Borges siblings’ $10 million gift, earmarked for financial aid, honors their parents
By Kathy Andrews
Francisco “Frank” L. Borges ’74, H’20 says that for himself and for his siblings, two factors made all the difference in expanding the opportunities available to them in life. The first was their parents’ strong belief in the value of education. The second was what he calls “life-changing financial aid.”
“Financial aid changed my life and that of my siblings,” says Frank, a former Trinity College trustee. “But for financial aid, and our parents’ belief in what we could achieve, we would not have had the opportunity to attend an exceptional institution of learning like Trinity.”
It was in the summer of 1958 when Frank, age 7, made the journey from his birthplace in Cape Verde, then a Portuguese colony, to the United States. He and his mother, Maria Luisa Lopes Borges—at the time, eight months pregnant with his brother—first traveled by boat from Cape Verde, off the west coast of Africa, to Lisbon, Portugal, where the U.S. Consulate required a pre-emigration visit.
Next, they boarded a plane to New York, where awaiting them was Frank’s father, Manuel Lopes Borges, who had arrived with his father in the 1920s to settle in New Haven, Connecticut. During World War II, although an immigrant, Manuel was drafted and fought as an infantryman in the U.S. Army. Several years after the war, he returned to Cape Verde to visit with his family, at which time he met his soon-to-be wife Maria Luisa.
Today, the five Borges children have succeeded in not only realizing their parents’ dream of a better life but also recently made, collectively, a $10 million gift to provide financial aid resources for future generations of outstanding students who otherwise would not be able to attend Trinity. Along with Frank Borges, the donors are his wife, Luisa, and his siblings, Peter L. Borges ’80, Francesca Borges Gordon ’82, Maria Borges Correia ’85, and Joaquina Borges King, a 1987 graduate of Wesleyan University.
Says Frank, “I was absolutely delighted that President Berger-Sweeney and the Board of Trustees have taken a position that financial aid is strategic to the growth and vitality of the Trinity community. In so doing, they have demonstrated enlightened leadership, recognizing the value and the benefit of having diverse voices around the table of learning.”
In recognition of the family’s gift, Trinity’s admissions building will be named the Manuel and Maria Luisa Lopes Borges Admissions Center. Manuel died at age 65 in a tragic construction accident in 1971; Maria Luisa passed away at the age of 93 in October 2020. Having a Trinity College building named after them is something their children say Manuel and Maria Luisa never would have imagined. But the siblings agree it is a fitting tribute for parents whose belief in education was both passionate and constant, even though a formal education was something neither had the chance to pursue themselves.
Maria Luisa often repeated a Cape Verdean phrase—“studa ku empenhu,” which means “study with earnestness”—first to her children and later to her grandchildren. Peter notes, “I remember my dad saying that the one thing they could possibly give us is education, and that education is something no one could ever take from you.”
Frank thinks back to the January day, during his first year at Trinity, when he received the phone call. There had been an accident at the construction site where his father worked, and Frank needed to return home to New Haven immediately. At that time, Frank was 19, Peter, 12, Francesca, 11, Maria, 8, and Joaquina, 4. After her husband’s sudden death, his mother continued in various jobs, including working in a factory and a bakery as well as doing housekeeping work. She drew upon three key values to stay strong and focused to support her children: faith, family, and a disciplined work ethic. “Those were the ingredients that allowed my mother to navigate a very challenging situation,” Frank recalls.
The first in his family to attend college, Frank majored in political science and says Trinity’s liberal arts education was foundational, preparing him to complete a law degree at the University of Connecticut School of Law. His many professional achievements include serving as legal counsel for the Travelers Insurance Companies, Hartford deputy mayor and city council member, Connecticut state treasurer, and, currently, an alternative investments executive and partner with Ares Management Corporation. He also serves as chair of the Board of Trustees of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and on the Board of Directors of Hartford HealthCare. The 2020 Trinity honorary degree recipient also was recognized with the college’s Alumni Medal for Excellence in 1989 and the Trinity Club of Hartford Person of the Year Award in 1987.
Peter, who was born just a few weeks after Frank and their mother arrived in the United States, also works in the alternative investments field, serving as a partner with EdgeLine Capital Partners. A psychology major, he says landing an internship with IBM during his junior year was transformative for him. Before that internship, which paid well, he juggled part-time jobs, including parking cars and house painting, to pay expenses beyond what financial aid covered. IBM’s downtown Hartford office, near campus, opened up a whole new world. “That’s when I began to understand a little bit about the corporate world, what the culture was, and what a career could be,” says Peter.
After graduation, Peter landed a job in the investments department of Connecticut General Life Insurance Company (now a subsidiary of Cigna Corporation), where he soon recognized that he lacked the finance background to succeed. But a fellow employee loaned him a box of finance textbooks, and, after work, “I would come home and try to connect what I was seeing at the office with what I was reading in the books,” says Peter. His persistence paid off. “I began to really like what I was doing and worked my way up. I credit my Trinity education for teaching me how to think, how to study, how to be curious about everything in the world around me. And I credit my IBM internship with teaching me how to interact and conduct myself in a professional setting.”
Francesca, a political science major at Trinity, is director of development, outreach and external relations, at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. She began her career in a banking management training program and subsequently transitioned into development, serving in positions with nonprofit, payments industry, health care, and national educational organizations in New York and Hartford. This included, from 1991 to 1996, returning to Trinity as a development officer, working under the leadership of Karen Osborne, the first Black woman to serve as Trinity’s chief advancement officer. Francesca, who now serves on the Executive Committee of the Trinity College Alumni Association, still appreciates lessons Osborne shared, including about cultivating donors who believe in a cause to encourage fellow donors with a message of “I believe, I support, and won’t you join me?” Says Francesca, “That’s carried me through my entire development career, that notion of believing in a cause or an issue, supporting it, and asking others to join you.”
A 2017 Trinity Alumni Medal for Excellence recipient, Francesca recently completed a two-year term as president of the Trinity Club of Hartford. For her, the naming of Trinity’s admissions center after her parents is quite meaningful. “I am thrilled that Trinity marked the donation by naming such a prominent building in their honor. I hope the work being done by Admissions is inspired by my family’s story and legacy as they shape the incoming class for decades to come.”
For Maria, who majored in intercultural studies coordinated with education, her family’s gift holds special meaning when she thinks of fellow students who, like her, relied on financial aid but still did not have enough to complete their studies at Trinity. “It always saddened me to see a fellow student have to leave. It’s important to give back for those students who really are hungry to learn, to get a better education, and to uplift themselves.”
After a career in banking, Maria transitioned to real estate. She also is a volunteer tutor and is a board member of two senior housing organizations.
Joaquina Borges King, who serves as associate general counsel for Arcadia Power, Inc., notes, “Along with my siblings, I am incredibly proud of the legacy of our parents and especially grateful for the honor of Trinity’s admissions building being renamed as a testament to them.”
The Borges family’s gift is particularly significant as the college focuses on the financial aid portion of the comprehensive campaign that is still in its nucleus phase. “A key element of our fundraising right now is to secure at least $100 million in gifts to expand our financial aid endowment,” says Michael Casey, vice president for advancement. “With the Borges family’s commitment, we have reached $50 million—halfway to our goal. We hope it may also inspire others to follow their example and join in this effort.”
For information about financial aid giving opportunities, please contact Caitlin Gasiorski, associate director of campaign and gift planning, at caitlin.gasiorski@trincoll.edu or 860-297-2406.