Stockton University News - October 2016

Stockton team members are expected to be able to attend the flight’s launch in Cape Canaveral, Fla. After the design phase and space flight, students will analyze the samples returned to Earth.

As part of Stockton’s commitment to STEM education and community outreach, faculty and staff will work with local K-12 school districts as part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. Stockton students and K-12 students are also competing to design patches to be embroidered for Mission 11’s flight to the ISS.

The faculty mentors include Jason Shulman, assistant professor of Physics; Tara Luke, associate professor of Biology; Peter Straub, dean of the School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics; Pamela Cohn, assistant professor of Chemistry; Norma Boakes, associate professor of Education; and Melissa Zwick, assistant professor of Biology.

Jeff Goldstein, head of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education visited Stockton Oct. 17-18 and gave a public lecture in Stockton’s Performing Arts Center followed by lunch with Stockton students participating in the Mission 11 program.

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Stockton Hosts ‘Drawing Against Oblivion’ Exhibit

Internationally known artist Manfred Bockelmann donated seven portraits of the murdered brothers and sisters of area Holocaust survivors to Stockton on Oct. 26. The large-scale drawings, are part of Bockelmann’s “Drawing Against Oblivion” exhibit, being shown at Stockton’s Art Gallery. 

In an act of generosity with impact for generations to come, internationally known artist Manfred Bockelmann donated seven portraits of the murdered brothers and sisters of area Holocaust survivors to Stockton University on Oct. 26. View photos here.

The large-scale drawings, done in charcoal on burlap, are part of Bockelmann’s “Drawing Against Oblivion” exhibition, were shown for the first time in the United States at Stockton’s Art Gallery.

“I want to get these children back out of the darkness, and I will continue to draw my portraits as long as I can,” Bockelmann has said. The artist, who was born in Austria in 1943, had asked himself what happened to all those children born the same year as he who, unlike him, suffered a terrible fate. To date, he has drawn over 120 portraits.

Overcome with emotion as he prepared to sign the gift agreement, he told the gathered Stockton students, faculty, staff and members of the community: “It is an honor for me to be here today. Thank you.”

Stockton University is deeply honored to receive the gift of these extraordinary portraits by Mr. Bockelmann of the brothers and sisters of Holocaust survivors who are members of our community. These portraits speak to the unrelenting question of the artist, “What happened to the children who lay in the wrong cradle?”

Stockton is determined that future generations will learn about the Holocaust and other genocides, to ensure that they never happen again.

Philip Ellmore, chief development officer and executive director of the University Foundation, thanked Bockelmann for his “tremendous generosity to Stockton.”

The portraits of local survivors’ siblings depict Erika Fisch, the sister of Ruth Fisch Kessler of Ventnor, N.J.; David Dov Granek, the brother of Hanna Granek Ehrlich, of Margate, N.J.; Tova and Yossel Altman, the sister and brother of the late Jadzia Altman Greenbaum, who resided in Margate, N.J.; Zigmush and Ruth Berkowitz, the nephew and sister of the late Esther Berkowitz, who resided in Ventnor, N.J.; Sy Zuchter, 16, the brother of the late Janet Moskowitz of Ventnor, N.J.; and Ida Rebecca Kohn, sister of Murray Kohn of Vineland, rabbi emeritus of Beth Israel Congregation of Vineland, N.J., and Stockton professor emeritus of Holocaust Studies.

Survivors Kessler, Ehrlich and Kohn and extended family of all those portrayed were present and each survivor family received a large framed photo of their family member’s portrait at a private reception.

Hundreds of Stockton students also have visited the exhibit, as part of a class or as individuals, and some were trained as docents, or guides.

“Docents are Stockton students from all different majors,” said Gail Rosenthal, director of the Sara & Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center. “It’s helping them with public speaking and giving them self confidence in learning about a history that they didn’t realize paralleled some of today’s issues.”

“Drawing Against Oblivion” was first exhibited in Vienna in 2013, and seen by over 88,000 visitors. Final Frame, an international film crew based in Munich, Germany, has been shadowing Bockelmann over time as he works on his historic project. The crew came to Stockton to film Bockelmann in 2014, when he presented Kohn with his sister’s portrait. They are making an eight-minute film about the October events to be shown in classrooms.

Their documentary, “Drawing Against Oblivion,” which has won numerous state, national and international awards, was screened in the University’s Campus Center. The day also featured panel discussions about the art works with Bockelmann, the film’s producer and director, and members of the Stockton faculty and staff.

“This is the most rewarding thing I have ever done,” said Hussong.  She said she is proud and happy that Stockton is the first site in the United States, and first academic institution, to display the exhibition. “I couldn’t think of a better place.”

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Atlantic County Improvement Authority Bond Sales Back Future Atlantic City Gateway Project

The Atlantic County Improvement Authority closed the sale of $78,980,000 Lease Revenue Bonds and $48,025,000 County Guaranteed Revenue Bonds that will be used to finance a portion of the future Atlantic City Gateway Project.

Stockton passed another milestone last month when the Atlantic County Improvement Authority (ACIA) closed the sale of $78,980,000 Lease Revenue Bonds and $48,025,000 County Guaranteed Revenue Bonds that will be used to finance a portion of the future Atlantic City Gateway Project.

Site work has begun for the site, located at the intersection of Atlantic, Albany and Pacific avenues. Stockton plans to open the site in 2018 with about 1,000 students, with room for future growth.

