Bertelsen and Ice profile

With recent gifts to the GTU of $100,000 each, Dr. Richard E. Ice and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Bertelsen, Jr. exemplify the charitable giving that GTU donors are demonstrating in support of ecumenical and interreligious collaboration.

Ice, a GTU Boardmember since 1983, has designated his $100,000 contribution to the GTU’s unrestricted endowment, while the Bertelsen’s $100,000 gift will be going to their endowment which supports the GTU/JSTB joint Art History chair and program. The Bertelsen’s have also generously given $100,000 to JSTB for the same purpose. Bertelsen, M.A.’93 hopes that his leadership gift will “encourage fellow alumni to increase their charitable giving to the GTU so that this institution, which has given us so much, can continue to fill a critical need in today’s world.”

Both donors made their generous contributions in response to the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005. The legislation, which was signed into law in September 2005, provided temporary tax incentives through December 31, 2005 as a means to encourage donors to continue their charitable giving – both to Katrina relief efforts and to other organizations, like the GTU, that might otherwise see a decrease in funding because of shifting support to relief agencies.

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