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From lasting impression to lasting gift Osborn honors Fray with Office of Multicultural Affairs in the School of Nursing |
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It happened during Jody Nelson Osborn's toughest cases as a medical-surgical nurse. “I would hear Carol Fray's voice asking me, ‘What piece of information do you need to solve this problem?' or ‘What are you missing here?' She was such a wonderful teacher—very tough, with serious expectations for all her students. And she inspired you to meet them,” Osborn said. More than 30 years later, Fray inspired Osborn once again—this time to make a $50,000 gift naming the Office of Multicultural Affairs in the School of Nursing's new addition in Fray's honor. “I was flabbergasted,” Fray said. “I couldn't believe she would be so caring and so generous to the school on my behalf.” For Osborn, the gift is a belated “thank you.” |
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“I never let Professor Fray know what she meant to me and how she influenced my life,” Osborn said. “It feels nice to be able to say, ‘Thank you. You did a great job.'” Fray, professor emerita of nursing, was the first multi-ethnic faculty member to achieve tenure in the School of Nursing. Born in Jamaica, she received a bachelor's degree from Hunter College in 1956. Four years later, she was awarded a bachelor's degree in nursing from Cornell University and graduated first in her class. In 1964, Fray earned a master's degree in medical-surgical nursing from Teacher's College, Columbia University. She joined the Carolina faculty in 1969. In 1975, undergraduates honored her with the Nursing Faculty Award for being the “faculty member who most helped members of the class develop their abilities.” Later that year, the University awarded her the Nicolas Salgo Award for Distinguished Teaching. Though she said “thousands and thousands” of students passed through her classrooms, Fray remembered Osborn. “You remember some students because you have to fight to get them to learn,” she said. “You remember others because their motivation, intellect and personality make them stand out. Jody Nelson Osborn was one of those students. I just knew she belonged in nursing.” Osborn has been interested in the issue of diversity since childhood. When Linda Cronenwett, dean of the nursing school, suggested naming the Office of Multicultural Affairs in honor of Fray, Osborn felt it was “a good fit.” “It's not acceptable for there to be a need for action in diversity,” Osborn said. “We should get to the point where there's an even playing field—where the need for diversity isn't noticed. But we're not getting there on our own.” Thanks to Osborn's gift, generations of nursing students will find a helping hand in the Office of Multicultural Affairs. “Osborn championed a cause dear to her heart and honored a professor she holds in highest esteem,” Cronenwett said. “The admiration and respect that began between two people in a single classroom in the 1970s will make a difference for lifetimes to come.” |
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