24 | JULY 30 • 2020 

Local Hadassah members advocated
for Never Again Education Act.
for Never Again Education Act.

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Jews in the D

T

wo life members of Hadassah, the 
Women’
s Zionist Organization 
of America, are the toast of the 
Hadassah Greater Detroit Region. Diane 
Brody of Beverly Hills and Suzanne Lowe 
of East Lansing, co-chairs of the region’
s 
Advocacy Committee, successfully interact-
ed with Michigan’
s congressional delegation 
to back bills implementing Holocaust edu-
cation in school districts nationwide. The 
“Never Again Education Act” was signed 
into law on May 29.
The 302 co-sponsors of the House of 
Representatives’
 bill, passed on Jan. 27, 
included nine from Michigan: Democrats 
Debbie Dingell, Dan Kildee, Brenda 
Lawrence, Andy Levin, Elissa Slotkin, Haley 
Stevens and Rashida Tlaib, and Republicans 
John Moolenaar and Fred Upton. A Senate 
bill, nearly identical to the House version, 
had 79 co-sponsors (not including either 
Michigan senator) when passed on May 13.
The Never Again Education Act expands 
the educational mission of the U.S. 
Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) 
in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Department 
of Education will authorize distribution of 
$2 million annually, through 2024, to the 
USHMM Holocaust Education Assistance 
Program Fund.
The funding will “
equip educators with 
the resources for training and materials 
they need to ensure that comprehensive 

Holocaust education is made available in 
our schools,
” said Fran Heicklen, the Greater 
Detroit Region president.
National Hadassah stated on May 13: 
“The Never Again Education Act is our last 
best chance to make a significant and lasting 
impact against the rising tide of hatred in 
our country.
”
“Hadassah spent more than two years 
seeking congressional support for the 
Never Again Education Act,
” said Lowe, a 
Hadassah member since 1997 and president 
of the former Hadassah Lansing. Lowe is 
also co-chair of Greater Detroit Region’
s 
Attorneys & Judges Council and co-vice 
president of Education.
Lowe worked more than 30 years as legal 
counsel in a nonpartisan Michigan Senate 
office. Originally from Muskegon, she 
moved to Lansing in 1970. She and her hus-
band, David, are members of East Lansing-
based Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
Former Southfield resident Brody is a 
third-generation Hadassah member, join-
ing in 2006. She is Community Service 
co-vice president and on the Fundraising 
Committee for Aviv Hadassah Group. She 
formerly served on the board of Ruach 
Hadassah. Brody is employed as an account 
manager at Cox Automotive in Troy. She 
and her husband, Todd Schafer, belong to 
Temple Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield.
The women brought passion to their pur-
suit of passing the Never Again Education 
Act. Anti-Semitism was brought home for 
Lowe when her little sister was called “
a 
dirty Jew.
” Lowe remembered their grand-
mother’
s lament for the six million and said 
a book by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel 
“
changed my outlook on humanity.
”
Holocaust education is “
essential to teach 
people what can happen when intolerance 
and hatred are allowed to go unchecked,
” 

Lowe said. “In many cases, it is not only 
schoolchildren who need to be taught, but 
educators as well.
”
As survivors pass from the scene, Brody 
said, “it becomes even more imperative to 
educate students about what occurred, to 
make them less susceptible to the falsehood 
of Holocaust denial and distortion.
”
Hadassah Greater Detroit leaders invit-
ed Brody to represent the region at last 
year’
s JCRC/AJC’
s annual Congressional 
Reception. She enjoyed the opportunity to 
speak directly to Slotkin, Levin and Stevens 
about the Never Again Education Act. 
Brody soon joined Lowe in advocacy work. 
National Hadassah provided their tools and 
resources.
A constituent of Levin, Brody visited him 
in his office, seeking support for the educa-
tion bill.
Lowe credited her pre-retirement career as 
an attorney for giving her “
an understanding 
of the political and legislative process.
” She 
conferred with senior staff of Slotkin and 
also Republican Rep. Tim Walberg.
Brody and Lowe attended meetings held 
in the Detroit offices of Senators Debbie 
Stabenow and Gary Peters, both Michigan 
Democrats. After the House bill passed, 
Lowe followed up with both “
to stay on their 
radar.
” Hadassah tracked the bills’
 progress 
on the congressional website. 
Lowe said she experienced a sense of 
“
accomplishment and relief” when the 
Never Again Education Act became law.
“It may sound cliché,
” Brody said, “but 
it made me feel like one person really can 
make a difference.
” 

Approximately 4,000 area women belong to 
Hadassah Greater Detroit, headquartered in 
West Bloomfield. For information, visit 
hadassah.org/detroit. 

HADASSH.ORG

Suzanne Lowe and 
Diane Brody 

HADASSAH GREATER DETROIT REGION

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Signed into Law

