"Kindness in the Face of Great Loss"
The Legacy of Jane emily
On a bright Saturday afternoon in September, 1985, UVM student Jane emily Clymer was pushing her bicycle along a rural stretch of road a few miles from campus when she was struck by a drunk driver. Her parents, Adam and Ann, were called to Burlington that night to attend to their daughter, their only child. She died at the UVM Medical Center the next day. The promising young woman with a budding interest in politics had just begun her junior year at UVM.
In the wake of Jane emily’s death, the Clymers would return to Vermont many times, first to collect her things, including her cat, Charles. In the midst of settling her affairs, they found themselves taking up the mantle of advocates, calling for tougher legislation and stronger sentencing to help curtail what they regarded as a rampant drunken driving problem nationwide. They waged a years-long battle in Vermont courtrooms that ultimately brought recognition to parents suffering from the wrongful death of their adult children and affirmed that establishments who overserve alcoholic beverages can be held responsible for patrons’ reckless behavior.
After reaching settlements with the driver’s insurance company as well as two restaurants that had served him, the Clymers used the money to establish the Jane emily Clymer Memorial Scholarship (with a lowercase “e,” as she self-styled her name) in UVM’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Adam Clymer, who retired in 2003 as the New York Times’s chief Washington correspondent, wrote an account of the tragedy published in the Times in 1986. He said that while he and his wife were dismayed at the “feeble” sentence handed down to the driver who struck Jane emily, there had been another, happier conclusion months earlier: “On May 3, Maggie Miller, a policeman’s daughter from Worcester, Mass., a history and Spanish major who works with Guatemalan refugees, was awarded the University of Vermont’s first Jane emily Clymer Memorial Scholarship.”
After a time, the Clymers’ trips to Burlington became brighter affairs, as they sat down for a meal and conversation with the “Jane emily scholars.” Over nearly 40 years, the scholarship has helped fund the education of more than 70 female students who, like Jane emily, have an interest in social service and demonstrate caring for others. Adam and Ann Clymer, who passed away in 2018 and 2013 respectively, made a provision in their will that will bring their fund at UVM to roughly $5.5 million, making it the largest scholarship endowment for undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Clymer scholarship recipients are now spread across the globe, enjoying successful careers in myriad professions, and many are raising families of their own. They say they remember fondly their meetings or correspondence with the Clymers and hold dear their connection to Jane emily. And because the fund will benefit students in perpetuity, those connections will endure for generations to come.
As Adam Clymer wrote, “there really is no end to this story.”
Jane emily Clymer loved nature and being outdoors, as reflected in this entry in her scrapbook. Photos courtesy of the Clymer Estate.
Adam Clymer stands with recipients at the Celebrating Scholarship Dinner in 2013. Photo by Sally McCay.
The Story Continues: 35 Years and Counting
Jessica Gage ’99
Optometrist | Nantucket, MA
“Just as the Clymers championed their beloved daughter, they also championed me and many others like me.”
Annie Goff ’00
Construction Project Manager | Richmond, VT
“The scholarship made a huge positive impact on my financial situation as I was navigating a way to pay for everything at UVM with not a lot of resources. It gave me a sense of pride and played a role in elevating my desire to succeed.”
Lynne Babchuck ’02
Clinical Social Worker | Tallahassee, FL
“Recognition as a Jane emily scholar taught me that people believed in me. Their kindness in the face of great loss taught us to never stop contributing to making the world a better place.”
Health Care Without Boundaries
Enia Zigbuo-Wenzler ’99, who now serves as an assistant professor of nursing at Towson University in Baltimore, says the Clymer Scholarship was the gateway leading to her decades-long journey in higher education and service to others.
“It was an act of generosity which paved the way for my academic pursuits and has encouraged my own humanitarian work,” she says. “It was a major reason why I became the first person in my family to graduate from college.”
Growing up in Liberia, Zigbuo-Wenzler witnessed first-hand the preventable disease and illness caused by limited health resources and an overloaded care delivery system. After graduating from UVM, she went on to earn master’s degrees in nursing and public health and a PhD in nursing science. She spent years providing preventive and curative care to underserved populations in Boston and Harlem. But while the individual care she provided was gratifying, she came to realize that her biggest influence on these populations would be achieved through academic research that motivates policy changes or interventions targeting larger groups of people.
“As a nurse-scientist, I hope my research will improve health outcomes for all patients, in particular the underserved.”
Courtney Robinson ’13
Pediatric Speech Language Pathologist | Arlington, MA
“Their generosity has changed my life. Despite never knowing Jane emily, her memory will forever live on through me and others like me in how this scholarship shaped us.”
Kellee Gorgone ’14
Family Nurse Practitioner | Scarborough, ME
“The scholarship made such a difference, as I was able to become more fully immersed in my studies, to seek out unique educational experiences, and to pursue jobs based on impact and fulfillment rather than salary.”
Alice Urbiel ’18
Farm Market Assistant | Philadelphia, PA
“It meant the world to me to know that there were others helping support my academic career and making it possible for me to succeed.”
It's Not Business, It's Personal
For Melanie Daly ’13, the personal connection she shared with the Clymers was just as powerful as the financial relief the scholarship provided her family. Shortly after her first semester at UVM, her father was struck by a car while walking and later died from his injuries. In the midst of overwhelming grief, she considered leaving UVM. But a former assistant dean encouraged her to apply for the Jane emily Clymer Memorial Scholarship.
“It was especially touching for me to receive the award when I did, and I was particularly moved by the generosity of the Clymers in the wake of their own loss,” she says. “They were grieving and looking to help a young woman realize her potential at UVM, while I was a grieving daughter in need of that help.”
Now admitted to practice law in New York and New Jersey and working as an attorney for the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Daly says the scholarship award helped give her the fortitude she needed to complete her degree and apply for law school. “It was the receipt of the scholarship award that allowed me to continue my education at UVM—not just financially, but also emotionally.”
Over the past 35 years the Jane emily Clymer Memorial Scholarship has supported more than 70 students.