Mervyn and Pat Gibson
For 45 years, the Trident Literacy Association (TLA) of Charleston, South Carolina, has helped adults acquire the literacy and life skills needed to reverse the cycle of generational poverty.
In March, association founder and literacy advocate Patricia “Pat” Barrack Gibson ’62 was among several women in her community honored at TLA’s Founder’s Award Luncheon.
The TLA serves about 1,000 adults a year with classes in basic literacy, GED preparation, English as a Second Language, and work-readiness.
Besides founding the literacy association, Gibson retired in 2006 as dean of the learning center for Trident Technical College, also in Charleston.
At Mary Washington, Gibson and her husband have endowed the Patricia Barrack Gibson ’62 and Mervyn Gibson Scholarship, which assists UMW students from the Northern Neck of Virginia who aspire to careers in education or medicine.