HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL
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About the Holocaust Memorial Program
The Holocaust Memorial Program at OSU was initiated in January 1987, when the university provost and vice-president for Academic Affairs, Dr. Graham Spanier, authorized his assistant vice-president, Dr. Miriam "Mimi" Orzech, to establish a committee that would organize and direct a program in recognition of "Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust," the week-long observance created by act of Congress in 1979. Since that time, the Holocaust Memorial Committee has remained in continuous existence, as has the program that it coordinates.
Until 1994, Mimi Orzech served as chair of the committee, and the program continued to operate out of the Office of Academic Affairs. On Mimi's retirement as a member of faculty - though not as a member of the committee - the chair was assumed by Dr. Paul Kopperman, who has held the position since (Dr. Neil Davison served as acting chair in 2002-03, while Dr. Kopperman was on sabbatical). Also in 1994, the program was, for administrative purposes, transferred to the Department of History at Oregon State. Regardless of its home, however, the committee has enjoyed complete independence regarding membership and inner structure (portfolios, etc.). The committee is responsible for organizing, publicizing, and coordinating each successive Memorial Week program, for raising the necessary funds and for managing its budget.
From the first, the Holocaust Memorial Program at OSU has maintained a "town-and-gown" philosophy - that is, the public events sponsored by the program are intended to benefit the entire community in the mid-Willamette Valley of Oregon. The public is welcome to events at OSU, and many activities, including the active program in area schools, are held off campus.
The composition of the Holocaust Memorial Committee likewise reflects town and gown. Generally, the committee consists of: OSU faculty, staff, and students; teachers or administrators from the local school district, 509-J; administrative personnel from the City of Corvallis; and local clergy. The original committee (1987) consisted of:
Steven Gould (professor, Chemistry)
Paul Kopperman (associate professor, History)
Julie McCann (SD 509-J)
Gary Massoni (minister, United Campus Ministry, OSU)
Merrill Miller (assistant professor, Religious Studies)
Sandie Morrison (City of Corvallis)
Miriam Orzech (Chair; assistant vice-president, OSU Academic Affairs)
Charles Vars (mayor of Corvallis; professor, Economics)
Art Wilmot (minister, Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship)
Hubert Wubben (professor, History)
The committee as constituted in 2004-05 included:
Rachel Becker (OSU student)
Anya Corbitt (secretary, History)
Neil Davison (associate professor, English)
David Eiseman (emeritus, Music)
Maureen Healy (assistant professor, History)
Jonathan Katz (associate professor, History)
Paul Kopperman (Chair; professor, History)
Benjamin Korn (Director of Development, OSU Foundation)
Sara Leemon (OSU student)
Carrie O'Bryan (teacher, SD 509-J)
Miriam Orzech (emerita, Education)
Tom Sherry (director, Latter-Day Saints Institute, OSU)
Tim Stover (minister, United Campus Ministry, OSU)
Tony Vandermeer (teacher, SD 509-J)
Members of the committee have a deep appreciation for the program and the benefits that it provides, and for this reason membership is rather stable. Six members have been on the committee for more than ten years, and ten have served for four years or more. Nevertheless, each year new members are added, and of course students on the committee graduate, being replaced by others who bring in different perspectives and interests. Members have their particular portfolios and responsibilities. Each spring, after Holocaust Memorial Week has past, the committee meets to assess the week in order to judge which aspects should be strengthened in anticipation of the next set of observances. Spring meetings also provide an opportunity to plan for the next Memorial Week. Members of the committee suggest many events, but generally the weekly programs include one or two events that were put proposed by students or faculty at OSU.
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