Kean University

Volume 1
Issue 9
K E A N
• Holocaust Survivor to Speak
at Kean
• Student Turns in a Gold-Medal
Performance
• New Program Inspires Students
• HBO’s Taking Chance – A Kean
Connection

Human Rights Institute
Hosts Holocaust Survivor,
Educator and Author
The Human Rights Institute at Kean
University will host Holocaust survivor,
educator and author Dr. Suzanne
Vromen, for two presentations and
book signings, Shedding Light on Dark
Times, Belgian Nuns and their Daring
Rescue of Young Jews from the Nazis.
Vromen will appear on Monday, March
23, from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the
Center for Academic Success, Room
106; and from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the
University Center, Room 226.
A professor emeritus at Bard College,
Vromen is the author of Hidden Children
of the Holocaust, Belgian Nuns and
their Daring Rescue of Young Jews from
the Nazis, published by Oxford University
Press in May 2008.
The book recounts the heroic tale of
Belgian nuns who sheltered and cared
for Jewish children living in occupied
Belgium during World War II.
Vromen’s own experience as a Holocaust
survivor guided her research. She was living
in Belgium in 1940 when the Germans
invaded. A year later, she and her
family escaped and found refuge in the
Belgian Congo. “Recalling her ‘initial
bewilderment at being plunged suddenly
into a Catholic milieu,’ Vromen was able
to connect at the deepest level with the
surviving rescuers and former hidden
children she interviewed,” wrote Booklist
editor and reviewer Donna Seaman.
A longtime professor at Bard, Vromen
co-founded the college’s Women's Studies
Program and directed it for eight
years. She recently taught as a Fulbright
senior specialist at the Buber Institute
of the Free University of Brussels. She
has also held numerous workshops for
high school teachers under the auspices
of the Facing History and Ourselves
organization.
The Human Rights Institute at Kean
University, along with Kean’s Jewish
Studies & World
Affairs program,
Women’s Studies
program, M.A. in
Holocaust & Genocide
Studies program
and the Holocaust
Resource Center, will
sponsor Vromen’s presentation.
The Human Rights Institute at Kean
University aims to raise awareness of
human rights violations worldwide. The
Institute will move to its new home, an
addition to the Nancy Thompson Library,
this fall. The new home will include
a state-of-art gallery to highlight
issues, artwork and publications related
to human rights violations and victories
around the world.
“A sober and moving addition to our
knowledge. Well written... fascinating...
a very detailed portrait of a unique
World War II and Holocaust experience.”
— JERUSALEM POST
KEANFOCUS • VOLUME 1, ISSUE 9
Page 2

The Second Annual
Human Rights Conference
The Human Rights Institute at Kean University hosted its
second annual conference, Slavery in the Twenty-first Century,
on Friday, February 13. A crowd of nearly 800 people,
including students and teachers from throughout New Jersey,
as well as members of the Kean University community
and the general public, filled Wilkins Theatre.
“Thank you for making the conference a special day
for my students and me! Having a chance to meet
with Dr. Bales was a memorable experience. The
book from Ishmael Beah will be a cherished and well
read addition to discussions in my classroom. I look
forward to visiting Kean University in the near future
for other exciting conferences.”
— TODD KAUL
JFK MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL
ISELIN, NJ
CLICK HERE to view additional photos from the
conference.
Kean Hosts NAACP
Leadership Workshop
In celebration of Black History Month, the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
held the Leadership, Collaboration and Action workshop in
Kean University’s Downs Hall on February 20. Governor Jon
S. Corzine and Secretary of State Nina M. Wells served as
guest speakers. Both discussed the importance of youth participation
in leading change in the United States.
“Governors and presidents don’t change the world,” said
Corzine. “You change the world when you participate and
that is what members of the NAACP are doing.”
Kean University hosted the event for more than 350 high
school students and teachers from across the state. In addition
to the keynote address, the students also attended
workshop sessions on a broad range of topics.
Author and
Activist Ishmael Beah
KEANFOCUS • VOLUME 1, ISSUE 9
Page 3

