MEDIA ADVISORY Mayo Medical School Celebrates 30th Anniversary

Monday, October 21, 2002

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Medical School celebrates its 30th Anniversary, entitled "Building on Tradition: Celebrating 30 Years of Excellence," the week of Oct. 21-25, 2002. Notable events include the Rededication of the Ruth and Frederick Mitchell Student Center: An Enduring Collaboration with our Community and Celebration of Humanism in Medicine.

WHERE/WHEN: Rededication of the Ruth and Frederick Mitchell Student Center Great Hall, Ruth and Frederick Mitchell Student Center
226 Second St. S.W., Rochester
Friday, Oct. 25, from 3-4 p.m.

Celebration of Humanism in Medicine, Phillips Hall, Siebens Medical Education Building
100 Second Ave. S.W., Rochester
Thursday, Oct. 24, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

NOTES: Rededication of the Ruth and Frederick Mitchell Student Center: An Enduring Collaboration with our Community
* The Mitchell Student Center building has a rich history that dates back into the early days of Rochester.
*The building was constructed between 1936-1937.
*The city of Rochester and the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) jointly funded its construction. The building cost was $178,000.
*The building's tudor-gothic exterior is made entirely of dolomite limestone that was quarried at Kasota, Minn.
*Architect Harold Crawford designed the building's exterior; Architect Peter Bross designed the interior.
*The building has always rested on land owned by Mayo Clinic. In the 1930s, Mayo had deeded the land to the library with a reverter clause that stated the land could be used by the library "for as long as the same (the land) shall be used for library purposes."
*When the library was looking to expand in 1971, the building was sold to Mayo for $375,000.
*The library then had enough money to purchase the former J.C. Penney building in downtown Rochester, and Mayo converted the old library into its medical school.
*In 1985, Mayo (through a generous donation from Mrs. Ruth Charlton Mitchell Masson) remodeled the building and renamed it the Ruth and Frederick Mitchell Student Center.

*Local community members invited to the rededication include Mayor of Rochester, Chuck Canfield; former Mayor of Rochester, Chuck Hazama; Director, Rochester Public Library, Audrey Betcher; and Judith Taylor, Director, Rochester Public Library.

*The rededication features the unveiling of artwork by Artist Ron Hunt of Lake City, Minn.
*Hunt used the stipple technique of black-and-white color gradation to capture the essence of the Mitchell Student Center.
*Signed copies of Hunt's artwork will be presented to representatives of the Rochester Public Library and City of Rochester to honor their long-standing relationship with Mayo Clinic and service to the Rochester community.

Celebration of Humanism in Medicine *This ceremony honors the Hippocratic oath, Mayo Model of Care, and the Mayo Clinic ideal of humanism in the practice of medicine.
*Medical students will demonstrate the art of humanism in action through musical and dramatic performances.

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Contact:
John Murphy
507-284-5005 (days)
507-284-2511 (evenings)
e-mail: newsbureau@mayo.edu

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