Two Alumni and a University Neighbor Have Made Long-Term Commitments

By Peter H. Congleton

Bernie Rosen ’61, M’66

A native son of Hartford, Bernie Rosen '61, M'66, has devoted much of his life to education, through both his 19-year career as a teacher and vice principal at New Britain High School and his generous commitment to providing scholarship resources for students at the University of Hartford. In 1985 Rosen endowed the Bernard H. Rosen Scholarship Fund, which provides an annual award to the highest-ranking graduate of New Britain High School to enroll at the University of Hartford. Each scholarship is renewable for three successive years, provided that the recipient continues to make satisfactory academic progress.

After working at various jobs and serving in the U.S. Army, Rosen eventually took advantage of the GI Bill to pursue a bachelor's degree in education at the fledgling University of Hartford. He would later obtain a master's in education from the University as well. Because of the plans he has made to provide educational opportunities for others, the University has granted Rosen membership in the Founders' Planned Giving Society. In addition to the grateful correspondence he receives each year from the awardees of his fund, Rosen enjoys the satisfaction of knowing that his giving will continue in perpetuity and that the principal will be substantially increased by a bequest through his estate.

Rosen is in excellent company as a member of the Founders' Society. Richard Belkin is also a member. Belkin attended the original Hillyer College and graduated in 1956, one year before the founding of the University of Hartford. He affectionately refers to it as "Hillyer-on-the-Hudson," a reference to the fact that the school occupied a building on Hudson Street in Hartford before its move to the Bloomfield Avenue campus. Belkin is the president of World of New York, Inc., which prior to 9/11 was a corporate partner of Top of the World at the World Trade Center observation deck.

In 1998 Belkin and his wife, Sherry, endowed the Belkin Scholars program, which supplements the Hartford Scholars program that provides half tuition for promising inner-city students. Belkin Scholars receive generous scholarship awards to help them complete their undergraduate degrees. Through their estate, the Belkins have arranged for a substantial bequest that will establish a donor-advised fund at their local Jewish Community Foundation. The fund will continue to grant a percentage of its annual revenue to the Belkins' fund at the University long after they are gone.

The first of his six siblings to be born in America, Sam Kaprove was raised in Hartford's North End. Kaprove worked as a glazier and helped in the family's grocery store until a disabling back injury forced him to find another line of work. He retired in 1968 after a long career with the U.S. Postal Service.

Having watched the University of Hartford evolve from its founding, Kaprove came to recognize its importance to his community. In 1998 he made a contribution to endow a scholarship fund and named it after his youngest brother, Abe, who was born with Down's syndrome in 1911. Kaprove took care of his brother throughout Abe's unusually long life and was a founder of the Greater Hartford Association of Retarded Citizens. His devotion to his little brother during Abe's life, and the concern he showed toward others, will now continue beyond Kaprove's own long lifetime. Now at age 98, he is an enthusiastic supporter of the Hartford Hawks and loves to quote his favorite verse from Shakespeare's As You Like It.

In 2003 he took another step toward ensuring that legacy by setting up a charitable gift annuity at the University. The annuity will provide payments to Kaprove for the rest of his life, and the remaining principal will be designated for the scholarship fund.


Bernie Rosen, Dick and Sherry Belkin, and Sam Kaprove have already taken steps to continue their relationship with the University of Hartford for years to come. For more information on how to become a future stakeholder in the University, please contact Peter H. Congleton, director of planned giving, at 860.768.5201 or congleton@hartford.edu, or visit www.hartford.edu/plannedgiving.