A gift for students

BRONWYN CHESTER | It may be grey now, but the structure now under construction at the corner of Dr. Penfield and McTavish streets will soon be known as the Brown Building -- William and Mary Brown, that is. Through their gifts and Mary's bequest, the couple has provided McGill with $3 million towards the cost of constructing the new student services building. How the donation and the naming of the building came to be is something of a long story and a love story. It begins with Mary Davidson Brown, who contributed a total of $1.43 million for the establishment of a medical and mental health centre within the new student services building. Having earned her MA at McGill in 1933, Mary went on to work in the field of mental health. She believed that balance in life was essential to good mental health. "Each person needs to live a life of balanced proportion between work, play and rest to have happiness for himself and his family," wrote Mary who was an avid tennis-player, gardener and naturalist. It was her wish that the students of her alma mater could receive help, when necessary, in maintaining that balance. After Mary Brown died in 1996, her husband, William Brown (a Queen's University graduate), whose father graduated from McGill in Medicine in 1891, changed his will in order to support construction of the student services building. "It was a way in which he could share the commitment of his late wife," says Dean of Students Rosalie Jukier. As it turned out, the combined amounts of the couple's gifts and bequests equalled one half of the total of $6 million in private donations for the building, which then qualified the naming of the structure after the Browns. William Brown, 87, relayed his feelings about the new building through Director of Planned Gifts Susan Reid, who met with him recently at his home in Chatham, New Jersey. "I am overwhelmed and honoured that this new building will be named in perpetuity after my wife and me. Our McGill histories run deep and our vision has always been the assistance of young people and their attainment of a holistic concept of good health." The Browns, who had no children, were philanthropists for causes concerning both young people and the environment. They supported nature conservancy and research on the environment, as well as the students of both McGill and Queen's. Before bequeathing money for the student services building, for instance, Mary Brown created the Mary Brown Endowment Fund for projects in mental health. One such project, run out of Student Services, is the Eating Disorder Clinic. Marie Lizotte, former director of planned giving, made the first contact with the Browns. She calls them "a remarkable couple, true philanthropists who did something quietly because they believed in a cause." When the naming opportunity for the student services building became evident last March, Jukier made the recommendation to the Board of Governors, saying that "there is no more fitting tribute to these benefactors [William and Mary Brown] than the naming of the Student Services Building which seeks to ensure students' physical, mental, financial and social well-being." The $10.5 million complex, to be opened October 14, will bring under one roof all student services, including the Office for Students with Disabilities, now in Burnside Hall, and the much expanded (8,000 square feet) offices of the Students' Society of McGill University, which are now housed in the Student Union Building. Among the other significant donors to the building are, most notably, undergraduate students. Having voted in a 1997 referendum to contribute $20 per term over five years, the total gift from students will amount to $3 million by 2002. Among individuals and foundations, important contributors to the building include former SSMU president John MacBain and Louise Blouin MacBain, the Coca Cola Foundation, Pam and Tim Dunn, Jean Coutu, Gail Johnson, past president of the McGill Alumni Association, Ron Meade and the Eldee Foundation. With the recent namings of the Wong Building, the Gelber Library and now the William and Mary Brown Student Services Building, Jukier is "particularly proud that the three buildings were named after individuals who valued the quality of the McGill experience for students. "It's important to McGill; it shows that people are willing to put their name to these projects and to make significant contributions to the University."