Hunter College alum Helene Goldfarb ’51 has devoted her long life to Hunter’s motto of caring for the future — as a philanthropist, teacher, theater and television producer, publisher, and social-justice champion.
So, it was fitting that the college bestowed its Lifetime Achievement Award on Goldfarb as she celebrated her 95th birthday at a joyous party at Hunter’s East Terrace September 17.
“Helene has always known how precious educational opportunity is, how precious life itself is, how none of us gets anywhere in life all by ourselves, how vitally important it is that we stick together in our democratic society, and how the arts can catalyze that by helping us see the world through the eyes of others and empathize with each other,” Hunter President Nancy Cantor said in presenting the award, a plaque and a framed photo of the Hunter skybridge. “Isn’t that essentially the magic of Hunter? It’s an amazing engine of opportunity where people from any and every background can — and do — come, generation after generation, to discover the world and discover themselves.”
At the award ceremony, State Senator Liz Krueger, Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright, and a special assistant to Governor Hochul, Kevin Rogers, presented proclamations honoring Goldfarb. Among the many honored guests was Goldfarb’s longtime friend, Hunter alum and benefactor Judith Zabar ’54; Eleanor Roosevelt historian Professor Blanche Wiesen Cook, and many family members and close friends of Goldfarb.
Helene Goldfarb ’51 and Judith Zabar ’54.
A native of Queens, Goldfarb influenced many young lives as a longtime Science and Biology teacher and guidance counselor at Hunter College High School and other public schools. A television and theater producer earlier in her career, she learned her love of theater at Hunter as part of the cast and production of SING, an annual song-and-dance competition.
She also became a champion of social justice at Hunter, serving as president of Alpha Omega Pi, which was then the only interracial sorority on campus, and served as Student Government president her senior year. Later, she was a president of the Feminist Press, an imprint founded in 1970 to reprint feminist classics and “lift up insurgent and marginalized voices,” according to its website.
A trustee of the Hunter College Foundation since 2009, Goldfarb has been active in the Hunter Alumni Association since her graduation, helping Hunter alumni connect with the college and each other for more than 70 years. She is the only alum to be president of the association twice.
Goldfarb also has contributed to Hunter’s Scholarship & Welfare Fund for many years, helping to raise funds for scholarships, emergency funds, and grants to recent Hunter graduates to pursue their studies. She served early on as president.
Her service and philanthropy have supported tens of thousands of Hunter students who have gone on to become the teachers, nurses, scientists, social workers, and elected officials who lead New York City. She was inducted into Hunter’s Hall of Fame in May 1978, received the Hall of Fame Distinguished Service Award in May 1984, and she received the President’s Medal at the June 1999 Commencement.
