MSU lecture hall now carries name of former senator’s mom

• Former U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli was at MSU Thursday for naming of lecture hall to his mother.

Betty Lotz Torricelli once walked the halls of what was then known as Montclair State Teachers College, studying English and Social Studies on her way to earning her bachelor’s degree in 1940.

Now 77 years later, her name adorns a lecture hall in the school now known as Montclair State University.

There was a ribbon-cutting on Thursday for the newly named Betty Lotz Torricelli ’40 Lecture Hall that was attended by her son, former New Jersey U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli, Montclair State University Susan Cole, and other guests.

The naming was a gift to the school made possible by The Rosemont Foundation, established by Robert Torricelli in 2007.

Cole mentioned how she first learned about Betty Lotz Torricelli from Robert Torricelli many years ago, including her 25-year career working in the Mahwah School District and serving on the New Jersey Library Advisory Council.

Cole said Torricelli's mother, who passed away in 1991, served another important role in her life.

“She also was obviously a profound influence on her son, and raised him up for public service, about which she cared tremendously,” Cole said.

Torricelli pulled down a curtain covering the gold-plated letters spelling out "Betty Lotz Torricelli ’40 Lecture Hall" located above the hall's entrance.

Torricelli observed that, despite attending and graduating from three schools, none of which were his mother’s alma mater, the school he was standing in was more important than any of them. He said that's because of the education it provided to his mother, the child of German immigrants who resided in Clifton.

“This was the school that was the ladder for my family for opportunity in America, just as it is now for so many other thousands of families that see this as a unique opportunity, a rung on a ladder to success in American society,” Torricelli said.

Torricelli said his mother was always proud of her alma mater as it “set her on a course of wanting to do nothing else but education.”

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The former U.S. senator said he hoped this will not be the last time his family will have a connection with Montclair State University.

After Torricelli finished speaking, Cole said she would like to see him conduct a lecture in the place bearing his mom’s name.

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com