Interfaith Literacy: Overcoming Antisemitism in Higher Education

Facilitated by: Bill Zangeneh-Lester, Humanities and Religious Studies
Flex credit: 1.5 Hours


The nation was horrified in August 2017 when White supremacists converged on Charlottesville, Virginia, chanting “Jews will not replace us” and “Blood and soil.” Unfortunately, this trend has only continued to gain momentum since 2018. On May 12, 2020, the Anti-Defamation League reported that the American Jewish community experienced the highest level of antisemitic incidents in 2019 since tracking began in 1979. Now, polarization over the crisis in Israel and Palestine is contributing to a rising climate of anxiety and fear in Jewish communities. Although student clubs can be a place for affinity groups to gather, ARC, like many community colleges, does not have a Jewish student club. This panel bridges this gap by inviting a Jewish campus organization, Hillel International, to speak about the experiences of Jewish college students. Whether students keep kosher or have never attended synagogue, whether they identify as Queer, Black, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, or all of the above: Hillel enables Jewish college students to freely explore what being Jewish in today’s world means to them and will share these stories as well as resources for supporting Jewish students. This talk will be hosted and moderated by Dr. Bill Zangeneh-Lester and features Lisa Armony - Executive Director, Campus Climate Initiatives for Hillel International; Mark Rotenberg - Hillel International’s General Counsel and Vice President for Academic Affairs; and Mara Lee Grayson - Director of Hillel's content development.

This webinar will be recorded. If you can't attend, you can access the recording when you have more time. If you can attend, there will be a Q&A session at the end of the discussion. Audience members can submit their questions.

This event meets ARC Strategic Goals 1 and 3; ARC’s Professional Development Competencies: Equity-Minded Service, Specialized Expertise; and State PD Guidelines A and B. The event is open to both LRCCD employees and students.