June 26, 2018 — New York
AJC, the global Jewish advocacy organization, honored Jewish students involved with Hillel at The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan for their courageous advocacy efforts against BDS.
The Hillels at the University of Michigan and The Ohio State University received the AJC Sharon Greene Award “for the sustained, determined, and creative work of their students to defend Israel on campus.” Curtis and Stacy Lane, members of AJC’s National Leadership Council, presented the awards at the AJC Global Forum in Jerusalem.
“Michigan and Ohio State are normally archrivals, especially on the football field. But when it comes to supporting Israel, the students at these schools are the closest allies,” said Curtis Lane.
Joe Goldberg, accepting the award on behalf of Michigan Hillel, recalled his experience serving on the campus student government. “My primary concern was advancing the welfare of my fellow students. I knew that BDS was not in the interest of my constituents,” said Goldberg, who graduated last month.
Goldberg thanked AJC “for standing by students, for amplifying our voices, for giving us the tools and the inspiration to stand up for truth on our campuses.”
Hannah Borow, a rising junior at The Ohio State University, who accepted the award on behalf of OSU Hillel, thanked “AJC for working with thousands of students each year to equip our generation to advocate for the Jewish people and Israel.”
She recounted how in her first two years at OSU two BDS resolutions were introduced. “We beat the first one my freshman year by uniting the campus in favor of dialogue and engagement, and against the hateful boycott of the Jewish state.”
But last year the student government passed a BDS resolution. “We amended it to remove all references to Israel, making it much harder for them to use the resolution to target the Jewish state,” she said.
The AJC Sharon Greene Award is presented to campus-based advocates in recognition of their efforts to combat antisemitism, fight the BDS movement, and promote a positive image of Israel.
