Chatfield College Students Attend Anti-Semitism Summit

On Tuesday, April 9, Chatfield College sent students to the Driving out Darkness: 2019 Cincinnati Regional Summit on anti-Semitism and Hate at Cincinnati Union Terminal, hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council, in partnership with The Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center, AJC Cincinnati, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives. Students Hunter Ellis, Pamela Hoskins, and Elizabeth Burnside, along with Chatfield’s Chief Financial Officer Robert Elmore, attended this one-day immersive learning experience and had the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of antisemitism and all other forms of hatred.

The summit explored tactics for combatting racism and other forms of bias, prejudice, and bigotry, and featured local and national experts, including Eric Ward (Western States Center), William Daroff (Jewish Federations of North America), Holly Huffnagle (AJC Los Angeles), and Hawes Spencer (author of Summer of Hate) on what is driving anti-Semitism today and how that intersects with other forms of hate.

Hunter Ellis, a student at the St. Martin campus, said “The Driving Out Darkness seminar was a very enlightening experience and taught me ways to help combat not just anti-Semitism in this world, but also hate as a whole. I was honored to represent Chatfield at the event, and I hope to bring this new understanding back to St. Martin.”

The students participated in hands-on, immersive workshops and panel discussions, designed to empower our community’s leaders with information and opportunities for positive action, and dug deeper through hands-on, interactive workshops and panel discussions on topics like developing legislative, law enforcement, and civic strategies to protect vulnerable communities; covering hate in the media; and reducing hate and bias-based bullying in schools.

After the workshops, the students were able to tour the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center.

“I am glad I was able to attend as a part of my Chatfield experience. I have met many wonderful people at Chatfield and through opportunities like this,” shared Elizabeth Burnside of the Over-the-Rhine campus.

Pamela Hoskins, also a student at the Over-Rhine-Campus, explains she was grateful for the experience and how special it was to share with a student from the other campus as well. Since the campuses are located almost an hour from each other, the students do not have many opportunities to interact with one another.

“It was great to meet not only a student from the other campus, but many others at the summit. The things I learned as a result will stay with me the rest of my life,” Pam said. “Thank you, Chatfield, for this experience.”