is ready to move on. He said he's wanted to serve his country since junior high school, and will be eager to someday assume his duties on a more important stage.

"I still have my scholarship," he noted wryly. "And a pretty picture of me taken with the Marine."

Contact Dianne Williamson via e-mail at [e-mail].