Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Council

Welcome to the inaugural Two Museums program. Yes, inaugural. This is not a one and done event. Indeed – YOU our wonderful students who wrote fabulous essays YOU are our ambassadors in assuring the success of this Pilot Program.

YOU will be the boots on the ground at Adelphi University, in your community, and wherever you might go to combat hatred intolerance, racism and antisemitism.

We all have a platform and by joining this program you have committed yourself to using that platform to make the world a better place for all humankind.

The Holocaust is not just a Jewish issue nor is racism just a Black issue. It is essential that we learn from the past by visiting the two museums: The US Holocaust Memorial Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture so that a more tolerant and just society evolves during this time when we are experiencing an epidemic of hate crimes all over the world.

Fighting hatred must be a team game and we have assembled a fabulous team of Black students, Jewish students and campus leaders to enter this battle.

Let me describe to you anecdotally the conception of the program almost 20 months ago. I was fortunate to be the first recipient at Adelphi University of the President’s Humanitarian Award. I walked off the stage after receiving the award and was embraced by the former Chairman of the Board. At that moment, I whispered to him a thought that came to my mind as I pledged on stage that I will continue to use my platform to make a difference.

Guess what that thought was? The Two Museums Program.

To the Two Museums participants, I say – Do Not Be Afraid to Dream- whether it is your professional ambitions or to make an impact in society. Sure, you will have some small failures along the way, but I guarantee you the end results will be a contribution to society beyond what you might imagine today.

I am a dreamer and fortunately I have had the courage, conviction and confidence to implement many of my dreams.

I have brought diverse groups of influential policymakers on educational seminars designed around visiting the sites of the Holocaust.

One of the groups was comprised of World War II Camp Liberators. What motivated me to take this concept from dream to vision and bring 16 Liberators, average age 90, from all over the US to Poland? Some data would help answer that question.

Amongst the numerous research studies on knowledge and awareness of the Holocaust, I like to refer to an Anti-defamation League global study. In the study, 54% of the respondents said they heard of the Holocaust. But, wait — 32% of the 54% said that it was greatly exaggerated or didn’t exist.

From Liberators Brochure:

The Liberators count among the most selfless, credible and distinctive eyewitness to the horror of the Holocaust”.

Given the important universal lesson of the Holocaust which will be presented later today, “It is important to establish an incontrovertible and everlasting testament to the truth.”

One of the Liberators broke the locks off the gates of Buchenwald, a large concentration camp in Germany, freeing Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Elie Wiesel.

Visiting the Buchenwald site a few days after the liberation, General Dwight D. Eisenhower said “The world must know what happened and never forget.”

In closing, I would like to thank the various entities that have been invaluable in the development of the Two Museums program.

• Division of Student Affairs
• African, Black and Caribbean Studies Program
• Robert B. Willumstad School of Business DEIB Council
• Chabad
• University Office of DEIB
• International March of the Living
• Auxiliary and Event Services
• Joseph Celentano, Professor

And finally, and most important, great appreciation of students who are participating in the Two Museums Program. You are, indeed, the trailer-blazers in setting the path for many other schools to be involved in the Two Museums program in the future.

Your involvement in the program is an implicit response to a famous Martin Luther King, Jr. quote “People fail to get along because they fear each other, they fear each other because they don’t know each other, they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”

Two Museums – United We Stand – is intended to bring us ALL together to fight all forms of hatred, intolerance, antisemitism and racism.

1. Faculty Meeting DEI Initiatives: Regular WSB faculty meetings include a DEI component that includes sharing of bias/implicit bias behavior experienced by faculty members.
2. Student Events and Outreach Subcommittee: student task force created to further our mission of diversity equity and inclusion.
3. Established the program for the mentoring of local high school students under-represented in higher education; the ‘High School Student Development Program – a Mentoring Initiative.’ Pilot school planned for Fall 2022.
4. Developed the ‘Two Museums Program.’ A trip to Washington DC for Black and Jewish students. Planned for Spring 2023.
5. Faculty meeting visit from ADIT (A. Mungai).
6. Continued initiatives from the previous year, (Artifacts review, CORE training, Winning Edge, Curriculum worksheet).

1. Artifacts Review: audit of the artifacts in WSB Hagedorn Hall: ensuring that all artifacts support the ideas of diversity and inclusion.
2. Created WSB DEI Website with Mission Statement for both the council and the school.
3. Curriculum Audit Worksheet: the business school faculty input on how their curriculum reflects the ideals of DEI.
4. Scheduled students for CORE training. Both Safe Zone and CORE trainings are now required for the completion of the Leadership Certificate Program.
5. Began development of pilot program with local HS for the WSB DEI Council HSSDP: High School Student Development Program – a Mentoring Initiative.
6. Willumstad Winning Edge (WWE) Diversity Component: Created a WWE diversity component that includes research on how other schools are incorporating DEI initiatives/requirements into their comparable co-curricular programs.