Thursday, March 19 | 6-7 pm
Join us for a panel discussion addressing the history of Jewish university experiences through the Nazi era to today. The panelists will discuss Jewish experiences of antisemitism and involvement in activism on college campuses, and will specifically dive into what this means for Jewish college students today. This program will feature perspectives from university professors, campus professionals, students, and activists.
Attendees are encouraged to explore the accompanying online exhibition, Between Antisemitism and Activism: The Jewish University Experience in Historical Perspective, presented by the Center for Jewish History.
This panel discussion is part of a series of programs and offerings on the topic of antisemitism on college campuses, generously supported by a grant from the Oregon Jewish Community Youth Foundation. The series aims to provide resources to incoming college students and their families through workshops, an online exhibition, and a forthcoming panel discussion at OJMCHE. Thank you to our partners College Counseling 4 U, Mittleman Jewish Community Center, Oregon Jewish Community Youth Foundation, and PDX Hillel.
About the panelists
- Andy Friedland is the Interim Executive Director of Greater Portland (PDX) Hillel, where he previously served as Director of Jewish Student Life. Andy has spent the last decade working in the educational and Jewish nonprofit spheres and their intersections. Most recently at Portland Jewish Academy (PJA), prior to that as a humanities teacher in Hartford, CT and for the five years preceding that as the Assistant and Associate Director of the Connecticut Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Andy was recognized as one of Connecticut Magazine’s “40 Under 40” in 2020 in recognition of his work responding to antisemitism, creating educational programming, and lobbying for legislative change.
- Raised in Idaho, Amy Herzfeld-Copple started volunteering for LGBTQ+ rights campaigns at the age of 14 and never looked back. Her past roles have included Executive Director of the Idaho Human Rights Education Center (now Wassmuth Center for Human Rights), Oregon State Director for Working America, and Co-Executive Director for Basic Rights Oregon. Amy first connected to Western States Center as a young human rights organizer in Boise — graduating from WSC’s then Western Institute for Organizing and Leadership Development (WILD) program in 2004. A respected leader with over two decades of experience driving inclusive democracy organizations and campaigns in the Pacific Northwest, her broad expertise ranges from policy advocacy and labor organizing to electoral management and award-winning journalism.
- A scholar of the social, cultural, and religious history of East European Jewry, Natan Meir is the author of Kiev, Jewish Metropolis: A History, 1859-1914 (2010) and Stepchildren of the Shtetl: The Destitute, Disabled, and Mad of Jewish Eastern Europe, 1800-1939 (2020). He lectures widely on Jewish history and culture in Ukraine, Russia, Poland, and the Baltics; Jewish folklore and magic; and Jewish disability history. He also serves as a museum consultant. He is now working on a study of lived Judaism that explores the persistence of folk traditions and magical practices in the lives of ordinary Jews, with particular attention to gender and the body.