RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Duffle A. Adelson has announced her retirement, effective June 30, 2015, from the Merit School of Music, a Chicago cultural institution dedicated to teaching the joys of music to disadvantaged youth; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of this important milestone by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, Hired as a faculty member by Merit co-founder Alice S. Pfaelzer, Duffie A. Adelson joined the administration in 1982 and became its Executive Director in 1993; and
WHEREAS, Duffie A. Adelson founded Merit's Bridges Program in 1984 which brings music to Chicago classrooms, community centers and homeless shelters; and
WHEREAS, Over the decades, Duffie A. Adelson became the face and personification of the organization's commitment to making music...building lives for Chicago's children; and
WHEREAS, Duffie A. Adelson tirelessly championed the remarkably successful capital campaign that culminated in the Howard and Ann Gottlieb Performance Hall in the Joy Faith Knapp Music Center and firmly placed Merit among Chicago's elite cultural institutions; and
WHEREAS, Merit has established itself as a school whose endowment, facilities, and breadth of curriculum are unmatched by its peers; and
WHEREAS, Merit devotes nearly fifty percent of its budget to financial aid to allow less advantaged students to pursue musical studies; and
WHEREAS, Duffie A. Adelson has been instrumental in bringing such national figures as Yo-Yo Ma, Ramsey Lewis, Midori, and Emanuel Ax to Merit's National Advisory Board; and
WHEREAS, Duffie A. Adelson has received numerous awards and accolades from leading local institutions such as the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, Vander Cook College, Lawrence University and the Arts & Business Council of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, Duffie A. Adelson is an individual of great integrity and achievement who is worthy of our admiration and esteem; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council, assembled this sixth day of May, 2015, do hereby congratulate Duffie A. Adelson on her retirement and do hereby declare that June 30, 2015, shall be officially recognized as Duffie A. Adelson Day throughout the City of Chicago; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presentecpto Duffie A. Adelson.