76 | MAY 28 • 2020 

Online
Fellowship

Detroit Center for Civil Discourse
successfully moves online.

H

ow do you move a class 
online when the entire 
premise revolves around 
sitting at the same table in the 
same place? Well, if you’
re one of 
the leaders of the Detroit Center 
for Civil Discourse fellowship, 
you may just do it with ease.
That’
s right, ease.
After nearly eight months of 
in-person meetings, the fellow-
ship was forced to move online. 
The fellowship, comprised of 
Wayne State students and based 
at WSU, is one of many ways 
that DCCD executes its mission, 
which encourages deep civic 
relationships between diverse 
people through respectful dia-
logue.
It was initially designed for 20 
fellows from a variety of religious 
and ethnic backgrounds to sit 
around the same conference 
room table, face-to-face, with an 
opportunity to engage with one 
another.
“The shift to online meetings 
came at a time after the cohort 
already built a foundation of 
trust and camaraderie,
” said 
Ariana Mentzel, managing direc-
tor of DCCD.
Each session would feature 
a topic, usually with a speaker 
and guided discussion. Over 
the year, the cohort had difficult 
conversations about the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict, participated 
in anti-bias training with Anti-
Defamation League staff and 

learned about Judaism and Islam 
in cultural and religious ways.
During the first Zoom meet-
ing, the conversation focused on 
the novel coronavirus; no one 
was disappointed. 
“It is obviously less than ideal 
for us meet online rather than 
in-person, but we’
ve turned the 
difficult situation into an oppor-
tunity to support one another,
” 
said Nisim Nesimov, a WSU 
senior and DCCD fellow.
The move online also gave 
Mentzel, WSU Professor Saeed 
Khan and Rabbi David Polsky 
an opportunity to change the 
cohort’
s participation outside of 
Zoom sessions. Over the course 
of the year, there were numerous 
“bonus opportunities,
” which 
included speakers and events.
Rather than scrapping the idea 
of these bonus opportunities, 
new “online bonus opportu-
nities” were offered, including 
TED Talks, podcasts, conver-
sations and interviews. These 
hands-on activities gave each 
fellow an opportunity to learn 
about something new.
Following the last few meet-
ings of the year, the plan is for 
the fellows to continue working 
on group projects. The hope is 
that they’
ll be able to reunite 
again and have a year-end social 
gathering. @

Jeremy Rosenberg is a senior at Wayne 
State and was a 2020 DCCD fellow.

Jeremy Rosenberg } jewish@edu writer

Wayne State University 
student fellows meet in 
the Before Times to hold 
civil discourse.

THE DETROIT CENTER FOR CIVIL DISCOURSE

for college students 
by college students

Congratulations!

Hunter Oliver Vainik

We are so proud of you and 
all you have accomplished. 
You have been such a joy in 
our lives! May all your dreams 
and wishes come true.

We love you!
 Mom, Dad, Trevor, Grace, Bubbie, 
Grandpa, Moose and Ginger

Emily C. Levin 

Graduate of the University of 
Texas at Austin with a Bachelor 
of Science in Nutrition.
We are very proud of you and 
your accomplishments! 

With Much Love, 
Mom, Dad and Daniel

Mazel Tov!

LIKE US ON
FACEBOOK

@detroitjewishnews

Congratulations!

Josh Dudovitz

We are so proud of you!
Good luck at University 
of Minnesota!

Love,
Mom, Dad, Lindsay, 
Fenway & Briggs