DRAMATIC ACHIEVEMENTS
Kean Students Stage Epic
Performances at College
Theatre Festival Audition
Each year, the Kennedy
Center American College
Theatre Festival
(KCACTF) conducts
regional festivals, allowing
each part of the
country to present the
finest work being done
by university theatre
departments. One of
the most notable events of the annual festival is the
Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Audition, a competition
that is widely considered the Olympics of
university theatre, with only the best and brightest
talents showcasing their skills.
This year, Kean University placed three acting
pairs in the finals at the 41 st KCACTF Region II,
held in January at the University of the Arts in
Philadelphia. Dustin Ballard (above) with Ralph
Saro, Danielle Barchetto with T.J. McNeill, and
Shabazz Green with Saro, advanced from a field
of 244 students, plus their acting partners, to the
final 16 contestants.
from Stephen Dietz’s Lonely Planet, and paired with
Saro to perform scenes from Guirgis’ Our Lady of
121 st Street and Griffin’s The Boys Next Door.
The fourth time proved to be the charm for Ballard,
who had competed in the competition since his
freshman year. He credits the pair’s acting coach,
Gail Winar, an adjunct professor in Kean’s Department
of Theatre, with sharpening their timing and
encouraging them to delve deeper into their characters.
Ballard further attributed his success to the education
he has received while attending Kean on a
full-tuition School of Visual and Performing Arts
Scholarship. “It was such a validation that everything
I have learned here at Kean is working for me,”
said Ballard.
Ballard’s ultimate goal is to become a working professional
– but it’s not exactly a singular plan. “I’m
one of those people whose love of theatre bleeds
into many different things,” he said. “I’d love to act,
direct, stage manage and write. I also want to be a
professor of theatre and promote theatre in higher
education.”
Ballard turned in a gold-medal performance, as he
was one of only two winners of the Irene Ryan Acting
Scholarship, making him eligible to participate
in the Irene Ryan national finals at the Kennedy
Center in April. The senior B.F.A. theatre major
from Gulfport, Miss., performed a monologue
As far as Ballard is concerned, his timing is perfect.
“I’m definitely in the right place at the right time!” he
exclaimed.
KEANFOCUS • VOLUME 1, ISSUE 9 Page 4

New Sociology & Social Justice
Program Inspires Students
More than a dozen students embarked on an academic
journey in the Master of Arts in sociology and
social justice program this fall. Comprised of students
who represent a wide diversity of social backgrounds and
academic disciplines, as well as life and work experiences,
the inaugural class is the foundation for the program’s future.
“Our students demonstrate unusual intellectual
sophistication, passion for creating justice and successful
work in a rigorous academic environment,” said Dr. José
Sánchez, program coordinator and chair of the Department
of Sociology and Anthropology.
In November, the inaugural class was honored in a reception
in the CAS Gallery. Among the guests were Cornell
Brooks, executive director of the New Jersey Institute for
Social Justice in Newark, N.J., and Robert Stack, founder,
president and chief executive officer of Community Options,
a nationally based non-profit organization providing
housing, support services and advocacy assistance to help
empower people with differing abilities.
Special guests Cornell Brooks (second from left) and Robert Stack (right) with
the M.A. in sociology and social justice program’s inaugural class.
“I am honored to be part of a program that strives to promote change and
achieve social justice by confronting challenges the world continues to face.”
- Shareen Davenport
“We’re constantly challenged to think differently about various life experiences
and interactions,” said Diane Brown, a student in the program. “The
students and professors have created an atmosphere that fosters frank and
honest discussion and often debate.”
Unique in the state and region, the 36-credit program is grounded on the
traditional core areas of sociology with a direct link to the academic focus of
social justice. “There is a lot of work to be done in the sociology and social
justice arena,” said Christina Vazquez, now in her second semester. “This
program is preparing us to excel in the field and to make a difference.”
The program’s curriculum integrates theory and practice offering opportunities
to explore the boundaries of the shared intellectual and applied interests
in these fields. The program aims to inspire students with principles of
egalitarianism and equity in preparation for positions in research, teaching,
public service and business in both private and non-profit sectors.
(l-r) Dr. Carol Williams, chair of the Department of Social
Work, Dr. José Sánchez, program coordinator and chair
of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Dr.
Maureen Himchak, assistant professor in the Department
of Social Work, and Dr. Jack Kamerman, professor in the
Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
KEANFOCUS • Vo l u m e 1, Issue 9 Page 5

