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On February 20, 2008, the lobby of the Shapiro Undergraduate Library hosted a capacity crowd eager to celebrate the grand opening of Bert's Café. Well over 200 guests came to honor and thank Bert Askwith (LSA '31) for his generous gift that made the café possible.

A University of Michigan student brass quartet welcomed the crowd with classic Michigan tunes, and UM President Mary Sue Coleman, Regent Rebecca McGowan, and Dean of Libraries Paul Courant greeted students, faculty, staff and friends of the Library.

Bert and his daughter Patti Askwith Kenner, along with Coleman, McGowan, and Courant, cut the ceremonial ribbon and the guests got their first real look at the new facility. Bert poured the inaugural cup of coffee for President Coleman, and students streamed into the café for free coffee and brownies and a chance to personally thank Bert.

Bert was a journalism student at the UM and an editor of the Michigan Daily during the Great Depression. Times were hard, and he and many of his fellow students from New York City could not afford the railroad fare home. So he rented a bus and sold tickets at the Michigan Union. He was so successful that he continued the venture, and the new business paid for his entire college education. Upon graduating in 1931, Bert moved his company - called Campus Coach Lines - to New York City where he and his daughter Patti continue to operate it today.

He has three children, Patti, Dennis Askwith, and Kathy Franklin, and four grandchildren. Bert's wife, Mimi, passed away in 2001.

The Library was one of his favorite places on campus while he was a student, and it remains close to his heart. He funded the renovations and naming of the Askwith Media Library in 2005, and the renovations to the reference desk in Hatcher were also made possible by Bert Askwith.

Bert's philanthropy extends beyond the Library to include the United Way and the Knight-Wallace Fellows at UM. He has generously supported the Rackham Graduate School, the School of Music, the School of Public Health and the Michigan Union.

The Askwith family has a history of funding cafés in university libraries. In 2006 Patti gave the leadership gift to fund the Maggie Murph Café in the Carnegie Mellon University library. Knowing how much establishing a café in Shapiro would mean to the students of UM, she was an enthusiastic supporter of her father's project.

Already the café is an enormous success, and "See you at Bert's" is becoming a familiar phrase on campus. Bert's generosity has made the Undergraduate Library a warmer, more inviting space for students to work, gather, and learn.