November 10, 2008
In the spirit of our 2008 presidential election, the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center at Indiana University (IU) hosted “Hillel Votes!” – a two-day event focused on bringing students together to discuss the US-Israel relationship.
Through the ICC’s Traveling Israel Scholars program, generously supported by the Gottesman Fund, IU Grinspoon Israel Advocacy Interns Brittany Cohen and Nina Loftspring arranged for Dr. Alexander Bligh, a Schusterman Visiting Israeli Professor at the University of Notre Dame, to be the event’s guest speaker. Dr. Bligh, a former advisor to the Israeli Prime Minister on Arab Affairs, engaged students on topics ranging from the “Olmert Transition in Israeli Politics” to “Why America’s Vote Counts for Israel.” Following these lectures, student leaders were invited to a “Lunch and Learn” at Hillel and given the opportunity to sit down in a more intimate setting with Dr. Bligh to discuss any further questions they had regarding American or Israeli politics.
IU Hillel’s student board, led by Cohen and Loftspring, came up with the idea for “Hillel Votes!” in hopes of not only inspiring Jewish students on campus to vote in the election, but also helping them fully understand why their votes matter. The students plan to continue educating students throughout the year by having other political and educational events. IU Hillel also hosted an election night party for students to await the outcome of the elections and have discussions throughout the night.
IU Hillel program director Lauren Weinberg was “excited to see students exchange email addresses with Dr. Bligh to continue contact and stay in touch about their own research. The collaborative efforts of the ICC, Hoosiers for Israel and the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center made the events a most excellent learning opportunity and overall success!”
For more information about the Traveling Israel Scholars program and to find out how you can bring an Israeli professor to your campus, please contact the ICC’s Israel Education Initiatives Associate Andrea Sorin at 202-449-6583.