Henrietta “Etta” Fielek ’70, G’77

Opportunity is defined as a situation that makes it possible to do something you want to do. For Henrietta “Etta” Fielek ’70, G’77, the opportunity to attend her dream school—Syracuse University—was made possible by scholarship support and financial aid. Now, she’s ensuring that others have similar opportunities, especially those who are driven by the same kind of passionate curiosity that inspired her.

As a young girl, Etta showed an early interest in journalism, even reading newspaper headlines at age 4. As a teenager, she started a weekly newspaper for the town’s recreation department, reporting on playground news. In high school, she was the editor of her school’s newspaper and dreamed of a career in journalism. She saw the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications as the best way to achieve that dream.

It was the late 1960s when she headed to Syracuse University. The Vietnam War, the Kent State shootings and campus unrest dominated the national news. This small town girl began to see a much bigger world with even greater opportunities to explore. So she took advantage of scholarship support once more and headed to Florence, Italy, to study abroad during the spring semester of 1969.

Those experiences as a Syracuse University student inspired Fielek. In 2020, through her estate plans, she established the Henrietta Fielek Endowed Scholarship Fund to provide financial support to first-year students at Newhouse, supporting students both now and in the future. In 2022 she also established the Fielek Syracuse Abroad-Newhouse Fund that will be used to cover program fees and other non-tuition expenses for undergraduate students in Newhouse interested in global experiences.

Dean Mark J. Lodato expresses deep gratitude for Fielek’s continuing support of the Newhouse School. “Her generous contribution will help more women and other curious and adventurous students succeed at Syracuse University and achieve their personal and professional goals,” Lodato says. “Etta is a shining example of the strength of the Newhouse School alumni network.”

Through her philanthropy, Fielek hopes to nurture in others, especially young women and others who have an entrepreneurial spirit, that sense of adventure that her mother offered her. “I just want to make it possible for them to fulfill their own dreams,” she says. “You don’t have to be a mega-millionaire to support a cause, to advance education and to support young people. You just have to decide what your priorities are—and then take action.”