The support of Atlantic County and the ACIA over the last eight months with this bond transaction is a vital component of the plan of finance for the project. The University is grateful to all the members of the Office of the County Executive, the county freeholders and members of the Atlantic County Improvement Authority for their commitment to the project and our region.

The $78.9 million in ACIA bonds are backed by rent revenue from Stockton; the $48 million in bonds are backed by the sale of almost $70 million in tax credits issued by the N.J. Economic Development Authority and a guaranty of the county.

Other funding sources for the Atlantic City Gateway Project include $22 million from a Capital Improvement Fund (CIF) grant awarded in July by the N.J. Secretary of Higher Education; an $8.3 million contribution from South Jersey Gas, $2.1 million in developer’s equity and $18 million from Stockton.

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Faculty, Students Benefit from Stockton’s Exchange Program with Aristotle University

Through an ongoing exchange program with Aristotle University, students had the opportunity to learn about  American studies and American literature from an international perspective when Tatiani Rapatzikou, an assistant professor at Aristotle University, visited Stockton earlier this month. 

Through an ongoing exchange program with Aristotle University, our students had the opportunity to learn about American studies and American literature from an international perspective when Tatiani Rapatzikou, an assistant professor at Aristotle University in Greece, visited Stockton earlier this month.

From Oct. 10-Oct. 14, Rapatzikou, who teaches in the Department of American Literature and Culture in the School of English, taught several classes at Stockton, including graduate American Studies classes with Deborah Gussman, professor of American Literature; Robert Gregg, dean of General Studies; and Linda Nelson, professor emerita; as well as undergraduate courses taught by John O’Hara, associate professor of Critical Thinking and First Year Studies; David Roessel, professor of Greek Language & Literature; and Tom Papademetriou, professor of History.

Rapatzikou also presented a public lecture about digital poetry, and what poetry writing and reading means in the era of digital literary practice.

“One of the goals of the exchange,” explained Kristin Jacobson, associate professor of American Literature, American Studies and Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies, “is to consider American culture in an international context. Through their formal and informal interactions with Dr. Rapatzikou, Stockton students, staff and faculty were able to discuss a range of topics—from the upcoming presidential election to a novel by Willa Cather—with an international scholar.”

This past summer, Jacobson became the first Stockton faculty member to participate in the exchange program with Aristotle University.

Jacobson spent two weeks teaching American literature to students at the university in Thessaloniki, and meeting with graduate students and faculty. She also gave public lectures on adventure and the environment; feminist teaching methods and technology; and creative thinking and writing with a focus on the American wilderness.

“It’s important to think about American culture in a global context – that’s the heart and soul of our graduate degree in American Studies,” she said. “Stockton has a commitment to global education, which is needed because our culture doesn’t exist in isolation.”

Jacobson’s role was to begin the exchange of faculty and help to grow the program, which is intended to “find ways for our students to communicate with their students, through virtual and/or real exchanges,” she explained. “Students at both institutions may work on a project together via the Internet,” she added.

Jacobson credited Rapatzikou and Roessel with initiating the exchange program.

“The hospitality of Aristotle University was amazing and the faculty and students were open and welcoming,” she added. “Greek culture is an important node in thinking about globalization and global learning,” which helps prepare Stockton students to be citizens of the world, Jacobson said.

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Annual Fannie Lou Hamer Symposium Features Author, Professor Donna Murch

The 13th annual Fannie Lou Hamer Human and Civil Rights Symposium on Oct. 11 featured a keynote address by Donna Murch, an associate professor of History at Rutgers University, and a panel discussion on the theme, “Civil Rights Then and Now: Miles to Go Before We Sleep.” 

Our 13th Annual Fannie Lou Hamer Human and Civil Rights Symposium on Oct. 11 featured a keynote address by Donna Murch, an associate professor of History at Rutgers University, and a panel discussion on the theme, “Civil Rights Then and Now: Miles to Go Before We Sleep.”

The symposium, which was established by Patricia Reid-Merritt, Distinguished Professor of Social Work & Africana Studies, honors Hamer, a legendary figure in the civil rights movement. Hamer helped to organize the Mississippi Freedom Summer voter registration drive for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and brought Mississippi’s civil rights struggle to the national stage during a televised speech at the 1964 convention in Atlantic City, N.J.

“America has become a prison nation” as civil rights rebellions in the 1960s led to “the elevation of punishment as the solution to all social problems,” said Murch during the symposium’s keynote address.

“Mass incarceration is the new Jim Crow,” Murch told the audience. She said the challenges for today’s generation include downward mobility, state violence, mass incarceration, climate change and a sense of scarcity. But there are also exciting possibilities ahead, she said, including young people’s openness to gender, sexuality and different roles; political activism, the Occupy and Black Lives Matter movements, non-acceptance of state-sanctioned violence; and a pushback against austerity and neoliberalism.

Donnetrice Allison, associate professor of Communication Studies and coordinator of Africana Studies, organized this year’s program, which also featured a panel discussion on civil rights, a video about Hamer’s life, and performances by the Stockton Vocal Jazz Ensemble led by Beverly Vaughn, professor of Music, and Afro-One Dance, Drama and Drum Theatre, Inc.

Christina Jackson, assistant professor of Sociology, moderated the panel discussion with panelists Murch and Adam Miyashiro, associate professor of Literature; John O’Hara, associate professor of Critical Thinking and First Year Studies; and Pastor William Williams of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Atlantic City, N.J.

More than 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, issues such as vote suppression are still plaguing the nation. We need to continue to address the ongoing struggles for freedom and equality.

As Fannie Lou Hamer said, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.”

I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter!

Harvey Kesselman
President, Stockton University