Helen R. Godfrey, assistant chancellor emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, will be honored for her longtime dedication to campus childcare on Thursday, May 2.

The University Child Learning and Care Center (UCLCC) will be renamed The Helen R. Godfrey University Child Learning and Care Center (HRG-UCLCC) in a ceremony beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the center, located in the lower level of Delzell Hall, 910 Fremont St.

Refreshments will be served and Tim Byers, an HRG-UCLCC parent, will lead a chorus of center alumni and current students in song. There also will be the unveiling of signs that reflect the center�s name change, which was approved by the university�s Naming Committee.

The founder and a committed supporter of the center, Godfrey "has always been there for us and seen us through our growth," said HRG-UCLCC director Susie Sprouse.

"I was moved by the announcement," said Godfrey of the renaming. "I am very pleased and very humbled by it. When I go over to the center and see the faces of the little children. . . that�s what I wanted--to help them. I�m thrilled with the center�s success and its quality."

The center children return Godfrey�s affection, calling her Grandma Helen when she visits. "The kids decided to call her that on their own," said teacher Marge Andersen.

Godfrey, who retired as the assistant chancellor for Student Affairs in 1999 after 33 years of leadership and service to UWSP, donated $50,000 to the UCLCC last fall, making it possible for the two to five-year-old programs to relocate from Nelson Hall to Delzell Hall in January. An infant/toddler program opened there last September and now both programs are housed together in the new facility.

"I feel our greatest resource is children," Godfrey added. "They need a good start and they�ll get it at the center."

Godfrey�s commitment to the HRG-UCLCC began in 1972, when she was asked to prepare a proposal to offer childcare for students that also would provide a learning opportunity for those studying early education. To do so, she visited childcare centers in and out of state as well as the one center that served Stevens Point at the time.

"Helen�s vision and leadership over the years began before its time," Sprouse said. "She wanted to make sure the overall needs of all students were being met. Helen knew that nontraditional students could not function in school unless they knew their families were being cared for and she wanted to make their college experiences positive."

Godfrey formed an advisory committee to develop the center�s proposal and find the needed equipment. Members included Betsy Altenburg, director of the other childcare facility in Stevens Point; Rick Kurz, assistant director of student activities; Mary Mosier, director of student activities; and Joe LaFleur and Bob Linzmeier of student senate.

The committee�s proposal would have failed had it not been for support from the Student Government Association and senators LaFleur, Linzmeier and Jim Hamilton. The SGA gave it the $2,000 needed to start and the UCLCC opened in the basement of the Peace Lutheran Campus Center in January 1973, with 15 children. It cost $.50 a day for students and $.75 for staff, faculty and alumni.

"While it was there, the staff had to set up and take down every day because the Peace Center needed the space for college students," said Godfrey. "That shows the dedication of the early staff."

Godfrey led the center�s advisory committee from 1972 to 1999, until she retired and turned it over to her successor, Bob Tomlinson. She remains as an honorary lifetime member, and Altenburg also has continued her involvement.

Over the years, the center has been located at the Peace Center, Old Main, Delzell Hall and Nelson Hall and now has returned to Delzell Hall. The program has grown to serve 87 children and receives $37,500 annually in funding from SGA as well as support from the university.

Godfrey credits the program�s growth, success and national accreditation to the work of financial adviser and UWSP budget planner Rick Rothman and a quality teaching staff, led by Sprouse and longtime teachers Andersen and Mary Talbot. Sprouse added, "Helen always made sure the center had support."

Sprouse also credits her staff, which in addition to Andersen and Talbot includes teachers Kris Trustem, Carmen Luque, Kathi West and Donna Schaub, administrative office assistant Karey Bayba and the 70 student workers that are employed each year.

"When we created the center," Godfrey said, "I remember hearing from one student from Marshfield who had a young son. With the childcare center on campus, she was able to go to school and have her son with her during the drive each day. That gave her two hours more of quality time with him. And her son was thrilled to go to school with his mom.

"It was the ground swell of comments like those that spurred me on," Godfrey said.

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