‘I want to help students in need because I have been there’

When Rose Reiter Goldberg, GrCert 81, BA 87, MA 99, celebrated her 85th birthday in 2021, her husband Norman established the Rose Reiter Goldberg Graduate Award in Philosophy at Concordia in honour of her keen interest in the subject.

Each annual recipient receives $1,000. “I want to help students in need because I have been there,” Rose Goldberg says. “Due to a car accident, my father was institutionalized. My mother became the sole breadwinner.

Growing up with little money, priority for a university education was given to my brother, who became an architect. So establishing a scholarship at the postgraduate level reflects my respect for education and my appreciation for the role life experience played in pursuing my passion for philosophy.”

Goldberg earned her three degrees at Concordia while simultaneously raising a family. Her new award, which replaces a previous one established in 1987, represents what she describes as a civic duty.

“When Norman and I married in 1956, I was an elementary-school teacher attending night classes at Sir George Williams,” Mrs. Goldberg recalls.

“He was involved with sports. In fact, he was the only Quebec player picked for the first international Canadian water polo team at the Pan American Games in Brazil in 1963. We made a pact that our children would benefit from what we do best. I would take charge of their education and Norman of their sports development to help ensure that they would become well-rounded individuals. All five of our children have at least one university degree and participated in competitive sports when they were young.”

The Goldbergs are no strangers to philanthropy. Community involvement has been a guiding principle of their historic business, Main Florist, since 1910. The family business is now in its fourth generation.

Since she first began funding scholarships at Concordia, Rose Goldberg has been heartened to hear back from recipients who share her values of community service, equity and inclusion.

“Once, when I was involved with the National Council of Jewish Women, the council — unbeknownst to me — had hired a Concordia student who had received my scholarship,” she says. “It’s always so gratifying to see what these students go on to do in the real world.”