Donor Profile:
Helen Lowenstein
For Helen Lowenstein '78, deciding where to get her master's degree in social work was easy. "Columbia's excellent program in social work, the opportunity to return to a place I knew from previous studies and the University's fine reputation were all leading reasons for my choice," Lowenstein recalls.
After graduating from the Columbia University School of Social Work, Lowenstein worked for the Archdiocese and the Jewish Board of Guardians in New York City, and for Jewish Community Services of Greenwich in Connecticut. She then began a private practice in New York City and Mamaroneck, New York. An active alumna, she served two terms on the School's Advisory Council. However, she wanted to do more and began to consider how she could give back to benefit her alma mater. Lowenstein's decision to support graduate education at the School was influenced by her experiences as a graduate student and her desire to give back to society at large.
In 2000, Lowenstein and her late husband, Louis Lowenstein Jr., then a professor at Columbia Law School, established the Lowenstein Loan Repayment Assistance Fellowship Program. The landmark program was the first to provide a financial aid package for mature social work graduate students. The program established a new means of recruiting and assisting mature students who have demonstrated excellence in their previous work, and who wish to enter and remain in nonprofit social work. Students who are selected each year receive help with their tuition and graduate with a correspondingly smaller debt.
"We knew that social work students often study and enter the profession at serious financial sacrifice, and that virtually all of them will work in the nonprofit sector," says Lowenstein. "We wanted to ease the burden for these students, who are among the most motivated and diligent of students. In doing so, we also show our commitment to the School's mission to train social work professionals."
The program allows fellows to demonstrate evidence of their commitment to social work through prior professional or voluntary activities. By reducing their debt load upon graduation, the program helps caring, committed individuals move into a second career, or begin their first, knowing they will be able to fulfill their hope of working in social work.
Since its launch 10 years ago, the fellowship program has enabled 20 students to enter and remain in full-time, nonprofit social work with less of a financial burden. Gail Siegel '02, a recipient of the fellowship, recalls, "I was a full-time student and did not have any income other than my savings, financial aid and scholarships. Without the Lowenstein Loan Repayment Assistance, I would have had a much larger debt. I was also very encouraged by Mrs. Lowenstein and her husband, who took a personal interest in me and my aspirations and work after graduation."
For Lowenstein, the program was simply a way to give back and to help individuals pursuing a career in social work. "I hope to make a lasting impact and encourage others to make similar investments in the intellectual and personal potential of future social work professionals."
"Social work students often study and enter the profession at serious financial sacrifice . . . We wanted to ease the burden for these students, who are among the most motivated and diligent of students."