Alumni couple Arlene (Kaye) Richards and Bernard Richards participated in the College’s Class Act gift program. In recognition of their generosity, Room 10-125 in the Newman Vertical Campus was dedicated in their honor in June 2010. The wording of the plaque that hangs in that classroom follows:
Arlene and Bernard Richards’s happy, lifelong relationship had its start in the stairway of 17 Lex almost 62 years ago. Bernie literally “bumped into” Arlene, his wife-to-be, who was also attending Baruch. While rushing to class in the 23rd Street building, he collided with her on a stairway landing between the 2nd and 3rd floors. Bernie tells the story of their first encounter: “I remember Arlene had a patch covering one eye. It was love at first sight. If that’s how good she looked with only one eye showing, she must really be beautiful.” The rest, as they say, is history.
To forever immortalize this famous moment, on the Richardses’ 50th wedding anniversary, their children—Lori, Patti, Carol, and Steve—and the College dedicated the stairwell where they met in their honor. A plaque honoring that anniversary hangs there today.
For this celebration, their children created the Arlene and Bernard Richards Scholarship to honor their parents and their wonderful 50 years of marriage. This scholarship fund—which offers current Baruch students the same opportunity their parents had as students—is just one of the many ways the Richards family has demonstrated its dedication, generosity, and commitment to Baruch College.
An influential figure in the construction industry, Bernie started his career as treasurer of The Slattery Construction Group in 1956 and became chairman of the board in 1968. Some of the corporation’s projects included Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the United Nations building, the New York Coliseum, and the Verrazano Bridge. Previously, from 1949 to 1953, he had worked as a practicing accountant for a New York firm of Eisner & Lubin. Subsequently, he joined another firm of CPAs, S.D. Leidesdorf & Company. Since 1988 he presided over a company that manages the investments for the Slattery family and himself.
Through the years, Bernie has been involved in numerous social, civic, religious, and humanitarian causes. A vice president of the Boys Club of Queens, he has been active with Temple Sinai in Roslyn, N.Y., and the Jewish Institute of Geriatric Care. He is a past honoree of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies in Long Island. In 1980 he was named “Man of the Year” by the UJA Heavy Construction Group, and in 1983, he was named “Transportation Man of the Year” by the March of Dimes.
Bernie is a Trustee Emeritus of The Baruch College Fund. He has served on the board since 1974, with two terms as its president, from 1976 to 1978 and then from 1997 to 1998. In recognition of his outstanding service to Baruch, he has twice earned honors as “Outstanding Alumnus of the Year” and in 1979 was named “Wood Fellow” by the College.
For much of her life, Arlene had been dedicated to community service—as a board member of Planned Parenthood of Nassau County for 15 years, as a devoted volunteer with several organizations assisting the elderly, and by making recorded readings of literary classics for the blind.
Arlene and Bernie are the quintessential Baruch couple and were recognized in 2009 with the Annie and Bernard Baruch Couples Award. They are committed to each other, to their family, and to Baruch College.
Baruch College is pleased to dedicate this classroom in their honor.