Explores Multifaceted Jewish Identities and Experiences
Continues CUNY’s Commitment to Build Unity and Combat Hate on Campuses
From left: City Tech President Russell K. Hotzler, QCC President Christine Mangino, CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, City Tech professor Rebecca Shapiro and City Tech professor Keith Muchowski at the opening for “I am a Jew,” curated by the two professors. (Credit: Alberto Vargas)
CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez and New York City College of Technology President Russell K. Hotzler yesterday attended the opening for “I am a Jew,” a visual arts exhibit at the New York City College of Technology that explores the wide range of Jewish identity and experience through portrait photography and testimony. The event included a screening of a short film that highlighted several of those interviewed for the project, and included a panel discussion with the exhibit’s curators. The event preceded the Jewish High Holy Days, which begin with Rosh Hashanah at sundown today, and supports CUNY’s ongoing commitment to confront bigotry and hate in all forms, including antisemitism, across the University’s 25 campuses.
“Jewish New Yorkers have a long, rich history of contribution to the CUNY community; their stories add an important dimension to the University’s tradition of accessibility to groups that have been excluded from higher education. That history continues today as we work together to confront the resurgence of global antisemitism,” said CUNY Chancellor Matos Rodríguez. “As a public university that proudly serves people of all races, religions and ethnicities, CUNY has a critical responsibility to condemn antisemitism and all forms of hate, and to promote the education, understanding and discourse that help to combat it. That is why this exhibit, and the subsequent conversations it will spark, are critical to the work we all need to do.”
Curated by City Tech professors Rebecca Shapiro and Keith Muchowski, “I am a Jew” highlights the diversity and presence of Jews in the City Tech community. It draws on the experiences of those who identify as Jewish who may or may not fit common conceptions of who is, and is not, a Jew, or whose Jewish experience includes additional identities such as LGBTQI+. The exhibit is on display through September 30, 2023, at City Tech’s Ursula C. Schwerin Library.
“Both the Rosh Hashanah holiday, which celebrates the completion of another year and ushers in a new one, and the focus of the ‘I am a Jew’ exhibit, offer us a meaningful opportunity to reflect on who we are in the world — in addition to how we see and treat one another,” said City Tech President Hotzler. “This introspection is not only vital at our City Tech campus here in Downtown Brooklyn but everywhere around the globe, in the critical effort to combat ethnic, racial, and religious discrimination, and improve understanding, empathy, and inclusion. I thank Professors Rebecca Shapiro and Keith Muchowski for their significant work in bringing this exhibit to fruition.”
The exhibit is a precursor to the arrival of “Americans and the Holocaust,” a 1,100-square-foot traveling exhibit of the U.S. National Holocaust Memorial Museum that City Tech will host in November. City Tech is among 50 colleges and universities participating in the exhibit, and the college’s professors have integrated the exhibit into their fall 2023 course curricula.
“I am a Jew” was made possible through the support of a Campus Climate Support Grant, part of $750,000 that CUNY has distributed to address religious, racial and ethnic bigotry, including antisemitism, throughout the University. This funding reflects CUNY’s direct and responsive action to create a community of trust, understanding and inclusion and builds on the University’s continuing efforts to fight antisemitism, which include:
- Collaboration with Hillel International’s Campus Climate Initiative to better understand the experiences of Jewish students on campus.
- Launch of a centralized portal for members of the CUNY community to report instances of discrimination and retaliation, including antisemitism.
- Formation of an advisory council of leaders from New York’s Jewish community.
- Partnership with the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism to host a “Stand up to Jewish Hate” campaign at Queens College and online.
Here are some of the other projects and programs that have been supported by CUNY’s Campus Climate Support Grants, listed by campus.
Baruch College
Baruch has approached the challenge of combating antisemitism by listening to, and learning from, community members who self-identify as Jewish. Funding has enabled administrators to expand qualitative data collection by extending focus groups and facilitating conversations with members of other diverse communities on campus. The outcomes of these sessions will inform the college’s future programming with the goals of combating anti-Asian bias, antisemitism, racism, and other forms of discrimination on campus; eliminating racial and ethnic disparities; confronting institutional and structural racism; and creating an inclusive campus climate for the benefit of all community members.
