28 February 21 • 2019
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February 21, 2019/16 Adar 1 5779
for college students by college students
HMD Girls Night!
Comfortable atmosphere sparks
discussion and empowerment.
Marcella Bluth } jewish@edu writer L
et’
s have a girls night!” So,
we actually did.
On Jan. 17, Hillel of
Metro Detroit had its first “Girls
Night” event to talk about sex
and healthy relationships —
and it was a success. This event
took place at HMD’
s student
lounge on the sixth floor of the
Student Center at Wayne State
University. With the guidance of
HMD Program Associate Olivia
Berlin, a committee of WSU
students Alexis Potoff, Rachel
Peysakhova and I formed to
plan the event.
We partnered with AEPhi,
a Jewish sorority on campus.
They were excited to co-host
our event and had quite a few of
their members show up.
About 30 “girls” attended a
fun night that started with a
build-your-own sushi bar dinner
and mocktails. Once everyone
made her rolls and was suffi-
ciently covered in sticky rice, we
made our way to hear the panel
that included Ann Rayford,
nurse practitioner from the
WSU health center, WSU’
s Dr.
Richard Slatcher, who specializes
his research on the topic of rela-
tionships, and Elana Gotfriend,
a sex therapist.
To begin, we asked questions
written in advance. Once the
group stared to warm up to our
panel, we transitioned to an
open-floor format. Additionally,
there were visual aids, demon-
strations and pamphlets to fully
educate the attendees.
“I thought it was an amazing
event,” said Monica Merzin, Jewish
heritage and ritual chair for AEPhi.
“The sushi was really fun to make,
and I loved how we were able to
freely ask questions in an open and
comfortable setting.”
It felt like our girls left as
women; feeling more empow-
ered, educated and ready to take
on life with a newly found com-
munity of supporters behind
them: community that celebrates
girl power. @
Marcella Bluth of Southfield is a junior at
Wayne State University in Detroit.
L
ate in my sophomore year, members of the
Michigan State University Hillel staff reached
out to me, believing I would be a perfect fit for
the Ryan Rosman (z’
l) Jewish Business Association
(JBA) internship for the university’
s Jewish Student
Union (JSU). With this internship came the respon-
sibility of immersing Jews on campus in the world
of business and the opportunity to be active in the
pro-Israel movement on campus.
Although wary of voicing my pro-Israel stance as
college campuses are full of conflicting opinions, I
chose to apply for the role and was selected. After my
first semester as the JBA intern, I can definitively say I
made the right decision.
It was through my involvement in JSU that I had
my first contact with Hasbara Fellowships, a pro-Is-
rael campus activism organization that brings hun-
dreds of students to Israel every summer and winter
to give them the information and tools to return to
their campuses as educators about Israel.
Hasbara Fellowships approached Hillel and JBA
Hasbara
Fellowship
MSU student advocates for Israel
by focusing on the positive.
Kyle Zaback } jewish@edu writer
Madeline Byrne, Monica Merzin, Robbie Robinson and Emma
Mcgrath at the HMD/AEPhi “Girls Night”
MSU student Kyle Zaback,
front right, during a Jeep
ride in the Golan Heights
during the Hasbara Israel
Training Program
about bringing the Start-Up Nation
Technology Fair, an expo showcasing
on-the-rise Israeli start-ups, to MSU. I
was thrilled to be the on-campus coor-
dinator of this event, which allowed
me to accomplish my business-aligned
goals in JBA while also advocating for
Israel.
During the fair, I connected with
the Hasbara Midwest regional advis-
er who told me of the organization’
s
Israel Training Program and suggested
I apply. The program is an exclusive
16-day Israel advocacy training trip
focused on offering pro-Israel student
leaders the opportunity to gain lead-