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Seton Hall University

Significant Milestones

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1953

Institute for Judaeo-Christian Studies is Established

Monsignor John M. Oesterreicher arrives at Seton Hall and establishes the Institute for Judaeo-Christian Studies.

Monsignor John M. Oesterreicher arrives at Seton Hall and establishes the Institute for Judaeo-Christian Studies.

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1968

Sister Rose Thering Comes to Seton Hall

Sister Rose Thering, O.P., Ph.D. is hired by Monsignor Oesterreicher to coordinate his programs both on campus and in the community.

Sister Rose Thering, O.P., Ph.D. is hired by Monsignor Oesterreicher to coordinate his programs both on campus and in the community.

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1970-early 2000's

Trips to Israel

Sister Rose organizes and leads 54 tours to Israel for teachers and lay people.

Sister Rose organizes and leads 54 tours to Israel for teachers and lay people.

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1975

Master's Degree in Jewish-Christian Studies Established

Founding of Department of Jewish-Christian Studies offering Master's degree in that subject area.

Founding of Department of Jewish-Christian Studies offering Master's degree in that subject area.

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1985

David M. Bossman, Ph.D.

David M. Bossman, Ph.D. arrives at Seton Hall, serves as Provost and Chair of the Department of Jewish-Christian Studies.

David M. Bossman, Ph.D. arrives at Seton Hall, serves as Provost and Chair of the Department of Jewish-Christian Studies.

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1993

Evening of Roses

Friends of Sister Rose establish an endowment in her honor called the Evening of Roses.

Friends of Sister Rose establish an endowment in her honor that offers scholarships to teachers to take graduate courses in the department. The program is overseen by a board of trustees, by-laws are written and approved, funds are raised through the Evening of Roses when honorary degrees in Humane Letters and Humanitarian of the Year Awards are bestowed on individuals who contribute to fostering and improving interfaith relations.

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1994

Mandate Requires Teaching About the Holocaust

The name of the organization is changed to the Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies.

The State of New Jersey, under then Governor Christine Todd Whitman, establishes a mandate that requires teaching about the Holocaust and genocides in all schools, grade K-12, in New Jersey. Sister Rose, and early advocate for this program, is appointed one of the founding members of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, one of the first such commissions in the United States.

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2004

Sister Rose's Passion Film

Sister Rose's Passion was nominated for an Academy Award.

Sister Rose’s Passion, a short documentary film directed by Oren Jacoby, is released. The film chronicles Sister Rose’s battle against anti-Semitism. It wins the Best Documentary Short Award at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival and is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.

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2006

Sister Rose Thering Passes Away

Sister Rose Thering, O.P, Ph.D., in a wheelchair.

Sister Rose Thering, O.P, Ph.D., passes away on May 6 and is buried in her native home of Racine, Wisconsin.

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2011

Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies

Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish Christian Studies becomes the new name for the organization.

The name of the organization is changed to the Sister Rose Thering Fund for Education in Jewish-Christian Studies in order to clarify its purpose and establish its mission of advancing Sister Rose's legacy of fostering understanding and cooperation among Jews, Christian and people of other religious traditions through advocacy and education. Over the years, the Fund has offered scholarships to well over 400 teachers who have taken the knowledge gained back to their classrooms where they have had an impact in reducing prejudice among their thousands of students.