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MSU Hillel’
s new Israel Affairs Department will
centralize Israel education, advocacy and
programming at MSU and at Hillel organizations
on 10 college campuses across Michigan. The
goal: to help Jewish and non-Jewish students
become better informed about issues relating
to Israel and to build connections with other
campus student organizations.
The campuses in the Hillel Campus Alliance of
Michigan, or HCAM, include: Alma College,
Albion College, Central Michigan University,
Eastern Michigan University, Grand Valley State
University, Kalamazoo College, Michigan
Technological University, Northern Michigan
University, Saginaw Valley State University and
Western Michigan University.
Led by Maddi Jackson, director
of Israel Education and
Programming at MSU Hillel,
the department will be
staffed by two
additional MSU Hillel
employees whose role is
to provide resources and
support to any student
who is interested in learning
more about Israel.
“We will be working directly with students to
better understand what they want and need from
Israel programming on campus,” says Jackson.
“Do they want more dialogue-based fellowships and
Israeli cultural events? Or are they more interested in
participating in an Israeli film series or book club?”
Because students often experience gaps in their
knowledge about Israel and are sometimes reluctant
to engage in large group conversations, Jackson
explains the new department will provide the
resources to meet students where they are and help
them grow their connection to Israel.
This year, in addition to the department’
s staff, Israel
teams consisting of two or more students from each
school will work together to offer Israel education,
programming and outreach to students. One of the
main responsibilities for the Israel teams will be
outreach to key non-Jewish communities on their
respective campuses to build relationships and
educate students about Israel. Interns and Israel team
members will receive significant advocacy training
and will have the opportunity to attend national
conferences to gain essential leadership skills needed
to reach diverse groups.
“Because many of these schools have such small
Jewish communities on their respective campuses,
it is important to be proactive and build allies,” says
Jackson, who became an ally herself when she was a
student studying political science and international
relations at Ohio State University.
Jackson became interested and committed to Israeli
issues after she was one of three non-Jewish student
leaders from Ohio State selected to travel to Israel.
Educating Jewish and non-Jewish students alike is
key to helping student communities build bridges
and find common ground. Central to the Israel Affairs
Department’
s mission is the belief that regardless of
one’
s religion, race or ethnic background, anyone can
develop a connection to Israel.
“Through these relationships, we plan on doing
on-campus cosponsored programming, cultural
exchanges, networking leadership dinners as well
as Israel trips for both Jewish and non-Jewish student
leaders to then return to their campus and connect
their community with the pro-Israel community,”
says Jackson. e
University. He also founded the Arava Institute for
Environmental Studies, a graduate studies center in
which students join Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian
environmentalists to study common environmental
challenges and solutions. He served as the co-chair of
Israel’
s Green Party and is a founding member of the
Blue and White Party’
s list of Knesset candidates, and
actively participated in both 2019 political campaigns.
He received a doctorate in environmental health
policy from Harvard University and a law degree from
Hebrew University, and is the author of five books.
Harry Yuklea is a Serling Visiting Israeli Scholar in the
Eli Broad College of Business who teaches courses on
entrepreneurship based on the Israeli experience.
Yuklea has been directly involved for the last 40 years
in the remarkable build-up of the Israeli high-tech
sector. He served as adviser to the Israeli National
Economic Council, the Israel Innovation Authority and
various international agencies such as EUREKA,
Inter-American Development Bank and iCreate. He
recently cofounded a Chinese firm specializing in
creating Israel-China technology joint ventures.
He holds a master’
s in electrical engineering from
Technical University Iasi in Romania, a master’
s in
management from Boston University and a
doctorate in business management from the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Lihi Lahat is sponsored through the Israel Institute
and teaches a public policy course in the political
science department at MSU. Lahat is a senior lecturer
in the Department of Administration and Public Policy
at Sapir Academic College, Israel’
s largest public
college. Her papers have been published in
prestigious journals, and her areas of research are
policymakers’
perceptions of poverty, the regulation
of personal social services, the trust and well-being
of public officials, uses of time and policy and
collaborative governance.
The Serling Institute has hosted Israeli visitors to
MSU for the past seven years in five departments
and colleges.
Learn more at jsp.msu.edu. e
MSU’s Serling Institute
hosts three Israeli visiting
scholars
The Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish
Studies and Modern Israel at MSU welcomes three
Israeli visitors to campus this fall. They are teaching
five courses in three MSU colleges.
“These scholars are exposing students to different
facets of Israeli public policy, politics,
environmental studies and entrepreneurship,” says
Yael Aronoff, director of the Serling Institute. “In
addition to teaching, they give public lectures and
assist in the creation of long-term institutional
connections with Israeli universities.”
Alon Tal is a Serling Visiting Israeli Scholar who
teaches at James Madison College. This is Tal’
s fifth
visit to MSU, where he teaches courses related to
Israeli politics and environmental studies. He is the
chair of the Department of Public Policy at Tel Aviv
MSU Hillel’s Israel Affairs Department builds connections across Michigan
Students visit the Golan Heights during a trip to Israel.
8/23/19 3:45 PM