Columbia College Report

Just as financial aid afforded him the otherwise impossible dream of attending Columbia College, Robert J. Rosenberg ’67’s generosity has allowed other students to do the same. Among those students is Brad Collins ’11, who Rosenberg has come to consider a “surrogate son.”

Robert J. Rosenberg ’67, Brad Collins ’11 and Rosenberg’s wife, Pamela, at the 2011 Dean’s Scholarship Reception. Photo: Eileen Barroso

A retired attorney, Rosenberg is the donor behind the Ida Rosenberg Scholarship Fund, which Collins received for three years upon transferring from Emory College. “It was amazing,” says Collins, who grew up in rural Owensville, Ohio, and now lives in Brooklyn. “I come from a very poor background. All my money, when I got to the College, was spent on books.”

Rosenberg and his wife, Pamela, met Collins at the 2008 Dean’s Scholarship Reception, which marked the beginning of a mutually rewarding friendship. “We found him to be an incredibly compelling personality who had overcome so much to get this far and clearly was going to need help to continue,” says Rosenberg. “His strength of character was so extraordinary and his needs so great that we just fell in love with him.”

That year, and every year since, Collins has celebrated Thanksgiving with the Rosenbergs. “He is this very warm, friendly, extremely trustworthy guy,” says Collins of his benefactor. “He and his daughter (Lauren Rosenberg ’99, ’02L) and his wife have been a great support network for me.”

Rosenberg joined the College’s ranks of financial aid donors in 1999 when he decided to establish a scholarship as a tribute to his late mother. “The two greatest influences on my young life were my mother and Columbia,” he says. “She was enormously proud of the Columbia education I received. It seemed like the perfect blend of honor to her and doing something good for Columbia and future students.”

“It’s a rewarding experience ... to actually know that I’m helping a real person toward a real goal.” — Robert J. Rosenberg ’67

Rosenberg requested that his scholarship be awarded to an orphan or first-generation American; Collins falls into the latter category. “I could never have gone (to Columbia) myself without financial aid and I was grateful for it,” says Rosenberg of his impetus to donate.

These days, Collins and Rosenberg get together frequently to have dinner or go to the movies. Part of their bond stems from their mutual affinity for the Core Curriculum, which was the reason why Collins transferred to the College. “I liked the idea of learning about philosophy, music, art and global culture,” says Collins. “It was really appealing to me. You do it in small groups, for a long period twice a week, and it’s discussion-based, not lecture-based. I really wanted that.”

Rosenberg, who describes his four years in the College as a series of “daily awakenings,” also has fond memories of the Core. “I had decided relatively early on that I wanted to be a lawyer, but I had a great love, developed really through the Core Curriculum, of literature and the humanities,” he says. “My [Art Hum] course with [the late Moore Collegiate Professor Emeritus of Art History] Howard McP. Davis was probably the highlight of my undergraduate experience.”

Collins, a religion major, also completed the pre-medical track. On more than one occasion, he considered turning down summer research opportunities in neuroscience at Columbia because he could not afford housing in New York City. Each time, Rosenberg offered him a room in his Midtown home. “It’s something that you would expect a parent to do,” says Collins.

Collins now is applying to medical school. In the meantime, he is a paralegal — a choice that reflects his relationship with Rosenberg, who is grateful for the opportunity not only to assist students financially but also to mentor them.

“It’s a rewarding experience for me to not just write a check to go into a pool of funds to do whatever abstract good, but to actually know that I’m helping a real person toward a real goal,” says Rosenberg.