Gratz College Receives ‘Transformational Gift’

Gratz College has received an endowment gift of approximately $1 million, the largest in the institution’s history.

The gift comes in the form of The Benjamin and Dorothy Abrams Scholarship Fund, bequeathed by Berenice Abrams in memory of her parents. The purpose of this fund is to provide Gratz College scholarships to teachers working in the field of Jewish education.

Berenice Abrams was a Gratz College alumna from the class of 1936. Known by friends and loved ones as “Bernie,” she was unwaveringly independent and, in many ways, ahead of her times for a woman. Never married, she not only earned a college degree from the University of Pennsylvania, but also attended graduate school there for social work. During her long lifetime, she worked, traveled extensively, volunteered and remained committed to the furtherance of Jewish learning. As a result, her gravestone fittingly reads, “A strong and independent woman, generous benefactor of Jewish education.”