has her mind on the arts
Mallory Schwartz of West Bloomfield first
heard about Hillel of Metro Detroit (HMD)
through friends who were attending other
universities. "Some of my friends were
members of the Hillel at Michigan State and
they recommended that I check out Wayne
State's Hillel," she says.
Schwartz, a senior in Wayne State's
psychology program, now says that Hillel is
such a major part of her college experience
that she couldn't imagine
going to a school without
it. "I tell myself that I'm
going to run up to HMD
after class just to say hello,
but I always end up staying
an hour or two," she says.
"The staff is so friendly; it's
easy to feel welcome."
While she originally chose
to attend Wayne State
University on the advice of
family members, Schwartz
quickly fell in love with
its location in the heart of
Detroit's cultural district.
Schwartz, an art history
minor, loves taking a stroll
to Midtown's museums and
theaters between classes.
"It would be my dream job to be the
curator for the DIA one day," she says.
Aware of this aspiration, HMD's Director
Miriam Starkman offered Schwartz an
opportunity of a lifetime when she invited
her on an exclusive pre-opening tour of the
new Detroit Institute of Arts.
Hillel has not only given Schwartz a world
of opportunities; it's also inspired her to
be a more active
member of the
Jewish community.
While participating
in HMD's Israel
Fellowship program,
Schwartz attended a
lecture given by David
Victor, president
of the American
Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC).
She immediately felt
compelled to support
AIPAC's mission in
creating a positive
bond between the
U.S. and Israel.
Mallory Schwartz
Schwartz is quickly
heading up the
ranks at HMD and was recently named the
president of Wayne State's Jewish Student
Organization. As president, one of her
duties is to connect Hillel students and
other student associations to raise funds
for nonprofit organizations. She recently
teamed up with WSU's Muslim Students
Association to organize the One Muslim,
One Jew, One Stage comedy event. The
show, which featured comedians Azhar
Usman and Rabbi Robert Alper, parodied
the stereotypes attached to both Judaism
and Islam and helped bring a common
ground to the two very different religious
groups.
She hopes to bring the Food Network's
Ina Garten or a Jewish environmentalist to
campus for her next event.
Schwartz says that ultimately she would like
to use her newly-found leadership skills to
unite even more of Wayne State's diverse
campus. "I really want to organize an event
that brings not only Jews together, but a
variety of cultures; an event that will show
people that just because we have different
religions it doesn't mean that we're
different."