The Charlotte & Ben Klein Endowed Scholarship for the Performing Arts
One $1000.00 Award Annually.
Applications for the Charlotte and Ben Klein Endowed Scholarship for the Performing Arts will be reviewed by the Scholarship committee, and the scholarship awarded, in accordance with the following priorities:1st Preference will be given to a candidate who has pursued dance at an advanced level. The applicant should indicate where he or she received practical training in dance. If there are no applicants that meet this standard, then…
2nd Preference will be given to a candidate who has pursued any other performing art, such as theatre, music, etc.
Consideration will be given to those applicants who show financial need, but this is not a requirement for the scholarship. All students must be enrolled full time at Worcester State College to be considered. An essay should accompany the application for this scholarship and it should indicate the student’s long-term commitment to performing arts.
- It is important to note that students who are fortunate enough to receive this scholarship will also be considered for a Charlotte Klein Dance Center Scholarship.
It was 23 years after her first year at Worcester State University that Charlotte Klein ’75 received her degree. Even though her goal was to be the first member of her family to graduate from college, she postponed that dream to fulfill another.
While she was a student at Worcester State University, Charlotte started a dance class for children in the basement of her parents’ home. In two years she had so many students that she decided to open her own dance studio. She married Ben and began raising a family while continuing to teach dancing. So successful was the Charlotte Klein Dance Center that Ben eventually relinquished his business career to become her partner.
Though the life of a dance instructor, successful businesswoman, and mother was fulfilling, Charlotte wanted to complete her original goal. Seventeen years after she began attending WSU, she returned to school and graduated the same year as her daughter, Laura, graduated from high school. As an honoree at the University’s Focus on the Arts in 1985, Charlotte was proud to have her dancers perform at the event.
Charlotte and Ben showed their appreciation to WSU by creating the Charlotte and Ben Klein Endowed Scholarship for the Performing Arts. In addition, the couple has also supported the 125th Anniversary Scholarship and Sullivan Auditorium Funds. Charlotte also serves on the Worcester State Foundation, the Business Advisory Council, and was an active member on the Steering Committee for the 125th Anniversary Celebration. In recognition of her many contributions to the University, Charlotte was the honoree for the 1998 Scholarship Tea. In recognition of her outstanding commitment to education and to alma mater, Worcester State University conferred upon Charlotte a Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa, at commencement in 2005.
Charlotte and Ben’s love of Worcester State University and the performing arts led to their generous contribution which will allow countless students to have the same opportunity Charlotte strived so long to accomplish—attain a college degree.