Brooklyn College
In collaboration with the Tanger Hillel at Brooklyn College, 40 students of various backgrounds participated in the LEAD (Leadership, Empowerment and Advocacy Dialogues) for Change Student Retreat last January, promoting cross-cultural understanding to combat anti-Asian hate, antisemitism, racism and other forms of discrimination on campus. As a result of the retreat, several campus student groups co-hosted “Interfaith Discussion: Exploring the Abrahamic Traditions,” an event that invited members of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian clergy to lead thought-provoking conversations while promoting understanding and respect among people of diverse faiths.
Hostos Community College
The college convened the inaugural Hostos Interfaith Symposium with the participation of leaders representing Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths. Each shared remarks that shed light on the core principles of mutual support and collaboration. The event also featured a panel of students, who shared their diverse faith experiences and how they have sought to grow in their understanding of the religious beliefs and backgrounds of others.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
“Understanding Jewish Experiences and Antisemitism” was presented by the New York City Commission on Human Rights and explored antisemitism and its connection to other forms of prejudice and oppression. The presentation focused on the diversity of Jewish communities and identities; introduced Jewish history, customs and culture; and provided strategies to interrupt antisemitism alongside other forms of discrimination.
Kingsborough Community College
Programs such as “Interfaith Conversation on Antisemitism” have expanded the work and efforts of faculty and staff in creating spaces in which members of the community can learn, explore difficult topics and challenge views that combat negative stereotypes. The first event included guest speaker Maayan Zik, a community organizer, activist and Black Jewish woman from Crown Heights, and Mehnaz Afridi, director of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan College and author of “Shoah Through Muslim Eyes.” Together, they conducted a conversation about Holocaust denial among young people.
Medgar Evers College
The college’s Campus Climate Committee hosted 16 programs from March through May including an event that featured guest speaker Diane D’Costa, an educator and Lawn Resident at University of Virginia. She provided a frontline account of the 2017 riots in Charlottesville. D’Costa, who identifies as a brown, Jewish woman, said she had to be sheltered from protestors on the Virginia campus.
Queensborough Community College
Queensborough’s Truth Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center Leadership Committee began planning efforts to support college-wide goals in creating belonging and community through welcoming and inclusive practices; fostering a campus climate that is respectful, affirming and inclusive; and closing racial equity gaps in retention and graduation rates. These include discussions and research on how to best incorporate Kupferberg Holocaust Center programming into Queensborough’s discourse about the harmful impact of discrimination and systemic racism.
Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY
The School of Journalism continues the work of creating a campus community that is fully centered on diversity and inclusion. By promoting engagement through the “Navigating the Newsroom” workshop series, students learn from experts in the field of journalism about ways to identify and work with allies, find their voices and self-advocate. The Covering Hate Crimes in Black, Asian, Jewish, and LGBTQ Media Symposium advanced the importance of supporting community-centered media coverage and exploring narratives around racism, solidarity and safety while equipping the campus community with various ways of keeping themselves safe and informed without being re-traumatized.
The City University of New York is the nation’s largest urban public university, a transformative engine of social mobility that is a critical component of the lifeblood of New York City. Founded in 1847 as the nation’s first free public institution of higher education, CUNY today has seven community colleges, 11 senior colleges and seven graduate or professional institutions spread across New York City’s five boroughs, serving over 226,000 undergraduate and graduate students and awarding 55,000 degrees each year. CUNY’s mix of quality and affordability propels almost six times as many low-income students into the middle class and beyond as all the Ivy League colleges combined. More than 80 percent of the University’s graduates stay in New York, contributing to all aspects of the city’s economic, civic and cultural life and diversifying the city’s workforce in every sector. CUNY’s graduates and faculty have received many prestigious honors, including 13 Nobel Prizes and 26 MacArthur “Genius” Grants. The University’s historic mission continues to this day: provide a first-rate public education to all students, regardless of means or background. To learn more about CUNY, visit https://www.cuny.edu.
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