Rochester: It’s a Family Affair for the Kapners

University of Rochester connections run deep for the Kapner family. With Julianne Kapner’s 2019 graduation, the family proudly includes nine Rochester alumni now. Five of them—including Julianne’s parents, uncle, and grandparents along with other family members—attended Commencement this year to celebrate her achievement.

It was exciting for Julianne to have so many family members here for her graduation—a different experience than many of her peers had. “On one hand, I had to accept that it wasn’t just ‘my’ day, it was really a family day,” she says. “We celebrated not only my graduation but our family’s special ties to—and memories associated with—their time at Rochester.

“As a legacy student, you approach attending here in a different way than others,” Julianne adds. “You have a bit more loyalty when you arrive. Even though I was new here, I knew a little about the place, and I could tell people about good places to study and eat. It provided a degree of comfort when there were so many new experiences unfolding.”

The Kapner-Rochester family tree

It all started with Julianne’s grandparents. Stephen Kapner ’60 was a history major who minored in non-western civilizations, which, he says, contributed to his life’s work: teaching, heading up schools, and serving as an educational consultant in Bangladesh, India, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, and Afghanistan.

Stephen’s younger brother, John Kapner ’62, went to Rochester as well, and was a chemical engineering major. Both were members of Sigma Chi. Stephen and Barbara, who attended Highland Hospital’s nursing school, had two boys, Robert Kapner ’86 and Stephen Kapner II ’84. Serendipitously, that’s two generations of Kapner brothers who went to Rochester together, and with just two years spaced between them.

Robert would later marry Mary Webb ’86. Together, they had two daughters, Julianne and Emily. Although Robert, a geomechanics major, and Mary, a geology major, went to Rochester at the same time, they didn’t meet until after graduating. Mary was drawn to Rochester for its collegiate environment and music. For Robert, he liked the idea of geology and engineering. Eventually, both of them became educators.

Mary and her good friend Ellen Walters ’86 were in Vocal Point, one of Rochester’s many a cappella groups. Ellen would later marry the brother of Mary’s cousin, Sarah Foster ’85, who attended Rochester at the same time—yet another family connection to Rochester.”

Some family stories

Family lore has it that when Grandpa Stephen was home on a break and got his mother upset, she called the airline and put him on a flight right back to college. Stephen has regaled his family of this story many times, along with the story of how he and Barbara met.

“My fraternity was having a party one night and a bunch of us needed dates, including me. So, I called a friend at Highland Hospital’s nursing school and asked her if she knew some women who would want to join us,” he remembers. “I don’t remember how each person got matched up, but I do recall that Barbara ended up being my brother’s date that night. I did notice her though, and the day after the party Barbara and some of her friends came back to the frat house because they had forgotten something the night before. The rest is, well, history.”

Stephen and Barbara had their first kiss on the Eastman Quad, near where the George Eastman statue stands today. “While there for Julianne’s graduation, we even reenacted that great event at the same spot for the family,” laughs Stephen.

Julianne has her own stories, too. For instance, when she was early into her freshman year, she came down with classic homesickness. So, she rang her father. They talked about her classes and life on campus, and he shared memories of his time here. It was cathartic.

“My dad asked me where I liked to study, and I told him the Wells-Brown room in Rush Rhees Library,” she says. “He told me that he studied there, too, and just hearing that painted a picture in my head of my dad there, in the same space as me. It was reassuring and became a moment I will always remember.”

Coincidentally, Julianne and her father shared the same view out of their dorm room windows. For a time, Julianne lived in Morgan 420; her dad had lived in Morgan 520. Julianne would later live in the same suite as did her cousin, Sarah, on the Music Interest floor. And, Julianne and her mother would talk about how they both went sledding on the same hill behind Sage Hall, just decades apart.

Growing up, many of the family stories Julianne heard were about Rochester. “As a kid, my picture of college was the University of Rochester,” she adds. “My mother even sang the Dandelion Yellow song to me when I was little. And, by the time I came here, I knew The Genesee—the University’s alma mater—by heart.”

Why Rochester?

“My family didn’t put any pressure on me to apply, but I was curious if I would be accepted,” she says. “I got in, visited, learned about the place, and realized that this would be a good fit for me, too.” The linguistics program clinched it for Julianne, who was impressed with what Rochester had to offer. She majored in it and minored in classical civilizations.

Once on campus, Julianne became very involved in academic pursuits and student life. She’s a percussionist, too, drawn here—like her mom—for the music on campus and at Eastman. She was a member of the Linguistics Undergraduate Council, Grassroots (an environmental club), Swing Dance Club, wind symphony, symphony orchestra, and the Students Association for Interfaith Cooperation. She was also a peer advisor, participated in undergraduate research, studied abroad in Greece and Ghana, and took music lessons at Eastman School of Music.

With her degree in hand, Julianne moved to Washington, D.C. right after graduation. She works at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association as a research assistant. Someday, she’d like to get a PhD in linguistics.

“Everyone in my family came here for their own reasons,” she says. “This is a special place where I’ve made lifelong friends and connections. My family did, too, and we are all happy to be University of Rochester alumni.”

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