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Posted on Tue, Jun 3, 2008 Zoom + | Zoom -
Scholarship fund memorializes former city alderman, state senator
By Victor Zapana, Special to the Register
The life of a son of New Haven is soon to be celebrated — through a scholarship.
A fundraiser for the new Sen. Chuck Allen III Scholarship Fund will take place at 6 p.m. June 11 at N Boutique, 114 W. 116
St., New York City, said Todd Roulette, Allen’s partner and principal scholarship organizer.
The fundraiser costs $25 per ticket. It will include a raffle, a disc jockey and a performance by actor Cornelius Jones using
excerpts from his show "Flagboy."
"When you are talking about students of color, a lot of time with the economic realities for them, they need a lot of help,"
Roulette said. "This is a good bridge."
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Allen was active in the New Haven political scene for 26 years, serving as a Newhallville alderman, a state senator and a
special assistant for Mayor John DeStefano Jr. Later, Allen moved to Harlem with Roulette. He died in February due to kidney
cancer. He was 54.
The scholarship was established shortly after Allen’s death. It aims to remember Allen’s public service and parish
activism, according to organizers. It will aid high school minority students in the tri-state area who demonstrate financial
need and wish to study public or urban studies, law, accounting and management.
Although plans for the scholarship have not been finalized, the group hopes to have details ready soon after the fundraiser,
said event co-Chairman Seth Andrew. He added that event organizers hope to raise $10,000.
Andrew, head of school for the Democracy Prep Charter School in Harlem, N.Y., said the aim of the scholarship is to "make
sure our kids were great citizens and have passion for civic duty." Of the event, he said he is hopeful of a good turnout.
When he lived in Harlem, Allen, Andrew’s neighbor, helped to organize and fund a $5.5 million building for the Democracy
Prep Charter School.
DeStefano said he is pleased the program has been created.
"It’s a fitting acknowledgement," he said. "It makes me feel good because it’s something that Chuck would be pleased
with."
Willette Carlton, who is selling tickets to the event and is a member of the scholarship board, attends Harlem’s St.
Philip’s Church, where she met Allen and Roulette at services.
Carlton, an adjunct professor at Touro College in Manhattan and a Brooklyn, N.Y., resident, said she was excited to be a part
of the event and scholarship fund because it will encourage kids to participate in local politics and civic engagement.Allen’s
life also will be featured in the PBS program "In the Life" in the fall.
To contribute to the Sen. Chuck Allen III Scholarship Fund, send cash or a check to St. Philip’s Church Federal Credit
Union, Sen. Chuck Allen III Scholarship Fund, 204 W. 134 St., New York, N.Y. 10030.
Victor Zapana is a New Haven Register intern.
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New Haven Independent
It's Your Town. Read All About It.
Chuck Allen Remembered
BY PAUL BASS | FEBRUARY 21, 2008 11:01 AM | PERMALINK | COMMENTS (2)
Paul Bass Photo “New Haven and Harlem,” Father Blunt said, “have come together.”
Father Howard Blunt was presiding over the funeral Wednesday night of a memorable son of New Haven, former Alderman and State
Sen. Chuck Allen.The funeral took place at St. Philip’s Church in Harlem, where Allen spent the last years of his life
living with his partner, Tod Roulette, and battling cancer. He died after 13 surgeries. Click here for a previous story discussing
his impact on New Haven, where he was for decades he had a reputation as one of the most intelligent, critical thinkers on
citywide issues as well as an unpredictable, engaging warrior in the political trenches.
Click on the play arrow to watch highlights of the funeral.
Speakers included Harlem State Assemblyman Keith L. T. Wright, who read this statement written by New Haven Mayor John DeStefano
(“Chuck was a New Haven original in every way you could imagine”); former Newhallville Alderman Willie Greene,
who in addition to memorializing Allen’s community work took some shots at the mayor; New Haven developer/ architect
Wendell Harp, who compared Allen to Joshua in the Old Testament; and another former Newhallville alderwoman, Teddi Glover.
Father Blunt spoke of visiting Allen in the hospital while he was recovering from one of his 13 surgeries, his life heading
toward its end. He expected to find Allen laid up in bed. Instead, a nurse directed him to a computer room. There, Allen was
working on volunteering his expertise — he was an accountant as well as one of the city’s savviest political strategists
— to a New Haven group working on health care challenges facing blacks and Hispanics.
The funeral took place on the same day that Jason Bartlett of Connecticut became the first sitting black state legislator
in the country to come out of the closet. Chuck Allen, too, was a gay black legislator; he came out years later, in 2004,
in an interview found, in installments, here, here, and here.
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