KINGSTON, R.I. — October 19, 1999 — Fifty years are golden particularly when talking about the University of Rhode Island’s Class of 1949, which raised $222,356 this year for its alma mater. But it only stands to reason that you can raise that amount of money when outstanding alumni like John Civic of Newport and Paul and Marguerite Lischio of Saunderstown serve on the fund-raising committee. “Other classes should try to beat this level. After all, the classes are bigger and people are making more money,” said Civic, a retired group manager at Cranston Print Works. Civic earned his degree from URI’s College of Business Administration, and met his wife and fellow Rhody graduate, Audrey Kenyon Civic, at URI. “Almost all the guys were veterans,” Civic said. “It was a close class. We still speak to each other a lot.” “This is a huge increase in class giving over the past several years,” said Dan Barry, assistant director of development and Green Hall project manager. Most importantly, the “Campaign for Green Hall, Restoring the Heart of the Campus,” received a $91,000 boost from the gift. “Green Hall had a major impact on their lives here,” Barry said. “It housed the library, the bookstore, the student life offices and the president’s office. They understand a restored Green Hall will be a one-stop student services center. They’re pleased with that because that’s what they once had.” In addition to volunteering on the committee and participating in the class of ’49 phonathons, Marguerite Lischio joined her husband in making a significant gift to Green Hall. “I got involved because I thought those four years at the University were such wonderful years.” “I met my husband here,” Lischio said. “I was walking across campus, and we met on the Quadrangle. We just talked, introduced ourselves and then he invited me to a dance. That’s how it all started.” Since then, Marguerite and Paul, who earned his URI degree in civil engineering, have raised their two daughters and run several businesses. They own Fiddlesticks, the amusement complex in North Kingstown. Paul and Marguerite are the president and vice president respectively of The Meadows Office Park in North Kingstown, and they are the former owners of Heritage Homes, which built more than 500 homes in North Kingstown and Narragansett. “I am very fortunate to have worked with my husband,” said Marguerite, who majored in marketing and advertising and minored in accounting. “My husband was the builder and I was the bookkeeper. We did everything. We built the houses, cleaned them, and on Sunday, we put on our Sunday best and sold them.” Now she is putting her energies toward URI’s Green Hall project. “We just want to return it to the way it was when we enjoyed such a wonderful time there.” “The Green Hall Campaign, Restoring the heart of the Campus,” is a $1.2 million private fund-raising drive to complete a top-to-bottom renovation of the granite structure. Built in 1937, Green last underwent a major renovation in 1965. The campaign will help fund rehabilitated electrical systems, plumbing, walls, floors, ceilings, exterior stonework and windows. In addition to the private fund-raising drive, the state is contributing $2.8 million to refurbish one of URI’s most distinctive structures. In addition to the Green Hall project, the Class of ’49 also donated to the following projects: Ballentine Campaign: $2,500; Annual Fund, $10,400; Athletics, $10,415; Hope and Heritage Fund-established for students and faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences to present papers, appear in performances, speak at conferences, or demonstrate experiments, $25,000; and scholarship support, $82,695. In addition to Civic and the Lischios, the members of the Class of ’49 Committee are: NAME RESIDENCE Virginia Berndt Bescherer Bristol Ilma Ragosta Bichun Warwick Roswell Bosworth Bristol William A. Brown Warwick Jeanne Laity Calverley Wakefield Daniel C. Cashman Portmsouth Rosalea Elowitz Cohn Providence Jacob “Jack” Fradin Cranston Virginia Cregan Geisser Riverside Barbara Brierly Giarrusso Narragansett Marion Reynolds Hunt Punta Gorda, Fla. William H. Jackson Wakefield Winifred A. Kelley Johnston Marilyn Coyle Kennedy Warwick Shirley Buswell Kramer Wakefield W. Everett Lundberg Saunderstown Richard Moore Narragansett Frank C. Pritchard Portsmouth Betty Connaughton Slocum Boston, Mass. Richard A. Soderberg Wakefield Barbara-Jeanne “B.J.” Seabury Narragansett John O. Thayer Portsmouth Frederick T. Worrell East Greenwich -xxx- For Further Information: Dave Lavallee 401-874-2116