University students joined other students from all over the nation in a conference for understanding Jewish ideals and learning about civic activism. These students came together at the Hillel Charlotte and Jack J. Spitzer Forum On Public Policy, which held its conference in Center City earlier this week. Held every year in different cities nationwide, the forum was designed to encourage college-aged students to play more active and influential roles on their campuses. This year's agenda included personal testimonies from community activists, talks on campaigns and coalitions and a special session on race relations conducted by President and CEO of the United Negro College Fund, Reverend William Gray. Wharton senior and treasurer of the Va'ad -- Hillel's student leadership committee -- Fred Gluckman said one of the most useful sessions of the program was the one conducted by Reverend Gray at the African-American Historical and Cultural Museum. "Visiting the museum was most influential," said College freshman Sarah Weiss. "It made me want to do something about [Black and Jewish] relations. For me it was the highlight of the program." Gluckman said he hoped to be able to establish joint activities between Hillel and the Black Student League within the month. The program also hoped to teach students how to become successfully involved in national and local politics. The forum gave its participants the ability not only to interact with established community leaders, but learn about successful activist programs from each other. Many participants of the Spitzer forum felt the program got its message across. Gluckman said that the forum was "excellent." He added that the program gave him an opportunity to meet other students and exchange ideas. "[It gave] us an opportunity to share our success and learn about [the success] of others," Gluckman said. "[The forum] was definitely educational," said Weiss. "They had people from all sorts of organizations. They had testimonies from community service programs they'd worked on." College sophomore Nick Merkin also said participating in the conference was a great experience. Merkin said one of the reasons he chose to attend the conference was because he " thought it was a great opportunity to meet students from around the country." "I learned a lot and got a lot of ideas from the programs they've implemented on their own campuses," he said. Many participants said they hoped to use what they learned to help create a stronger community on campus. "At a Va'ad meeting [Thursday night] students who were at the Spitzer Forum shared some of the things they learned, and discussed how they could implement new [University] programs in areas such as Bosnia, Jewish education and Israeli day festivals," Merkin said. And, participants added that although the program did stress Jewish issues, its goal was also to establish a sense of activism in all students. "The message of social action is not only a Jewish one," Merkin said. "It is a universal one that is a responsibility of all communities and organizations on campus."
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