6

Janet Dashevsky plans
a different kind of spring break

A

lot of students look forward to
carousing in Cabo on spring break,
but Janet Dashevsky
isn't one of them.

year through Israel by Birthright and that
really changed me as an individual. It helped
me get in touch with my
Jewish religion."

In her sophomore year
Dashevsky was a member
of the Jewish Students
Organization and
responsible for planning
the Purim party. While it
sounds like a good time, she
had the pressure of finding
a location for a party for
250 people (she selected
A graduate of Berkley High
the Majestic Theatre on
School, Dashevsky is majoring
Woodward Avenue), had to
in nutrition and food science.
sign the contracts and make
She lives in Oak Park with her Janet Dashevsky: Whether in
sure there was food. Her
parents. She didn't especially balancing projects at WSU or strong organizational ability
want to leave her home,
planning for a working trip got her through and she
friends and best friend —
to New Orleans, her strong
picked up some new skills
Mom — and with several
organizational ability has
that are helping her plan for
scholarship offers to Wayne
come in very handy.
New Orleans.
State, making the decision to
The Alternative Spring Break trip will be
become a Warrior was easy.
funded through a $10,000 grant from
Her freshman year she found herself a bit
the Blumenstein Millennium Fund. The
lonely at such a large university. Then she
three-part social action initiative includes
made her way to Hillel and all that changed.
10 classes for participants to learn about
the
Jewish mandate for tikun olam; the trip
"Most of my friends are now from Hillel,"
itself;
and a "pay it forward" challenge for
she says. "I came to Hillel and got involved
students
to apply what they have learned.
with Students for Israel and I became

Dashevsky, a junior, is taking
10 students to New Orleans
to build houses with Habitat
for Humanity for Alternative
Spring Break. She is doing
it as part of her leadership
development as the Tzedek
Social Action Intern for Hillel
of Metro Detroit.

the Grinspoon Israel Advocacy Intern my
freshman year. I went to Israel in May that

The students leave for Louisiana March 15
and will stay at Camp Hope, a middle school

converted into barracks for volunteers.
The trip is one of many alternative spring
break opportunities coordinated by Hillel
International. Dashevsky originally was
interested in organizing a trip to Argentina
to work with Jewish residents, but it was
too expensive. She and Hillel adviser Karen
Adelman found the New Orleans option and
were hooked.

The "pay it forward" part may end up being
the most interesting part of the initiative,
Dashevsky says. Participants will be given
between $50 and $100 to put what they
learned about tikum olam into practice.
Dashevsky hasn't decided what she will do
with her money, and she's eager to see what
other students do.

Besides the time she spends at Hillel,
Dashevsky is a student assistant 10 hours
a week in the Cohn-Haddow Center for
Judaic Studies. There she updates the Web
site, organizes the Jewish Heritage video
collection, files, answers phones, runs
errands and takes care of their technology
needs. When she first came to campus with
her advanced placement environmental
science high school class she had no idea
she'd end up at Hillel, Cohn-Haddow or
even WSU.

"When I saw the campus, that's when I got
interested," she said. "Then I started to get
the feel for Detroit and I genuinely like it. I'm
glad I'm here."

Library exhibit focuses on
Jewish presence at WSU

etro Detroit's Jewish community
has played a vital role in the
development of Wayne State
University, and the exhibit Bricks, Mortar and

M

More: The Jewish Community and the Growth
of Wayne State University, examines the lives

of Wayne State's many Jewish benefactors
and the community's strong presence
throughout campus.

The exhibit at the university's Walter P.
Reuther Library is co-sponsored by the
Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community
Archives of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit. Both the Reuther
Library and the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit contributed
photographs and documents that recognize
the lives and contributions of those who
have created landmarks of lasting value at
the university.

"In every corner of our campus there
are classroom and research buildings,

laboratories, libraries, recreational facilities,
auditoriums, even an entire college, all
attesting to a wish on the part of these
men and women to build, refine and uplift
the community in which we live," WSU
President Jay Noren said at the exhibit's
opening. "Very few of our benefactors are
household names, but each has the deepest
gratitude of everyone at the university
— and we are privileged to have this
opportunity to honor them."

Mike Smith, director of the Reuther Library,
says that from the beginning, many of
Wayne State's students and supporters
came from the Jewish community. "This
exhibit celebrates, and is a tribute to, the
partnerships between the university and
the Jewish community through an exhibit
featuring the 16 buildings on campus
funded by members of that community."

The exhibit is free and runs through Feb. 4.
For details, visit www.reuther.wayne.edu .

Celebrating at the grand opening of
the Reuther exhibit are Judy Cantor,
Reuther Library Director Mike Smith
and Joel Jacob. Jacob's ancestor, Max
Jacob, built the house that is now the
home of WSU President Jay Noren.

