When Opportunity Leads to a Better Future: Dr. Kenneth D. King '61

Growing up in Bridgewater Township, Dr. Kenneth D. King '61 was the only African American child in his school until the eighth grade and a member of the only black family in town. Still, he made friends, many of Eastern European descent, and eventually learned Polish by spending time with his friends' parents and grandparents.

At Somerville High School, King was again in the minority, this time as one of the few male students in the secretarial business classes. A member of a typing club called the Flying Fingers, he picked up shorthand as easily as he had Polish. Isabella A. Van Fleet, one of his most influential teachers, would set him on the path he would follow the rest of his life.

"One day near the end of the school year, Mrs. Van Fleet asked me what I planned to do when I graduated and I told her that I thought I would be a male secretary," King says. "Growing up as a poor black kid in Central New Jersey, no one I knew had ever been to college. That wasn't even something I contemplated." King soon learned that Van Fleet had graduated from Rider (then Trenton Business College). "She said, ‘I think you should go to school where I went,' and so she wrote to get the application, gave me the money to apply, and the next thing I knew, I was going to college."

Finding His Place
He began his studies at Rider in 1957 as a business education major, when the Trenton Business College was still located in the state's capital. His time at the College marked both an ending and a beginning-the class of 1961 was the last to finish in Trenton and the first to graduate in what was then the new gymnasium on the Lawrenceville campus.

"I've stayed connected with Rider in part because the College was always very good to me," King says. "This is also the reason I began to make an annual contribution."

Recently, King decided to increase his giving by making a bequest to Rider in his will. This generous contribution will allow future Rider students to benefit from King's generosity for years to come. His interest in giving back to his alma mater arises in part from his experience with the people he met at Rider. "I attended class with a lot of veterans," he says. "Most of us didn't come from rich backgrounds. We went to school because we saw it as a way to a better future, and we were very serious about college."

Rider professors recognized our commitment, he adds. "They took a special interest in us."

King's experience with the faculty and staff extended beyond the classroom. One professor and his wife often invited him to dinner at their home. Similarly, King feels he received special care from the head librarian at the time, who knew that King was paying his own way through college. "He let me work as many hours as I could-between classes and before and after classes," King says. "And he did it not with a sense of charity; it was just very matter of fact. I needed the money for tuition and books, and he made sure that I got the hours necessary to keep going."

One professor was a particular inspiration and role model for King. Dr. Walter A. Brower, Professor Emeritus and Dean Emeritus of the School of Education, "encouraged me to be the best at whatever I did. I always wanted him to be proud of me, so I worked hard to live up to his expectations." At the spring 2014 meeting of the New Jersey Council of Education, King was able to publicly show his gratitude by presenting Dr. Brower with the Council's Distinguished Educator Award.

"While I was at Rider, I knew I was not some nameless student out of many," he adds. "Rider was a very nurturing place. My teachers viewed me as an individual, and gave me the attention I needed to succeed."

Lifelong Learner
And succeed, he did. After King graduated from Rider with a degree in business education, he took what he learned in his undergraduate classes and applied it to the Teacher's College of Columbia University, where he earned his master's degree in business education and moved to East Orange to teach business. After three years teaching at East Orange High School, he returned to Columbia to pursue his doctorate. Upon successful completion of the degree in May 1970, he again returned to East Orange as an elementary school principal and dedicated his life to service and teaching for the next 46 years.

His distinguished career includes serving as the president of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, an assistant and deputy superintendent in the East Orange School District, and a commissioner and executive board member of the Boys Scouts of America. He also received numerous awards and commendations over his lifetime, including the Alumni Award of Merit from Rider.

Since his retirement in September 2009, after a career in service to the students and the State of New Jersey, King has remained active in his private and civic duties. He was the Chief Volunteer Officer of the largest YMCA in New Jersey, continues to be involved in his lifetime commitment to the Boy Scouts, works as an educational consultant and teaches a cohort of doctoral students at Kean University and the College of Saint Elizabeth.

Through his planned gift contribution, King leaves a bequest that will provide for Rider's future. "I've always felt that to whom much is given, much must be given back," he says. "I have friends who attended other universities and their undergraduate experience was okay, but nothing special. For me, Rider was exceptional. It marked the beginning of permitting me to have a better life. What I learned at Rider set me up to be very successful at Columbia and in my working life. At Rider, I learned the benefits of working hard and the rewards for doing so. When you get something like that, you have to give back."

Learn How You Can Help
If you would like to learn more about leaving a legacy at Rider University through a planned gift in your estate plan, contact Ryan W. Baumuller, CFP® at 609-896-5233 or dpinto@rider.edu today, at no obligation