This past year has been exceptionally challenging. In the midst of a global health pandemic, we acknowledge that there has also been a racial pandemic, and we continue to grieve for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and all those who suffered and lost their lives under unjust and racist systems. We see, affirm, and send love to all those who have been impacted by these and other events, and we uphold Hillel UW’s dedication to allyship and anti-racist values.
In thinking about how we can move from feeling completely overwhelmed into a space of concrete and tangible action, Jconnect and Hillel UW is committed to starting with these action steps:
- We created a dedicated space on our website with resources to educate ourselves on racism. All resources will be vetted carefully.
- We will provide space for valued members of our community who are Jews of Color and members of the Black community to share their stories and experiences with us so that we may learn from them and educate ourselves. We will follow their lead as we know that this is a particularly vulnerable and challenging time as we seek to learn, and elevate their voices. This may look like an invited speaker, a book club, or a film screening. We commit to prioritizing programming this year and for years to come that address the issue of race inequality.
- Our board and staff is committed to our own learning about diversity, race, and equity issues and are availing ourselves of opportunities for lay and professional learning together.
Along with the leaders at Hillel International, we will continue to listen to our colleagues and friends in the Black community to offer further concrete ways for us to stand against racism, including professional training, and programming through the Hillel@Home platform.
If you are in need of a safe space to vent or process, please reach out to any member of the Hillel professional team. We are here for you.
And if you would like to speak to a mental health counselor, please know that in partnership with our local Jewish Family Service we have a clinical counselor here at Hillel who is happy to do an intake interview with you and make a referral, or meet with you if you are currently a graduate student and residing in WA State. Contact Sheri Davis at counselor@hilleluw.org
