The spirit of goodwill and compassion was felt throughout the night at the 12th Annual Evening of Roses, which took place on Monday evening, April 4, at The Crystal Plaza in Livingston. More than 400 people attended the gala fundraiser dinner that benefits Seton Hall’s Sister Rose Thering Endowment for Jewish-Christian Studies, which was established in 1993 and named for Sister Rose Thering, O.P., Ph.D., professor emerita. Philanthropists Sylvia and David Steiner were honored at the gala as Humanitarians of the Year.

This year’s event raised nearly $200,000 to benefit the Sister Rose Thering Endowment, which provides tuition assistance to teachers and administrators in public, private and parochial schools who take courses in Seton Hall’s Graduate Department of Jewish-Christian Studies. It also supports the development of curriculum resources and workshops for educators.

"Aiming to establish dialogue between Christians and Jews through educators and young people, the endowment has attracted more than 350 teachers and scholars to this University to enroll in graduate courses about the Holocaust and Jewish-Christian relations," said Thomas Lindsay, Ph.D., University provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. "These teachers, many of whom are here tonight, have learned well and have had a profound impact on at least 150,000 students during their careers. They will, with your help and the support of Seton Hall, continue to do so for many years to come."

Sister Rose’s Passion, a 39-minute documentary that chronicles the life of Sister Rose and her activities on behalf of Jewish-Christian relations, was screened at the gala. The documentary received an Academy Award nomination this year in the Best Documentary (Short Subject) category. The film premiered at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, where it won Best Documentary Short.

Funded in part by the Steiners, long-time supporters of the Sister Rose Thering Endowment, the film features Sister Rose speaking to students about the Holocaust; visiting the convent in Wisconsin where she became a nun; praying in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at Seton Hall; and attending meetings of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, of which she is a founding member.

The Steiners are West Orange residents and prominent community leaders with a long history of public service and political activism on local, national and global levels. They are founding members of the Jewish Family Services (JFS) Horizons Endowment Fund. Both have been involved in the United Jewish Communities of Metro West; the American Jewish Committee; the National Jewish Democratic Council; the Washington Institute for Near East Policy; and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a group with whom Sister Rose has also had a long-time association. Sylvia is an active JFS board member, and David was recently appointed a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

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