Georgian Court University Magazine

Sister Rosemary Honored by Two Area Organizations
Sister Rosemary found herself in very
good company this spring when she
was named a Woman of Distinction
by the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore.
Along with Major Wendy J. Galloway, the
first female major with the New Jersey State
Police; Kathleen Ellis, the chief operating
officer of New Jersey Natural Gas; Sylvia
Allen, the president and founder of a school
in Uganda; and Gina Petillo, a woman
who has made volunteering an integral part
of her life, GCU President Rosemary E.
Jeffries, RSM, Ph.D., ’72 joined a group of
83 extraordinary women who have made a
difference in the lives of girls in Monmouth
and Ocean counties and beyond.
Sister Rosemary was honored for her
presidency of Georgian Court, during
which she has spearheaded the largest
fund-raising effort in the university’s
history, the Campaign for Georgian Court,
which raised $17.2 million and helped
guarantee continued excellence in women’s
education, including a strong women’s
leadership component.
“The Sisters of Mercy, who sponsor
Georgian Court, certainly have a long
history of special concern for women,
providing education and programs that
help to form young women with sets of
values,” said Sister Rosemary. “We have lots
in common, therefore, with the Girl Scouts,
and I consider this a wonderful recognition
of that legacy.”
The 2009 Women of Distinction were
honored at a dinner at Jumping Brook
Country Club in Neptune on April 7.
Two months later, Sister Rosemary was
again honored, this time by the Alcoholism
and Drug Abuse Council of Ocean Inc.
(ADACO) at a June 9 dinner at the
Crystal Point in Point Pleasant. ADACO
is a private, non-profit corporation whose
primary mission is to reduce the incidence
and prevalence of alcoholism, other drug
addiction, and related problems. Sister
Rosemary and Lakewood Township
Committeeman and former Lakewood
Mayor Raymond G. Coles were honored
as “Citizens of the Year” for their
contributions to the Lakewood community.
Georgian Court University
congratulates Sister Rosemary on these
outstanding honors!
Celebrating the 2009 Women of Distinction
are: (standing in back row) Tom Hayes,
event co-chair, New Jersey Natural Gas;
Major Wendy Galloway, honoree; Susan
H. McClure, CEO, Girl Scouts of the
Jersey Shore; JoAnn McCann, president,
Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore; Roberta
Sheridan, event co-chair, JCP&L; (sitting)
Kathleen Ellis, honoree; Sister Rosemary
Jeffries, honoree; Gina Petillo, honoree;
Sylvia Allen, honoree.
Holocaust Exhibit Raises Awareness of the History of Genocide
In April, members of the GCU
Department of Art faculty brought
a sobering, yet enlightening, exhibit
to the M. Christina Geis Art Gallery in
recognition of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust
Remembrance Day. Assembled by curators
Lisa Festa, Ph.D., assistant professor of
art; Kathleen Settles, gallery coordinator;
and José Gonzalez, lecturer in art, the
Holocaust Memorial Exhibit took several
years to come to fruition.
“After reading an article about
genocide in National Geographic in January
2006, I was inspired to apply for a grant
to study at the International School for
Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem in Israel,”
says Dr. Festa. “And what I learned there, I wanted to share with
others through art and culture.”
The exhibit featured the history of anti-Semitism throughout
the ages, a timeline of the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party, and
focused on the implementation of laws against Jews as well as the
Nazis’ censorship of art and culture.
The exhibition highlighted the ghettos of Warsaw, Poland,
This photo of the electrified fence at
Auschwitz by Dr. Festa was part of
the extensive multimedia exhibit held
April 6 to 24.
and Terezín, Czechoslovakia, as well as the
concentration camps of Dachau, Germany,
and Auschwitz/Birkenau, Poland. It also
featured historic photographs of the
liberation of the camps near the end of the
war. The exhibition paid tribute to several
rescuers and the “righteous among nations,”
and ended with a display about genocides in
other lands since World War II.
The exhibit attracted “a constant flow of
people,” says Ms. Settles. Members of local
congregations; students from local public
schools, including those in the Upward
Bound program at Lakewood High School;
and residents of a local assisted living
facility all came through before the exhibit
ended. The wonderful feedback from the visitors has encouraged the
exhibit curators to designate the first three weeks of April each year for
honoring the victims of the Holocaust in the gallery.
“A mother came through with her 14-year-old son,” says
Ms. Settles, “and called me later to thank us for providing such an
educational, dynamic lesson. It’s nice to know that we’ve made that
kind of impact.”
GEORGIAN COURT UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE | 31