Confratute

In July 1978, University of Connecticut Neag School of Education Professor Joseph Renzulli created a new summer program called Confratute. Renzulli blended the words conference, fraternity, and institute into a new word that describes one of the longest-running summer institutes of its kind in gifted education. Renzulli's expanded definition of giftedness (the three-ring conception of giftedness) enabled a broader population of students to be identified and receive services and was considered a bold, and somewhat controversial, idea in the 1970s.

Confratute is sponsored by the Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development; for the past 30 years this summer program has attracted classroom teachers, gifted education specialists, counselors, school psychologists, and principals. Confratute is based on the premise that enrichment, enjoyment, and encouragement can be ...