New Providence Resident Appointed to New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education
Tuesday, August 7, 2012 • 3:14pm
New Providence resident Paul Gibbons, Chairman of Seton Hall University’s Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies (SRTF), has been appointed to the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education. His appointment was made by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Gibbons is one of 23 Commission members of the statewide organization, created by legislation passed in March 1994.
A trustee of the Sister Rose Thering Fund since 1991, Gibbons was elected chairman in 2008. He is active with the Newark Archdiocese, and frequently lectures on anti-Semitism in its churches. Gibbons is an adjunct professor in the Religious Studies Department at Seton Hall, having retired in 2009 from Pearson Scott Foresman, an educational publishing company.
Sister Rose Thering Fund Executive Director Dr. David Bossman said, “The trustees of the Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies are enormously proud of Paul’s recent appointment. Each of us feels a deep obligation to furthering the legacy of Sister Rose as we strive to eliminate bigotry and discrimination, and Paul exemplifies our role in this endeavor. His devotion to our mission is evident not only through his work as Fund chairman, but also as a participant on committees that enable us to raise scholarship dollars for public, parochial and private school teachers who are enrolled in Jewish-Christian Studies classes at Seton Hall. Paul will be an important asset to the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education.”
New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education Executive Director Dr. Paul Winkler expressed his pleasure at having Gibbons serve on the Commission. He said, “Paul Gibbons will be an outstanding Commission member, utilizing his skills that he has carried out with the Sister Rose Thering Fund and his deep commitment to reducing the evils of bias, prejudice and intolerance wherever and whenever they exist.
The core mission of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education is to promote Holocaust education in the State of New Jersey. On a continual basis, the Commission surveys the status of Holocaust/Genocide Education; designs, encourages and promotes the implementation of Holocaust and genocide education and awareness; provides programs in New Jersey; and coordinates designated events that provide appropriate memorialization of the Holocaust on a regular basis throughout the state. The Commission provides assistance and advice to public and private schools and meets with county and local school officials, as well as with other interested public and private organizations, to assist with the study of the Holocaust and genocide.
The Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies was created and named in honor of Sister Rose Thering, O.P., Ph.D., in recognition and appreciation of her exemplary dedication throughout her life to improving Jewish-Christian relations through teacher education, especially at the elementary and secondary school levels. The goals of the Fund’s programs are to reduce prejudice born of ignorance and misperception, to promote means for the conveying the richness of the Jewish and Christian traditions accurately and without bias and to foster cooperation among Jews and Christians in areas of common social welfare. More than 350 teachers throughout New Jersey have benefited from Fund scholarships for their studies at Seton Hall University’s Jewish-Christian Studies graduate program during the past 19 years, and have had an impact on more than 150,000 students in their classes.
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