First ever University Presidents and Chancellors Mission saw
Yeshiva University President Rabbi
Dr. Ari Berman head up a diverse delegation of higher
education leadership including from faith-based and historically
Black colleges and universities
NEW
YORK, May 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Amid a
sharp rise in antisemitism on US campuses, especially after the
October 7th attacks in
Israel, the International March of
the Living launched the first ever University Presidents and
Chancellors Mission from the United
States and Canada to the
annual March of the Living which took place on the Yom
HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance Day on May
6th, 2024.
The March of Living program brings participants to Poland to show a rich history of Jewish
culture alongside sites of Jewish persecution. Delegates heard
firsthand the experiences of Holocaust survivors and were guided by
scholars-in-residence with expertise in the Holocaust, genocide,
and human rights. The trip culminated on Holocaust Remembrance Day
(May 5-6), during which participants
joined Holocaust survivors on a solemn march from Auschwitz to
Birkenau to commemorate the Nazi horrors. By participating in this
mission, the hope is that university leaders will bring home their
insights to fight antisemitism, hatred, and racism on campus.
The cohort of university presidents and chancellors from America
and Canada that took part in the
2024 International March of the Living was led by Yeshiva University President Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman. The university presidents came from
a diverse group of colleges and universities, including public,
private, faith-based, and historically Black colleges and
universities.
In the aftermath of Hamas' attacks on Israel on October
7th, Rabbi Berman founded the Universities United
Against Terrorism – a coalition of more than 100 higher
education leaders who unequivocally condemned Hamas as a terrorist
organization. In a year when 73% of Jewish college students are
reporting antisemitism on their college campuses, this group was
the first of its kind among higher education leaders to proudly
stand with Israel and denounce
Hamas.
"Today, I stand in Auschwitz alongside a delegation of
university presidents, united in bearing witness to the harrowing
atrocities committed by the Nazis against the Jews during the
Holocaust," said Rabbi Dr. Ari
Berman, President of Yeshiva
University. "As antisemitism surges across the globe and
college campuses, this trip reminds us that 'Never Again' is not a
promise of the past, but a pressing demand of the present. Never
Again is now."
"Europe's most educated and
advanced country in terms of higher education, in both the arts and
sciences, was none other than Germany and yet this was the very same nation
that singled out for eradication an entire people – the Jewish
People - in the most horrifying manner," said Dr. David Machlis, Vice Chairman of the
International March of the Living. "As we traveled through
Poland and saw the results of Nazi
Germany's genocidal policies
towards the Jews, we saw the direct link between antisemitism and
the road to Auschwitz. We hope that through this mission, which is
planned to be expanded in future years, university presidents will
become allies in the fight against antisemitism – because we know
all too well the potential devastating outcomes of ignoring the
issue."
The March of the Living stands as a pinnacle event on Holocaust
Remembrance Day. Each year, thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish
students from around the globe march alongside Holocaust survivors,
world leaders, ministers, religious figures, and cultural icons.
Since 1988, over 300,000 participants have marched from Auschwitz I
to Auschwitz II-Birkenau, honoring the immense loss suffered by the
Jewish people and all humanity. For the Jewish student participants
of this educational program, the March of commemoration in
Poland is part of a longer journey
culminating in the Independence Day March of celebration in
Jerusalem.
In addition to the delegation of university presidents, this
year, the March was led by 55 Holocaust survivors from countries
around the world, including seven survivors who were personally
impacted by the October
7th atrocities in Israel as part of a delegation of surviving
victims from the deadly attacks.
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SOURCE Yeshiva University