A Note About This Website
It’s been more than a half century since Kappa Beta alumni were active fraternity brothers. The world has changed, but remarkably our bond to KB and to each other has not. Memories endure even as the years pass, and we rejoice at recollections and retellings of the best of times we had in college. The purpose of this website is to celebrate the history of Kappa Beta, to provide a window into KB fraternity life, and to share a little time capsule with our families and with you. Producing this website has been a labor of love.
Members of every generation of KB alumni contributed to this website. Nahum Lewis ’38, Haskell Rosenberg ’40 and Arnold Newman ’56 passed down much of the history found here. Many photos and documents were sourced from the collection of Kappa Beta Fraternity Records, 1937-2007 that Nahum Lewis ‘38, Rita Greenwald, Stephen Greenwald ‘40, Robert (Bob) Barron ‘52, Arnold Newman ‘56, Philip T. Coccia ‘66, Michael Bloom ‘67 and Michelle Miller donated to the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections & Archives at UAlbany. Jay Rosovsky ’67 built the original website that put Kappa Beta online. We’ve merely updated Jay’s legacy. Roy Cameron ’68 added content following the 2017 80th Anniversary Reunion, personally funded the web-hosting, and has been an indispensable mainstay in organizing KB alumni events and projects for many years. Paul Michel ‘67, Roger Barkin ’68, Kirk Ellis ’65, Joe Daly ’65 and Phil Abitabile ’71 dug out their KB memorabilia and shared it. Bill Robelee ‘64 and Dan Johnson ‘68 lead the KB Memorial Fund and our efforts to give back to UAlbany. This project was made possible through the generosity of Ed Menegaux ’62, Bill Robelee ’64, Bill Gold ’67, Paul Michel ’67, Jack Kenny ’67, Larry Lioz ’67, Roy Cameron ’68, Dan Johnson ’68, Chuck Lubochinski ’68, Rick Shirkey ’68, John Babiarz ’69, Rick Capullo ’69, Roger Forando ‘69, Dave Hawley ’69, Joe Torani ’69, Don Weyand ’69, Dan Valvano ’69, Steve Flood ’70, Joe LiPuma ’70, Chris Cronin ’70, John Shufon ’71, Alan Barocas ’71, Carl Florio ’71, Phil Abitabile ’71, Alan Zaremba ’71, Ken Turow ’71, Alan Weinstock ’72, and me too. See if you can guess which of our benefactors couldn’t come up with 30 bucks for a keg in college. Special thanks to Alan Barocas ’71 whose enthusiasm helped inspire this project and who took on the burden of fundraising.
We are also grateful to Loida Vera Cruz, Associate Director for Alumni Programs at UAlbany and her staff for their management of KB funds and continuing support for Kappa Beta alumni events. University Archivist, Gregory Wiedeman helped search for yearbook photos. Our webmaster, Roger Weiss of Boston Web Company also deserves kudos, not only for the final product but for tolerating my overthinking every aspect of it.
Arnold Newman ’56 best described what motivated this project when he wrote, “And so the spirit of Kappa Beta has lived and continues to live on in the hearts and minds, the friendships and reunions of brothers from all time periods in KB’s existence, underlining the motto of the fraternity: B’nai Chaim, Brothers for Life.”
Mike Hoff ‘71