Olivia Hartenstein

When Olivia Hartenstein and her husband Hugo decided to make a major gift to MSCD, they had two goals. The first was to honor Olivia's parents and the second was to "give back" to MSCD, where Professor Hartenstein worked from 1970 to her retirement in 1999.

The answer was a $10,000 gift to fund the Amiro and Olga Lopez Endowed Memorial Scholarship. The merit-based scholarship will benefit outstanding students majoring in Spanish at MSCD. Eligible students must be juniors or seniors, have a 3.5 GPA and be registered as seeking a degree.

Almiro and Olga Lopez emigrated to the United States from Cuba in 1960. Almiro was a chemist at Coors Ceramics and Olga was a homemaker. The Lopez family placed great emphasis on education during Olivia's upbringing, so the Hartensteins chose the scholarship as a vehicle for their gift.

"My parents believed in education," said Professor Hartenstein, who retired as Associate Dean of the School of Letters, Arts and Sciences. "They instilled in me a desire for education." That desire led her to pusue her own education and share that education with her students at Metro State as an Associate Professor of Spanish for more than 25 years. Her husband Hugo, too, became a strong proponent of education, having taught Spanish language and Latin American studies at Fairview High School in Boulder.

"When we decided to honor my parents," said Professor Hartenstein, "I knew the best way to do it was to establish a scholarship in their names, because it ultimately helps the students. It is a pleasure to be able to give something back."

The Department of Modern Languages thanks Olivia and Hugo Hartenstein for their generosity.

(Based on an article in the Metropolis, Winter 2000, Volume X, Issue III, page 35; used with permission.)