The Justice

Media Credit: Adina Paretzky Mateo Aceves '11, Shirah Moses '11 and Daniel Acheampong '11 spoke about their experiences with diversity and what diversity means to them at the "Night of Identity" event last Thursday.

Brandeis Orthodox Organization, along with Brandeis Black Student Organization, hosted an event called "Night of Identity," which was aimed at bridging the connection between the Orthodox and the black communities on campus, according to BOO Education Coordinator Zahvi Glasenberg '11.

"The BOO-BBSO event has a history at Brandeis as an opportunity to bridge between two very different groups in the Brandeis community who wouldn't normally have so much interaction," Glasenberg said. "The event is meant to educate, entertain and encourage students to be exposed to new cultures and to learn more about their peers," she added.

The event included musical performances by The Mighty Glucks and Jermyn Addy '11, the reading of a creative writing piece by Yoanna Freedman '11, a speech given by Prof. Peniel Joseph (AAAS) and a student panel, which consisted of three students who spoke about their experiences with diversity and what diversity means to them.

Shirah Moses '11, who spoke about her experiences growing up and attending an Orthodox day school in Teaneck, N.J., said, "I remember looking at statistics of my school in 11th grade, and they were something like out of 610 students, 603 were classified as being white, five were classified as being Hispanic, and two, being my sister and myself, were classified as being African American or black," she said.

Daniel Acheampong '11, an immigrant from Ghana, spoke about his most difficult memories concerning diversity and identity at his elementary school in Brooklyn, N.Y. "I remember before I got like a lot of friends in school, they would be like, 'I never saw a dark guy like you before,' and I'm like, 'Woah, are you kidding? My brother is darker then me,"' he said.

The third panelist, Mateo Aceves '11 from Berkeley, Calif., shared his feelings about being one of the only Orthodox students in his public high school. "In my high school of 3,200 students, there were only two of us that wore a yarmulke, and I remember walking around in junior and senior year of high school and feeling what an alienating experience that could be," he said.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools