Stockton College Scholarship Benefit Gala Raises $475,000 for Students
 President and Mrs. Saatkamp were honored at the 34th Annual Stockton College Scholarship Benefit Gala with an endowed scholarship and recognized for their lifelong commitment to education.
Over 550 guests helped raise more than $475,000 at the 34th Annual Stockton College Scholarship Benefit Gala held at the Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club in Galloway, NJ on Saturday, April 26.
“You Make the Difference,” a fundraising campaign that continues through June 30, has raised over $23 million for facilities, academic programs, scholarships and other operations. Of that total, $10.1 million will be dedicated to scholarships, said Stockton President Herman Saatkamp.
“Scholarships for Stockton’s distinctive students are so important,” said President Saatkamp. “There are thousands of students at Stockton who are talented and impressive. They all count on us to DO MORE.”
“At the Gala in 2012, I announced that through the collective generosity of many we surpassed our $20 million comprehensive campaign goal two years ahead of schedule,” President Saatkamp continued. “At that time, I also announced a ‘Let’s Do More!’ stretch goal to raise an additional $2 million – or more – for scholarships by the completion of the comprehensive campaign in June 2014.
Gala proceeds from the past two years have helped the Stockton College Foundation raise nearly $2.3 million for scholarships, exceeding President Saatkamp’s 'Let’s Do More’ challenge.
“Thank you for helping us to reach that remarkable stretch goal!” President Saatkamp said.
President Saatkamp and his wife, Dorothy, known to all as “Dot,” were honored by the Stockton Board of Trustees with the establishment of the Herman and Dorothy Saatkamp Endowed Scholarship. The trustees have committed $50,000 toward the scholarship, which will also receive net proceeds from the Gala, along with direct gifts and pledges.
In addition, $500,000 to be generated by Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club and Stockton Affiliated Services, Inc. (SASI) over the next five years will be directed to the Saatkamp scholarship.
Curtis Bashaw, chair of the board of trustees, explained: “This evening we have the privilege of honoring Herman & Dot Saatkamp. …The college has thrived under their leadership and now enjoys a wonderful reputation regionally, statewide, nationally, and even internationally.”
President and Mrs. Saatkamp’s 50th wedding anniversary and their lifelong commitment to education also were celebrated at the Gala. President Saatkamp is in his 45th year in higher education, while Mrs. Saatkamp taught in various settings for 39 years.
Stockton Seaview, the region’s premier hotel and golf resort, was honored on its 100th anniversary year.
Seaview, which will again host world-class women golfers at the ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer from May 26-June 1, is steeped in history. The hotel has hosted Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Warren G. Harding, stars including Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and Mick Jagger, and legendary golfers such as Ben Hogan.
Dolce Hotels and Resorts, which operates Stockton Seaview, pledged $125,000 over the next five years to establish a new scholarship for students majoring in Hospitality and Tourism Management.
“Our company is very pleased to be a part of this historic evening and thrilled to be sharing the 100th anniversary by also celebrating the 50th wedding anniversary of Dr. and Mrs. Saatkamp,” said Andy Dolce, founder of Dolce Hotels & Resorts, which operates 26 properties throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe.
“It was Dr. Saatkamp’s vision that resulted in Stockton’s purchase of Seaview and it is fitting that we gather tonight in their honor,” Dolce said.
Student scholarship recipients and donors were also acknowledged and applauded at the event.
The Gala’s top sponsors included: the Chairs’ Circle - Avalon Flooring; Dolce Hotels & Resorts; IBEW Local 351; Summa Cum Laude - The Azeez Foundation; the Cooper Levenson law firm; Dr. Howard and Gayle Gross and Horizon Eye Care; Magna Cum Laude - AtlantiCare; the Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa; Chartwells; Follett Higher Education Group; Kramer Beverage Company & and the Kramer Family Foundation; Marathon Engineering & Environmental Services, Inc. and Dr. Jo Frances Stow.
For more information, visit Stockton.edu/foundation
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Stockton Named ‘Green College’ by Princeton Review
 Stockton was recently named a 'Green College' in "The Princeton Review's Guide to 332 Green Colleges." Stockton was recognized as one of the most environmentally responsible colleges in the U.S. and Canada by The Princeton Review, an education services company known for its test prep programs and college rankings, ratings, and guidebooks. Stockton College is featured in the fifth annual edition of the free downloadable book, “The Princeton Review's Guide to 332 Green Colleges."
The guide highlights Stockton's “ahead-of-its-time geothermal heating and cooling system,” which was installed to save energy for all buildings that comprised the academic complex in 1993, and notes the project’s expansion to provide up to 1,650 tons of cooling capacity to the modern campus.
Also featured are Stockton’s LEED® Gold-certified Campus Center, the recently completed Permeable Parking Lot, which reduces the amount of storm water flowing from the area, and the Richard Stockton Coastal Research Center (CRC), which functions as a teaching, training and research facility for Stockton students.
The college’s investment, in partnership with private sector developers, in solar energy, which totals 2.1 megawatts in solar arrays on campus including rooftop installations and shade canopies over parking lots, is also highlighted.
Stockton, nestled in the Pinelands National Reserve, has a long history of being a “green” institution. The college currently protects and manages 1,500 acres of forestlands under New Jersey’s first comprehensive forest management plan on public land.
“Being located in one of the most environmentally sensitive areas in the nation, the Pinelands National Reserve, we are acutely aware of our responsibility to grow in harmony with the environment,” said President Herman Saatkamp.