A Chance Taken at
Kean University
Bacon’s performance is one of his best, stoicism raised to the
level of art, yet not without warm, human moments -- sort
of Clint Eastwood with soul. Or heart.
-Washington Post
The HBO Films presentation of Taking Chance starring Kevin Bacon as Desert Storm
veteran, Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, USMC, aired in late February. Directed by two-time
Oscar-nominated producer Ross Katz, the film portrays the cross-country journey taken
by soldiers every day that bear witness to the fallen and literally carry them home. If
you think scenes from the movie looked familiar, you are probably correct as part of the
docudrama was shot in the Harwood Arena lobby.
The story is based on the personal journal of Lt. Col. Strobl who, while checking the
casualty lists of soldiers, stumbled upon the name of 19 year-old Lance Corporal
Chance Phelps who had been killed by hostile fire in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.
Strobl requested that he be assigned for military escort duty to accompany
Phelps’ remains to his hometown in Dubois, Wyo., a practiced
observed when a dead soldier returns home.
In July 2007, approximately 250 members of the cast, crew
and extras transformed the Harwood Arena lobby into a
Philadelphia Airport checkpoint where Strobl was asked
to remove his jacket by an employee of the Transportation
Safety Administration.
Actor Kevin Bacon (center) posed for a photo outside Harwood Arena with Kean
alumna Marisa Landolfi (second from left) and Kean’s Theatre Management and
Programming staff (l-r) Tasliym Twinamaani, Harry Gambini and Yadira Hernandez.
The Taking Chance crew inside Harwood Arena. Pictured
right is Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, USMC (Ret.) who wrote the
journal Taking Chance while serving with the Marine Corps
Combat Development Command in Quantico in April 2004.
Page 6
KEANFOCUS • Vo l u m e 1, Issue 9

Maya Angelou to Speak at
Nathan Weiss Graduate Commencement Ceremony
Award-winning author and celebrated poet, Maya Angelou, will speak at the Nathan
Weiss Graduate College commencement ceremony at the New Jersey Performing
Arts Center on May 12. Angelou has authored 12 bestselling books, including her most
famous work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which was nominated for a National Book
Award and later turned into a television movie.
Angelou’s volume of poetry Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Diiie, was nominated
for the Pulitzer Prize. Well known for her ability to touch the hearts of her audience,
Angelou gave a moving reading of her poem On the Pulse of Morning at William Jefferson
Clinton’s inauguration in 1993.
“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead,
pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.”
- Maya Angelou
KEANFOCUS • Vo l u m e 1, Issue 9 Page 7

Liberty Hall Museum’s
Annual Easter Egg Hunt
Saturday, April 11 at 12 p.m.
Inspired by the famous White House Easter Egg Roll, children will explore
the museum’s 23 acres searching for treasures hidden throughout the
historic landscape. For reservations, call (908) 527-0400 or
e-mail libertyhall@kean.edu.
Admission is $5 per child
Reservations are required.
Children must be
accompanied by an adult.
Liberty Hall Museum
1003 Morris Avenue
Union, N.J. 07083
www.kean.edu/libertyhall
caféYuMBA
Now OPEN East Campus First Floor
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