Rabbi Schneier and Russell Simmons Launch Dialogue Series on Black-Jewish Relations at Columbia University

Hillel (the Jewish students union), in partnership with various African American student groups from both Columbia University and Barnard College, including the Barnard Organization of Soul Sisters (BOSS) and The Office for Multicultural Affairs (OMA), has launched a series of Black-Jewish events on campus that will culminate in a joint spring break trip to rebuild areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The trip will include 20 African America and 20 Jewish students. The students reached out to The Foundation and asked for its assistance in the coordination of these efforts. At the opening program on October 25th, Rabbi Schneier and Russell Simmons lead a discussion on Black-Jewish relations at Columbia University.

Maurice Coleman, Senior Vice President of Community Development at Bank of America, and a Columbia alumni himself who served as president of the Black Student Union, moderated the discussion. Russell Simmons opened the evening by speaking about the importance of communication between racial and ethnic groups "Once you get in a room and talk you can see you have the same aspirations and desires……the idea of dialogue is key, and the lack of dialogue is a very scary concept". Rabbi Schneier agreed and continued by paraphrasing Martin Luther King, Jr.'s adage "A people that fight for their own rights are only as honorable as those who fight for the rights of all peoples".
After remarks given by both Russell Simmons and Rabbi Schneier, the floor was opened for questions from the students. The discussion was overwhelmingly successful and ended on a high note after concluding remarks by Maurice Coleman. Alex Woodward, a student at Columbia, felt the discussion excelled at serving the purpose of raising awareness of racial and ethnic issues and said "I'm very glad that people-two very respected people-are working in conjunction with one another in order to bring this to public awareness".

View the photos from this event

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The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding was founded in 1989 by Rabbi Marc Schneier and the late Joseph Papp.
We are committed to the belief that direct, face-to-face, dialogue between leaders of ethnic communities is
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