Stockton’s Campus Center, which opened in 2011, was awarded LEED® Gold certification established by the U.S. Green Building Council and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the nation’s preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.
The 154,000-square-foot Campus Center achieved this internationally recognized gold certification for energy use, lighting, water and material use as well as incorporating a variety of other sustainable strategies.
President Saatkamp said one aim of achieving LEED gold is to “influence our students and the community to follow in our footsteps and to make even greater strides towards a healthier environment.”
“For students seeking a formal green education, Stockton offers bachelor's degrees in both environmental science and sustainability, and a professional science master's in environmental science,” the report stated. “Campus groups like Stockton Action Volunteers for the Environment (S.A.V.E.), Water Watch, and the Sustainability Living/Learning Community offer students the opportunity to get involved outside the classroom as well.”
To view the guide’s profile on Stockton, click here.
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Faculty Member, Holocaust Survivor Dr. Murray Kohn Receives Unique Gift from International Artist
 Dr. Murray Kohn (right), Holocaust survivor, Rabbi Emeritus of Beth Israel Congregation of Vineland, and professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, stands in front of a charcoal portrait of his sister, Ida Rebecca, who was killed at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. International artist Manfred Bockelmann (left) created the portrait from a photograph in Dr. Kohn's memoir. The portrait was a gift from Bockelmann to Dr. Kohn. Dr. Murray Kohn lost his little sister, his mother and other family members in the Holocaust. On April 9, he got back a little bit of 7-year-old Ida Rebecca, in the form of a drawing by internationally known artist Manfred Bockelmann.
Dr. Kohn, Rabbi Emeritus of Beth Israel Congregation of Vineland, NJ and a professor of Holocaust Studies at Stockton, survived two-and-a-half years in a Nazi death camp, along with his father. Last week, he remembered how Ida Rebecca, three years younger than he, kept holding on to him “for three days and three nights as we were dragged on the railroad cattle cars to Auschwitz.”
“She held on so much, as if saying, ‘This is the last moments together’... And this stays with me forever,” he said.
“This man didn’t just take a picture - he has read her face from the inside out,” Dr. Kohn said while looking at Bockelmann’s portrait of Ida Rebecca, done in charcoal on burlap.
“It’s a present for you,” Bockelmann said.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe it,” responded Kohn. “I will find a place for it,” he assured Bockelmann.
Bockelmann, who lives in Austria, is the uncle of Stockton’s Dr. Marion Hussong, professor of Literature and Holocaust and Genocide Studies. She photocopied a picture of Dr. Kohn’s family from his memoir, “Weep Tears of Blood,” and asked her uncle to make the drawing of Ida Rebecca from it as a surprise gift.
A major exhibit of Bockelmann’s charcoal drawings of children murdered in the Holocaust was shown at the Leopold Museum in Vienna in 2013.
Final Frame, an international film crew based in Munich, Germany, has been shadowing Bockelmann for 18 months as he works on this project, which includes more than 100 large portraits so far, all in charcoal on burlap. The film crew came to Stockton to film the meeting of Bockelmann and Dr. Kohn, who was the first to teach Holocaust Studies at the college.
Scenes shot on campus featuring Rosenthal and Dr. Kohn receiving his sister’s portrait will be an integral part of the documentary film. The film crew was impressed by Stockton’s natural beauty and the condition of the campus. “Your students are really something,” commented Bockelmann, as he walked around Lake Fred. “There is not a single piece of litter anywhere on this campus!”
The trailer for the film, “Drawing Against Oblivion,” won the gold medal Tuesday night at the New York Festivals - World’s Best TV & Films. To view this powerful film trailer, click here.
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Africana Studies Program Celebrates 30th Anniversary
Stockton’s Africana Studies program celebrated its 30th anniversary and hosted the “Old School Meets New School” social event on April 11 in partnership with the Unified Black Students Society. Stockton faculty, staff, administrators, students and alumni invited members of the community to join the celebration.
In commemoration of its anniversary, the Africana Studies program sponsored several academic events throughout the semester. Scholars and community members gathered for a daylong conference discussing “The State of Africana Studies in the State of New Jersey: Scholarship, Pedagogy and Social Activism,” and a panel discussion on “African Diaspora: A Global Perspective.”
The program also hosted panel discussions on “Africana Studies in New Jersey: Who We Are and What We Offer,” and “Teaching Courses and Content in Africana Studies,” with specific focuses in the social and natural sciences, history and literature, and arts and culture areas of expertise. The program held a roundtable discussion on “21st Century Challenges to Africana Studies Program and Scholars,” and an open segment titled “Beyond the Academy: Africana Studies as a Transformative Element in Educational Institutions and Community-Based Organizations and Initiatives.”
The last celebratory event hosted by the Africana Studies program was “The Life and Times of Josephine Baker: The Original 20th Century Black Pop Diva,” on April 22, ending the program’s semester-long list of community and academic engagement initiatives.
“These events are an important opportunity for those of us teaching and providing service in the area to review what resources are available for students, educators and members of the community,” said Dr. Patricia Reid-Merritt, Distinguished Professor of Social Work and Africana Studies program coordinator.
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Stockton’s Planning & Institutional Research recently reported an increase in retention rates for full- time, first-time freshmen undergraduates. The report showed 87 percent of all freshmen who started in 2012 returned to Stockton in 2013, which represents a 5 percent gain in four years. In the 2008 cohort, 82 percent of all freshmen returned in 2009. To view Stockton’s Retention and Graduation Rates report, click here.
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