Dedicated alumni were honored at the Many Are One awards for Seton Hall on Friday June 8 at the Hyatt Regency hotel located in Jersey City.
The evening started at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour and silent auction, held on the ninth floor of the hotel, which helped to raise scholarships for two students to attend Seton Hall this 2012-2013 year.
The silent auction was run by giving each bidder a Big Pal device which is a new technology that allowed guests to use their pre-assigned numbers to access the remote and bid on items.
Items ranged from a football signed by New York Giants' coach, Tom Coughlin to a hand signed electric guitar signed by singer Dave Mathews.
One of the event organizers Kerry Clark said every year this event is a success especially because of the hotel itself, which is located right on the Hudson River.
"Every year this is a great event. It shows the benefit of New York," Clark said. "The building itself and location is beautiful."
After the cocktail ended, the guests made their way down to the third floor where the award dinner commenced at around 7:30 p.m.
The Master of Ceremonies and main entertainment for the night was award winning actor Robert Klein.
Klein said he was honored to be able to come out to the award ceremony.
"It's an honor to be here," Klein said. "I love universities. I think they do good things."
Klein next announced all of the recipients for the Many Are One Service Awards which were presented to by President Esteban.
The recipients were as follows Sheila Walsh, Edward Quinn, Sunny Jiten Singh, Donald Pachuta, Lakshmi Kripalani, Rev. Monsignor William C. Hatcher, Dr. Michael Guma, Thomas Considine and Victor Afanador.
Dinner was then served before the three honorees of the night were presented with an award, an individual video of congratulations and a speech by each.
The Alumni Impact Award was given to alumnus Mark Ganton who serves on the Seton Hall Board of Regents and is a former professor for Marketing and Advertising at Seton Hall.
Ganton said he was honored to be at the ceremony and proud to be involved with Seton Hall.
"I could only hope that I have given back to Seton Hall as much as she has given back to me," Ganton said. "I firmly believe Seton Hall's best days lie ahead."
The Humanitarian Award was presented to John Castano, the vice president of the nonprofit organization SEEDS geared toward making future leaders from New Jersey's under privileged communities.
Castano said he was humbled to be presented this award and in his speech stressed the importance for people to say "yes" to challenges in everyday life.
"Wherever you happen to be in life, there is always a chance to say yes," Castano said.
The last honoree was presented to the president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Travel Association Roger Dow who was awarded the Most Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Dow was one of the key leaders in the creation of the Travel Promotion Act which was signed in by Obama in March 2010, according to his brief biography written out in the Many Are One pamphlets.
"I'm humbled, I shouldn't even be here but thanks for letting me be here," Dow said.
The evening ended with dancing, dessert and performances by Robert Klein and New Jersey's first rock and roll female singing group, The Shirelles.
Lindsay Rittenhouse can be reached at lindsay.rittenhouse@student.shu.edu.
