The "Roast," held at the Quidnesset Country Club in North Kingstown on May 3^rd at 6:30 PM, turned out to be a a wonderful night to honor a special person for a worthy cause.  It turned out that many chose to attend so the crowd was larger than anyone could have expected.  If you look carefully you will see Bill Haller and Bill Ferrante right up front during the opening ceremonies that has our humble Eltie looking for cover.  His friends were merciless in their stories of Eltie's earlier years - as he headed into the job market and settled into his new home. 

It is hard to think of anyone more deserving of having a scholarship established in his name, which is why we so many people attended the festivities.  In fact to the surprise of many, the procession was led by one of Eltie's favorites who was returning the favor for Eltie's contributions to his earlier speech at URI.  During his years at URI, Elton touched the lives of many students as a professor and Department Chair and many staff and faculty through his association with the AAUP.  Outside the University, Elton has helped countless others through his involvement with the ACLU and the South County Health Center.  Guided always by an ardent commitment to fairness, Elton has tenaciously struggled throughout his career against  any person, institution or idea that either actively or passively sustains the interests of the privileged at the expense of the broader interests of society and, most especially, the welfare of its least advantaged members.  

It seems only fitting that we can extend this work with a scholarship to help future students further his efforts.  Thanks to the generosity of so many, Elton, Ben Schurman, and Agnes Doody had to spend many hours counting the contributions to the Rayack Scholarship.  In the end the Department raised enough money to begin the 2001-2002 academic year with the first Rayack Scholarship.  To all those who contributed their time, money, or both, please accept our thanks.