HACC's Lancaster Campus library, learning center renamed
Brossman Charitable Foundation Library and Learning Center reflects ongoing partnership
Sept. 19, 2011
LANCASTER – The library and learning center at HACC’s Lancaster Campus is sporting a new name in recognition of a partnership between the college and a local family.
The Brossman Charitable Foundation Library and Learning Center was unveiled during a recent reception honoring the contributions the foundation has made to the campus since 2002.
“Our partnership began with the foundation’s strong support of $200,000 for the library and learning center during the building of the Main Building of the campus at its current location on Old Philadelphia Pike,” said L. Marshall Washington, Ph.D., vice president of HACC-Lancaster Campus. During dedication of the new building in 2002, the college named the facility the D&E Library and Learning Center in recognition of the gift.
“Today, despite the disappearance of the D&E name, the Brossman Charitable Foundation continues to be a generous partner with HACC’s Lancaster Campus and in a number of areas in the Lancaster and Central Pennsylvania community involving the arts, children/youth services, education, higher education and scholarship/financial aid,” Washington said.
“Our partnership now includes the foundation’s strong support of $125,000 for the recently launched scholarship campaign,” he added. “The renaming of the facility also reflects the century-long history, success and generosity of the Brossman family in the Lancaster community.”
In addition to Washington’s introductory remarks, also thanking the foundation for its support were HACC President John “Ski” Sygielski; Jayne Abrams, executive director of Institutional Advancement and the HACC Foundation; Joseph McIllhenney, library director; Lori Corradino, campus director of academic success; and Emily Conlin, a Brossman scholarship recipient.
“On behalf of Ephrata National Bank, as a trustee of the Brossman Charitable Foundation, and the Brossman family, it is my pleasure to express our sincerest appreciation to HACC-Lancaster Campus for holding this reception in honoring the legacy established by Mrs. Bertha Brossman Blair as one of the founding family members of the Denver and Ephrata (D&E) Telephone and Telegraph Company,” said William Barnett, vice president and senior trust officer of Ephrata National Bank. The bank manages the foundation, which was established in 1986 to provide scholarships for Lancaster County students from the estate of Bertha Brossman Blair, who died in 1985.
“No institution has done more to expand and enrich education in Lancaster County than the HACC-Lancaster Campus. It is in this context that, as we considered ways to maximize the impact of the goals established by Mrs. Blair, it became readily apparent that HACC- Lancaster was an integral element in maximizing the benefit. It is in this vein that we committed the funds to HACC-Lancaster with the expectation that they could award scholarships to the most deserving students in Lancaster County,” Barnett said.
“Although we have set the commitment at five years, we very much expect that, in fulfillment of Mrs. Blair’s desire to support education in perpetuity, the relationship will be sustaining,” he said.
Also representing the bank and the foundation were Susan Reber, trust officer; Robert Minnich, personal trust and estate administration officer; and Ron Frisbie, responsible for the administration of the Brossman scholarship program since its inception.
The company was founded in the early 1900s by William Brossman. More recently, the company became D&E Communications Inc. and was an integrated communications provider offering high-speed data, Internet access, local and long distance telephone, data, professional IT services, network, monitoring, security solutions and video services. In 2009, D&E Communications was acquired by the Arkansas-based Windstream Corporation.
