UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Two brothers experienced enough to know change does not happen overnight have made a gift hoping to spark a long-term impact by supporting the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Education Initiative at Penn State, part of the Hammel Family Human Rights Initiative.
Raymond and Stephen Rosen grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, with parents who survived the Holocaust and emigrated to the United States to escape hatred and find a better life. The brothers have established the Sam and Olga Rosen Fund, named in honor of their parents, in support of the initiative with a combined $40,000 endowed gift.
They hope it’s the beginning of something that produces ongoing results.
“Stephen and I are typical representatives of the children of Holocaust survivors who didn’t hear very much about the Holocaust from our parents. They were just quiet about things,” Raymond Rosen said. “Then, when [filmmaker] Steven Spielberg started sending out teams to record survivors’ experiences, that seemed to unleash something in my father. Suddenly he was talking to anyone who would listen — and we were hearing things we’d never heard before. He was telling his story to people he didn’t even know.” Their father had lost over 250 members of his family who were murdered in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
The Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Education Initiative at Penn State uses education to address the issue — providing research-based professional development to help K-12 teachers succeed when presenting difficult topics in the classroom. Led by founding director Boaz Dvir, an associate professor of journalism in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, the initiative offers a sustained and customized professional learning program, online modules and instructional materials. Educators work directly with inquiry experts with backgrounds rooted in classroom experience.
“We’re extremely grateful for Ray, Stephen and the Rosen family’s support for our mission,” said Dvir, an award-winning filmmaker. “We’re driven by the belief that the effective instruction of difficult topics such as the Holocaust and racism can provide K-12 students with relevant insight into the human condition and enable them to gain valuable life skills such as empathy, active listening and critical thinking.”
To the Rosen brothers, the approach felt familiar.
“I think that Dad was maybe a little bit ahead of his time when it came to talking to high school kids about his experiences. Boaz is doing exactly what my dad was trying to do in Scranton, but on a much bigger, potentially national, scale,” Stephen Rosen said. “Plus, the best part about the initiative is that it’s at Penn State.”
The brothers earned their bachelor’s degrees from the University’s College of Health and Human Development — Ray in 1972 and Stephen in 1977. They are retired after careers as the chief operating officer of Wellspan York Hospital and as the director of the FBI Field Office program, respectively. Ray remains in York, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Deborah Rubinow Rosen, who graduated from Penn State from the College of the Liberal Arts in 1973, and Stephen lives in California with his wife, Eleanore Coutin-Rosen.
Their fund was created to support educational programming, teacher training and outreach; the creation of documentary films, books and other materials; and salary support for the initiative’s director, staff and teacher trainers.
Raymond, 73, says he feels more threatened as a Jew in the U.S. now than at any time in his entire life. Still, Dvir’s approach and passion make Raymond optimistic about what the gift can do.
“It took thousands of years to hone this hatred against Jews. It’s not going to change overnight,” he said. “So you start with the children and maybe they can go home and teach their parents. It would be nice for the school systems of this country to teach students to embrace people, regardless of their race or religion.”
Stephen, 68, said he and his brother grew up in a home that truly valued diversity. After learning about the program, getting to know Dvir and watching how the educational effort that started in Red Lion Area School District in south central Pennsylvania has grown, he’s optimistic about the future — and proud to be a supporter.
“Boaz has certainly put together a foundation for the program to have a nationwide impact — he’s mentioned Colorado and South Carolina — and to get as many educators as possible involved,” he said. “The success of this program is just being able to raise these topics and, hopefully, this will help to turn things around.”
Donors like the Rosen brothers advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients, and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.