Graduating from Fiver’s ten-year program marks the beginning of a new chapter in a relationship that can last a lifetime. Through the Fiver Alumni Network, graduates stay connected through events, emails, social media, and opportunities to give back. Sometimes, staying in touch leads to an unexpected opportunity and a new perspective on a familiar community.
For Karla Hernandez-Romero (Colgate ’29), a member of Fiver’s Class of 2025, that connection took on new meaning this summer when she returned to Fiver as a Digital Media Intern. As a current Colgate student, Karla explored the connection between the two communities by interviewing Colgate alumni who have helped shape Fiver’s history and continue to contribute to its mission. Through these conversations, Karla discovered how the relationship between Fiver and Colgate extends across generations, linking her own journey to the stories of those who helped build the community she knows today
Fiver’s founder, Tom Tucker (Colgate ’67), envisioned a program that would make a sustained commitment to young people. After retiring from a nearly twenty-year career at Lehman Brothers, he wanted to dedicate his time to working with children. He initially considered coaching soccer before pursuing a larger idea: creating a place where young people could learn, build relationships, and grow over ten years.
In 1996, Tom discovered the Keefe Family Farm in Poolville, New York, near Colgate University. The owners wanted the land preserved for a meaningful purpose, and Tom saw its potential as a camp. Fiver was founded in 1998, and Camp welcomed its first participants in the summer of 2000.
Colgate relationships helped bring that vision to life. At his thirtieth reunion, Tom shared his dream of starting a program for children. His classmate and Phi Kappa Tau fraternity brother, Ira Haspel (Colgate ’67), connected with the idea. Ira and his late wife, KK Haspel, helped design and construct Camp Fiver. Alongside Tom’s Lehman colleagues and close friends, his Colgate classmates became part of the community that made Fiver possible.
That involvement continued into the next generation. Ira’s son, Max Haspel (Colgate ’95), witnessed his parents’ commitment and became involved through Fiver’s Young Professionals Committee, Advisory Council, and eventually its Board of Directors. Today, as an Emeritus Board member, he continues to support Fiver through stewardship of its endowment. Max also introduced his Colgate classmate, Jenny Perlman Robinson (Colgate ’96), to Fiver. Jenny joined the Board in 2012 and returned in 2022, helping guide the organization as it has grown and evolved.
The connection between Fiver and Colgate also lives through Fiver alumni Gabriela “Gabby” Berroa (Colgate ’15) and Mykel Macedon (Colgate ’19). Both carried the attributes recognized through Fiver’s Dog Tag tradition into college and their lives beyond campus. Gabby drew on self-confidence to claim her space at Colgate, while Mykel leaned on being trustworthy, a team player, a learner, and courageous. Their relationships with Fiver have continued: Gabby now serves on the Board, and Mykel has returned as a summer staff member while working as a Mandarin teacher at Avenues, in New York City.
For Karla, now a Colgate student herself, learning these stories brought new meaning to her own experience. Returning as an intern allowed her to see beyond the programs she knew as a participant and learn about the people whose time, expertise, and relationships helped make them possible.
What began with Tom’s vision has grown through generations of people choosing to stay involved. Classmates became collaborators, participants became alumni, and alumni returned as staff members and Board leaders. Their stories help explain why Fiver’s ten-year commitment can lead to a lifelong connection—and how each generation can help create opportunities for the next.
