The Catskill Chronicle

BLOOMINGBURG, NY (April 6, 2015) – The Sullivan County Human Rights Commission is sponsoring the Third Annual Eileen Haworth Weil Scholarship Brunch to be held in memory of Eileen’s tireless work as a community activist.

The Brunch will be held on Sunday April 26 from 11a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Eagle’s Nest in Bloomingburg, NY.

The Hon. Josephine Finn will be the keynote speaker.

The gathering will honor Paul Austin, Larysa Dyrszka and Sandra Cuellar Oxford for their dedication to Human Rights.

Tickets are $40 per person and will benefit scholarship funds for Sullivan County Community College students going on to a four-year degree.

Eileen Haworth Weil’s philosophical, social and political development began when she attended New York University during the social unrest of the 1960s and became a passionate advocate for human rights and social and economic justice.

In the late 1970s, during a visit to the Catskills with her seven year old son, Kevin, she met Andrew Weil (photo of Andy and Eileen above). They married in 1980 and had a daughter, Jennie. Eileen became an adjunct professor of English at Sullivan County Community College in 1984, a position which she held for nineteen years. She and Andy also started their business A&E Management and Contracting at that time.

During those years, besides being a mother, teacher and businesswoman, Eileen was very active in the local community, serving as the Summitville Fire Commissioner, a member of the Ellenville Board of Education, a Mamakating Democratic committeewoman and associate director of the revived Shadowland Theatre in Ellenville.

State, federal and world politics were never far from Eileen’s concerns either. Locally, she fought vigorously against the environmental dangers presented by the Yukagumi Mushroom factory plans. She helped to found Sullivan Peace and Justice to protest the injustice of the Iraq invasion in 2003. After exposing the mismanagement of the Empire Zone Commission, she was invited to be on that board. She was a member of the Bashakill Area Association and was an Executive Board member of the Ellenville NAACP.

Eileen was also a founding member of Sullivan Alliance for Sustainable Development. She was on the commission that proposed the legislation to create the Sullivan County Human Rights Commission and was a founding member of the Commission in 2004. For her work in the community, Eileen was recognized by the New York State Assembly and by the Office of Congressman Maurice Hinchey.

Eileen’s passionate advocacy became legend to friend and foe alike. She never hesitated to address corruption and incompetence, in her unmistakable Brooklyn accent, wherever she saw it. Small of figure as she might have been, many a person of position and authority was heard to say, “Oh-oh. Here comes Eileen,” when her expansive spirit and determined eye entered a room. And many a friend and colleague was just as likely to say, “Oh, good! Here comes Eileen!”

She was a reliable, trusted and supportive ally for the causes she believed in. She provided her family, friends and community with a lasting legacy that hope, compassion and a sizeable measure of good humor can triumph in the struggle to make a better life for all people.

The Eileen Haworth Weil Scholarship Fund reflects her commitment to human rights, economic and social justice, and is one way to nurture that commitment in the next generation and help keep her amazing human spirit alive.

For information or to make reservations e-mail Judy at work4tolerance@aol.com.