The Jewish Federation is proud to have been a sponsor of the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights, and Genocide Education (Chhange) 2018 Colloquium – Standing Up Against Hate – at Brookdale Community College.
More than 1,400 middle and high school students and educators from throughout New Jersey joined the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights & Genocide Education (Chhange) on Wednesday, May 9th to learn how they can stand up against hate in their communities. Chhange’s 2018 Colloquium, Stand Up Against Hate, featured Susan Bro, the mother of murdered activist Heather Heyer, and Chief Investigator David D’Amico of the Middlesex County Department of Corrections & Youth Services. Together, these plenary speakers provided inspiration and resources for students to become leaders, heroes, and role models in their schools and communities. Student participants also engaged in one of 29 small-group workshops that focused on themes related to Chhange’s mission to eliminate racism, antisemitism and all forms of prejudice. Sample workshops included survivors from the Holocaust, the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and the Cambodian Genocide, as well as topics such as Racial disparities in New Jersey’s criminal justice system and New Jersey’s DREAMers. Chhange Colloquium 2018 was funded, in part, by Hackensack Meridian Health, Mazars LLP, New Jersey Educators Association (NJEA), New Jersey Natural Gas, OceanFirst Foundation, PNC Foundation, The Jewish Federation in the heart of NJ, Two River Community Bank, as well as several individual donors.
Colloquium students also had the opportunity to visit their peers’ work in Chhange’s 5th Annual Student Art Installation Stand Up Against Hate. Students were challenged in their classrooms to examine the compelling history and contemporary nature of hate in the U.S. and to come together in groups to respond through art. More than 125 artistic expressions are displayed in the Center for Visual Arts Gallery on the Brookdale Community College Lincroft campus through August 2018. Tours can be arranged by contacting Chhange at 732 224-1889.
Please plan ahead to join us for Chhange’s 2019 Colloquium, Wednesday, May 15, 2019.
Fighting anti-Semitism and hate in all its forms is central to our work, which also includes conducting and sponsoring anti-bias programs for interfaith clergy and law enforcement; overseeing information sharing networks, fosters relationships with law enforcement, public safety, and elected officials; and facilitating partners’ applications for security grants.