An admiring crowd packed the Athenaeum and paid rapt attention as Emeritus Professor John Roth returned to CMC to take the podium and offer thought-provoking inspiration. As he concluded his talk, “How Shall I Teach the Holocaust This Time?” Roth received a rousing standing ovation.
“That was the best talk at the Ath I’ve ever heard,” said one CMC senior.
Roth, the Edward J. Sexton Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Founding Director of the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights, drew CMC trustees, alumni, faculty, and students from across the 5Cs, who in November overflowed the Athenaeum, where Roth served as director from 1985-87. Roth had prepared the audience that his talk would be challenging and explore key issues emanating from Holocaust studies and education. He also offered a warning, as “catastrophe does not erupt out of the blue.”
“Always remember and act on a key Holocaust-related insight—the most important of all—take nothing good for granted. The older I become, the more that last imperative grips me … I need to remember more and more, to take nothing good for granted and to teach and act accordingly.”
Despite the gravity of the topic, the evening culminated with a wave of joyful gratitude as Roth received the CMC Donald C. McKenna Humanitarian Award from President Hiram Chodosh. The distinction is reserved for “exemplary interest in education, the improvement of circumstances for peoples of the world, achievement in the humanities, business or the professions, and contributions that have been of significant importance to the College.”
“Professor Roth’s accomplishments, scholarship, and pedagogy are singular. His influential commitments to improving the human condition are exemplary. His impact on our CMC community is incalculable, and his objective accomplishments are well-known,” President Chodosh said.
After detailing Roth’s scholarly achievements, President Chodosh continued, “It is perhaps Professor Roth’s commitment to students and mentees, and to all of us, that is the most immeasurable—his interdisciplinary methodologies, his eloquent lectures, his neatly typed commentaries on student papers, and words of encouragement that our alumni are still moved by years later.”
This also reflected sentiments from earlier that evening, when Roth gathered with a small number of alumni organized by CMC Trustee and former Montana Governor Steve Bullock ’88 P’24. The group shared memories of being among Roth’s students in “The American Dream” and the Holocaust Studies courses he regularly taught at CMC. Even today, they seek guidance from their mentor.
“Give us hope, John,” Bullock said.
–Anne Bergman