College Relations
The 10th annual Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice will be presented to Robert Raiche
CONTACT---Patricia H. Zaido,Director, Center for the Arts,
Phone: 978-542-6365
Fax: 978-542-7118
Email: pzaido@salemstate.edu
The tenth annual Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice will be presented to Robert Raiche on Thursday, June 13, 2002 by Salem Mayor, Stanley J. Usovicz and Salem State College President Nancy D. Harrington. The 7:30 P.M. ceremony and reception, held at the Hotel Hawthorne, are open to the public, free of charge.
Raiche is the founder and chairman of the board of Friends Forever, a program that promotes peace and friendship among Catholic and Protestant teen-agers in Northern Ireland and young Arabs and Jews in Israel. Raiche spent most of his career with the YMCA. He has served as executive director of the YMCAs in Danvers (1961-65) Salem (1965-78) and Portsmouth, NH (1978-89). It was while he was in Portsmouth that he set up Friends Forever.
An active Rotarian, he is currently president of the Peabody Rotary and has drawn support from many other Rotary Clubs to fund the Friends Forever program.
In addition to his many efforts on behalf of Friends Forever, Raiche is an elected Town Meeting member and is involved in the Danvers Educational Enrichment Program. He's also well known in other local communities on the North Shore; while in Salem, for example, he served as president of the Chamber of Commerce.
The keynote speaker will be Rizek Abusharr, recently retired Director General of the Jerusalem International YMCA.
Abusharr is involved in numerous community service organizations. He is a member, past president, and Paul Harris Fellow of the Jerusalem Rotary Club; member and session clerk of the Church of Scotland; Board member of the Jerusalem University College, and the Sovlanut (Tolerance) Club; he is an active member of the Jerusalem Skal Club, the Goldstein Prize Committee for Good Citizenship, and the United Nations Association of Israel.
In November 1996, he was awarded the "Marthe Laube Prize for Tolerance and Democratic Values" in recognition of his pioneering work with the Jerusalem International YMCA in which Jews, Muslims and Christians share in joint activities.
The evening will conclude with musical selections by the Bentley School Chorus under the direction of Alice Dusenberry.
The Salem Award is a permanent program established by the Salem Witch Trials Tercentenary Committee to foster an understanding of the lessons of the Salem Witch Trials in the context of contemporary life. The award is presented each year to an individual or group whose works embody a commitment to the ideals of the award. Past Recipients of the Salem Award are:
- 1992 - Gregory Allen Williams - South Central Los Angeles Riots Hero
- 1993 - Morris Dees - Founder, Southern Poverty Law Center & KKK opponent
- 1994 - William Johnston - Retired Head of the Boston Police Hate Crimes Unit
- 1995 - Harry Wu - Political Prisoner and Chinese Dissident
- 1996 - Aaron Feurstein - Owner of Malden Mills and Labor Advocate
- 1997 - Vicky Guzman M.D. - Physician and Founder, ASAPOSAR
(The Salvadoran Association for Rural Health)
- 1998 - Barbara Vogel - Teacher and Founder, S.T.O.P.
(Slavery That Oppresses People)
- 1999 - Lenny Zakim - Late New England Executive Director of
Anti-Defamation league
- 2000 - Jane Schaller, M.D., Children's Rights Advocate
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