State Mark's 1st Observance of Varian Fry Day At Southern Connecticut State University

NEW HAVEN, CT — An American journalist who is credited with helping thousands of refugees flee Nazi-occupied France has his day, with the help of a Southern Connecticut State University philosophy professor.

Connecticut will mark its first official observance of Varian Fry Day on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 1 p.m.

SCSU’s Department of Philosophy faculty member Professor David Pettigrew was a driving force behind Public Act No. 25-59, which formally recognizes Fry’s courageous actions during the Holocaust.

Fry, an American journalist, helped more than 2,000 refugees—many of them Jewish—escape Nazi-occupied France between 1940 and 1941, including notable figures such as Hannah Arendt and Marc Chagall. Read more about Fry here.

For his heroism, Fry became the first American to be named “Righteous Among the Nations” by Yad Vashem.

The program at SCSU will feature remarks from Connecticut legislators, scholars, and community leaders, readings from Fry’s writings by Southern students, and a special video message from his son, Dr. James Fry.

Co-sponsored by the Departments of Philosophy, History, and Journalism, and the Judaic Studies
Program at Southern Connecticut State University.

Speakers and participants include:

• Professor David Pettigrew, Department of Philosophy, SCSU (event organizer and bill
sponsor)
• Professor Lorrie Gardella, Co-Director, Judaic Studies Program
• Rabbi Emeritus Alvin Wainhaus, Congregation Or Shalom
• State Representative Matt Blumenthal, 147th District, Chair of Government
Administration and Elections Committee
• State Representative Christopher Rosario, 128th District, Deputy Speaker of the House
• Jeri Butlien, Director, HERO Program, CT Voices of Hope
• SCSU Student Readers (excerpts from Varian Fry’s writings)

• Dr. James Fry, son of Varian Fry (video presentation)