The UF Center for Latin American Studies is striving to raise $5,000 by the end of the month.
The funds raised through the Days of Giving fundraising campaign will be added to the Carmen Diana Deere Director’s Fund, which is named after the center’s former director. Deere served in the position from 2004 to 2009.
Upon retiring from UF in 2015, Deere created a fund in her name with an initial donation of $30,000. The fund, which currently has $38,825, hopes to raise a total amount of $100,000. Deere vowed to match all donations made to the fund up to $35,000.
The Days of Giving campaign was intentionally scheduled for November, said Phillip Williams, a UF professor and the director of the Center for Latin American Studies.
“It’s the month of November, and it is a month to give thanks,” Williams said. “Part of it is to thank Dr. Deere for all that she did at UF for Latin American studies, but really globally for Latin American studies.”
Williams said the fund focuses on supporting new strategic initiatives and scholarly opportunities for students.
He said the fund could be used for developing new training or study abroad programs and supporting opportunities for students beyond the classroom. The fund will be used at the discretion of the director of the Center of Latin American Studies, he said.
In addition to her role at UF, Deere also served as the president of the Latin American Studies Association and the New England Council of Latin American Studies, Williams said. She is currently serving on the International Panel on Social Progress.
Aimee Greene, the center’s development officer, worked with Deere when Greene was in the center’s master’s program from 2007 to 2009. Greene said Deere emphasized helping her students as much as she could. She said Deere used to have students over to her home for dinners and would take special care in guiding them during their studies.
“I think that was very special to find in a faculty member,” Greene said. “She is a special part of this center’s history.”
Greene said the fund will not go into use until the desired $100,000 goal is reached.
Greene is hoping the campaign will encourage recent alumni and first-time donors to give back to the center, even if the amount is just $10, she said.
Williams said the fundraiser would help the center grow.
“When Deere was director, she did a lot to consolidate the center as a world-class center in Latin American studies,” Williams said. “It is important to have this fund to maintain UF’s preeminence in Latin American studies.”
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