Donor of the Month: Ken Rosenberg

Wed. Apr. 24, 2024

Supporters of The University of Winnipeg Collegiate have long held that part of its success as a secondary school stems from the willingness of its faculty and staff to treat those enrolled as young adults—affording them the same level of respect and holding them to the same heightened expectations called for by their older peers attending the University. This spirit, coupled with the school’s unique curriculum is exactly what drew both Ken Rosenberg and his younger sister Roberta to Wesley Hall in the early 1970s and 1980s.

Despite being separated by a decade in age, Ken and Roberta’s experience at the Collegiate shared a great deal in common. Moving from Shaftesbury High School in 1973, Ken wanted his senior year to be different. “The freedom you were given as a Collegiate student shaped my experience as a student.” says Ken. “My friends and I felt like we were part of a community, the atmosphere was different from most schools at the time. For Roberta, before she passed away, the Collegiate was one of the last places that she was able to fully experience as a healthy young adult. I’ve always felt the school was a special place for her. She was an artistically minded, and civically engaged person who loved the people she learned from and learned with at the Collegiate.”

After Roberta’s passing in 1989, Ken and his brother Lewis sought to keep her memory alive through their charitable initiatives at Assiniboine Park. A place she loved. “Growing up in Tuxedo, she regularly went to the Park and enjoyed its many gifts such as the Zoo, it’s playgrounds and Art-in-the-Park. Giving to the Zoo’s capital campaign in her honour was one way of preserving her memory and legacy. The Roberta Rosenberg Dean’s Continuing Scholarship is another heartfelt way of remembering her as an adult — someone who was passionate about sharing her creativity and sense of community with her friends, family, and peers during and immediately after her time at the Collegiate.”

Established by Ken in the summer of 2020, the scholarship that bears Roberta’s name is part of a larger collection of scholarships designed to recognize the academic skill of Collegiate students entering their second, third or fourth year of study. Under the umbrella of the Dean’s Continuing Scholarship fund, memorial awards like this help the community honor past students, loved ones, and family members while also providing support for the promising academic careers of students attending the Collegiate today.

When asked about the role that alumni play in the Collegiate community, Ken comments that, “As alumni, many of us come to a point later in life where we want to help better the institution that was there for us during our formative years. Roberta’s memorial scholarship is my way of helping make the Collegiate a stronger institution, to support these students now in the same way that many of our school’s previous donors helped me. The Collegiate has been built in part by Alumni and I’m happy that Roberta’s memory as a student here will benefit the school for years to come.”

Should you want to donate to the Roberta Rosenberg Dean’s Continuing Scholarship, click here to make a gift.