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Rider’s Institute for NJ Politics renamed for David Rebovich

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   The key to a vibrant democracy is educated citizens and leaders, and that’s what Ben Dworkin, the newly appointed managing director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, promised Monday afternoon.
   Mr. Dworkin, who was named to the post in July, offered his remarks during the dedication ceremony for the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics — the new name of the Rider University Institute for New Jersey Politics.
   Although its mission remains the same, the institute’s name was changed to honor the late David Rebovich, who led the institute from 2001 until his death last year. Dr. Rebovich was a faculty member and administrator at Rider for 28 years.
   Rider University President Mordechai Rozanski recalled Dr. Rebovich as a “most respected and influential (political) commentator” who inspired generations of students to endless possibilities. His enthusiasm for politics was “magnetic,” Dr. Rozanski said.
   U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez also praised Dr. Rebovich, adding that the Rider University professor’s work “lives well beyond himself. It is in the lives of the young people he touched.
   ”He was a consummate gentleman in a time when the word is frequently used, but rarely meant,” Sen. Menendez said, before presenting Dr. Rozanski with a proclamation from the U.S. Senate.
   Dr. Rebovich’s daughter, Melissa Rebovich, shared some stories of her father with the audience. Ms. Rebovich, who is a sophomore at Rider, said that when she arrived on campus last year, she was surprised at how much he had shared about her with his students — but he also told her about his students.
   Her father loved his students, and the amount of pride he took in them was “enormous,” Ms. Rebovich said. She added that she took part in the interview process for a replacement for her father’s position, and that she was “impressed” with Mr. Dworkin’s enthusiasm for the institute.
   In his own remarks, Mr. Dworkin said that in a democracy the soul of politics can be found in empathy and affection — traits that Dr. Rebovich possessed. He said the late professor was a man who truly understood empathy and affection and who always ended his classes with the words, “I love you all.”
   ”Politics is tough stuff,” Mr. Dworkin said. “It takes courage to be in it, as Sen. Menendez can surely attest. And it takes a lot of nerve and fortitude and a great sense of humor to teach it. If we are to inspire our students, then we cannot afford to become cynical ourselves.”
   Dr. Rebovich was a great teacher who had all of those gifts, plus empathy and an affection for Rider that was returned to him by his students and colleagues, Mr. Dworkin said.
   ”By renaming the Institute for New Jersey Politics in his honor, we will continue to be reminded of what the great educator John Dewey noted nearly a century ago — that there is a critical role for the teacher and for education to play in a democracy,” Mr. Dworkin said.
   Educational institutions such as Rider must deal with one of the United States’ biggest problems, which some people call the “democracy dilemma,” Mr. Dworkin said. That dilemma is “the everyday reality and terrifying danger of the ignorant citizen,” he said.
   ”If the American voters cannot name their congressman or the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court or explain the issues of the day or even understand how their government works, then how vibrant a democracy can we possibly have,” he said.
   Dr. Rebovich and Dewey understood that the solution lies in the hands of teachers, Mr. Dworkin said. But teachers face significant challenges in New Jersey, which is a state of “incredible diversity” and one that lacks a cohesive identity, he said.
   New Jersey is a compact state that is nevertheless broken down into 40 state legislative districts, 21 counties, 566 municipalities and more than 600 school districts, he said. The hallmark of New Jersey politics is the “venerable and highly divisive tradition of home rule,” he added.
   Mr. Dworkin said there are more than 21,000 elected officials in New Jersey — 9,000 elected public officials and 12,000 local, state and county party officials representing the major political parties. Many of those elected officials are “deeply committed” to serving the public — “but far too many have absolutely no clue how to do it,” he said.
   ”If our public and party officials, despite their best intentions, are woefully unprepared for the realities of public life, that’s where we come in. We must be the teachers,” Mr. Dworkin said.
   The Rebovich Institute will provide “coherent and impartial analysis” of New Jersey politics, he said. It will focus on the issues that everyone in the state deals with — from education to energy, the economy and property taxes. If citizens can be taught how politics impacts those issues, “we may be one step closer to finding the solutions that have eluded us so far,” he said.
   David Rebovich was “a general in the fight” to ensure that an informed public is a reality, Mr. Dworkin said. The Rebovich Institute will continue in its founder’s footsteps to research and understand and educate its students and the general public on the challenges and opportunities of New Jersey politics, he said.
   And where training for public service is hard to find, the Rebovich Institute must be its source, he said. The institute will provide its students with the access to political internships and opportunities to meet and learn from those who make the state run, he added.
   ”In politics, work experience counts, but the Rebovich Institute will be the place where you can learn before your start date,” Mr. Dworkin said.