ALUMNI DINNERS

Since 1982, the alumni of Seton Hall University's Theatre-in-the-Round (TITR) have come together to honor graduating seniors who have been active in the university’s oldest, on-going cultural program. Graduating seniors, who come as guests to this annual banquet, receive a plaque commemorating their involvement in TITR.

The idea for this event emerged when friends of mine, Rich Oehling, Jim Moore, Kevin Finnegan, Peter Gregory, and I were sitting around a dorm room contemplating our pending graduation, back in 1982. We all agreed that we should "throw ourselves a party" and hence, the 1st Annual Theatre-in-the-Round Alumni Dinner Party was born!

Peter Gregory was good enough to put together the first dinner. At the time, however, we had no plans to make it an annual gathering, but after graduation, I met and discussed the event with TITR’s "Founding Father" and my good friend Bishop John J. Dougherty. The TITR had been founded during Bishop Dougherty's Presidency at SHU (1959-1969) and as I had imagined, he was very interested in an annual awards dinner and signed on as Honorary Chairman.

Although I immensely enjoyed my student years with the TITR, I was disappointed that the Theatre and its Programs (often overshadowed by interest in Basketball) did not receive more of the university's attention.

Professors "Doc" McGlone & Gil Rathbun would sometimes regale me with stories of "days gone by" at the TITR. Through these tales, I learned that Bishop Dougherty, during his Presidency, almost always attended the Opening Night of each TITR production and would frequently go backstage to see the cast before the curtain rose. What a wonderful experience for those student actors!

This was part of the inspiration for our annual dinner...to remind TITR students (as Bishop Dougherty would say) "what you do here is very important." From 1982 to 1985, Bishop Dougherty appeared at our banquets to congratulate graduating students on their work. While Bishop Dougherty's dignified and generous presence has been sorely missed since his passing in March of 1986, we are happy to continue to deliver his message.

~ By Mark Roger, SHU '82